American and British Pronunciation

Did you know that in standard British English, "r" is not pronounced if it comes after a vowel? If you didn't know this, try to listen to it when you hear people speak British English. Americans will say words like "word", "car" and "sister" with a clearly pronounced /r/ but Britons will not. They will make the vowel longer and leave it out, unless there is another vowel following the /r/. This phenomenon is the most distinct difference between American and British English. Look for it and try to learn to speak without what is called the postvocalic /r/, and you will sound much more British than you did before! Once you have mastered this, you can move on to the vowels and see if you can spot differences in words like "know", "last" and "duty".

Cockney in New York

It is easy to focus on differences. There are however a few surprising similarities as well between Cockney and the New York dialect. Listen to this audio clip by Bill Bryson.

Oral Task

"Different Englishes"

New Yorkers - Michael and Tom
Opphavsmann: Arild H Henriksen

Listen to Michael, a New Yorker, speaking very informally about types of Englishes. See if you can find more formal ways of describing the different Englishes.

Written Tasks

1. Write a brief text in which you mention what types of Englishes we have.
2. What do you think he means by society English?
3. What does OMG stand for?
4. Do you know any more popular abbreviations?
5. What is the difference between formal and informal English?
6. Do you think it should be allowed to write more informal English - like gonna, cuz and chill out?
7. What is the difference between a letter and a sound?