Which is better: American or British English?

Ways to talk about food

🌟 Episode Highlights

• which accent should you learn?
• everyday differences
• different expressions

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Transcript

Hello, hello! Welcome or welcome back to English Extras! I’m Jean. I’ve been an English teacher since 2019 and this is the podcast that takes you beyond textbook English. If you want to sound more natural, then you’re in the right place. I’m here to give you real-world English, cultural tips, and smart strategies to boost your fluency. So, are you ready? Let’s learn some English.

A common question in the language learning space is, “What accent should I learn?” There’s a big difference between the American and British accents, sometimes to the point where speakers can’t understand each other 100%. There’s different vocabulary for certain everyday things and there’s even different grammar. So should you learn American English or British English? Or Australian English? Or South African English?

For context, I speak American English. Currently, I’m specifically speaking Standard American English. However, it’s very common for everyone–not just Americans, not just British people, not just you–to switch between different ways of speaking, depending on who you are talking to.

This is called code-switching. It’s when you speak one way with a certain group of people and a different way with a different group of people. There are a lot of complexities surrounding code-switching and it is a fascinating topic, but I will have to leave it for another video. For now, I just want you to know that I am currently speaking Standard American English, but when I am speaking to my family in Kentucky, I change to a different dialect of American English.

The question for this episode is: which accent should you learn? Here’s what I have to say about this, and then we’re going to dive into some of the differences between American and British English.

I’ve been teaching English since 2019, but I only started teaching adults in 2021. When I started teaching adults, I quickly started getting questions about accents. In fact, I believe the very first adult student I had told me that she didn’t want to sound foreign when she spoke English. She wanted people to think she was a native speaker.

But here’s something important to remember, I think: passing as a native speaker–meaning, people believe you are a native speaker; that’s what it means “to pass”–passing as a native speaker is not necessary for communication. 

So what’s your goal? To communicate effectively or to sound perfect? Because you don’t have to sound perfect to communicate effectively. If you do pass as a native speaker, there will still be things to learn about that language. You will not be done; you will not be finished learning.

Another important note here: my current belief is that accent is not connected to fluency. You can say something with a perfect accent, but your sentence could be grammatically incorrect. And you can be completely fluent in a language and still have an accent.

Now, there’s a difference between having an accent and mispronouncing something. An accent includes a spectrum of ways to pronounce certain sounds that will still be understood by native speakers. There is a point where an accent can cross into the territory of mispronunciation.

For example, the sounds /r/ and /l/. In English, these sounds are completely separate, so native English speakers–of any dialect–won’t use them interchangeably. So let’s use Japanese for this example. In Japanese, /r/ and /l/ don’t make a meaningful difference in words. So a Japanese speaker might switch these sounds in English and that’s not just an accent–that’s making a mistake.

But, the boundary is fuzzy between “comprehensible” (meaning understandable) and “incomprehensible” (meaning not understandable); it’s not very clear, because context helps a lot.

Ultimately, you need to decide for yourself what you think about accents and why you think that way. If you want to focus on one specific accent, that’s totally fine; I recommend choosing the accent that makes the most sense for your situation and interests. If you are planning to live in the UK, for example, then focus on British English. If you are planning to live or travel to the US, then focus on American English. Or do whatever you prefer for whatever reason that makes sense for you.

Alright, now let’s get into some of the differences between American English and British English.

First, let’s talk about some everyday words. I’m going to describe something and then tell you what we say in American English and what British people say.

Term number 1: this term is a place to live. It’s not a house. It’s a part of a larger building, usually in a city, but also very popular in American suburbs. A lot of people can live in one building. 

In America, we call this place to live an apartment. In the UK, they call it a flat.

Term number 2: this term is something you use to quickly and easily go up and down between the floors or levels of a building. For example, if you live in a big apartment building, you probably use this thing to go up to your floor.

In America, we call this an elevator. In the UK, they call it a lift.

Both of these words make sense in American English, even though we don’t say “lift.” To lift something means to raise it up. To elevate something means the same thing. So both of these words make sense to describe a small room that raises you up to a higher level.

Okay, term number 3: this term is the liquid we put into our cars and vehicles to make them go. 

In America, we call this gas. Gas is short for gasoline. In the UK, they call this liquid petrol, which I believe is short for petroleum. So in America, we buy gas at gas stations but in the UK, they buy petrol at petrol stations.

Term number 4: this term is when people stand in front of one another, typically to wait for something.

In America, we call this a line. When you are at the store and you need to pay, you should get in line. In the UK, they call this a queue. They get in the queue at the store.

Finally, term number 5: this term is what we call the place next to a driving road where you can walk; it’s a path specifically for people to walk, usually next to the road.

In America, we call this path a sidewalk. In the UK, they call this pavement.

Pavement also has a meaning in America, but we use pavement to mean the road in general or sometimes the material used to make the road. Pavement, in the US, is not specifically the place where you can walk safely next to the driving road. That’s the sidewalk.

And, oh, the differences don’t end there! There are also a ton of differences for what we call various foods. Let me share some with you. Some of these might be a bit confusing, simply because some words exist in both dialects but mean different things.

For example, let’s start with chips.

Chips are, in American English, a short way of saying potato chips. They are typically small, crispy pieces of sliced, fried potatoes. Chips, in America, are usually a snack, something small to eat between meals. In the UK, however, they call these crisps.

So what Americans call “chips,” the British call “crisps.” Crisps doesn’t really have a meaning in America–at least, that I know of. We use “crispy” but not really “crisps.”

Then we have fries. Stay with me here. In America, we say fries. Fries are potatoes sliced into long strips that are then fried. So for example when you order a burger in America, very often you will also get fries on the side. A burger and fries. Classic.

In the UK, they calls these…chips. Like fish and chips, for example.

So basically the word “chip” is used in both dialects but with different meanings.

So we say chips, they say crisps. They say chips, we say fries.

It’s–yes–confusing.

Another example of the same word having different meanings in these two dialects is: cookie versus biscuit.

Deep breath. We can do this.

In America, a cookie is made with sugar, flour, and butter–along with a variety of other ingredients, depending on what type of cookie–and so it’s a sweet food often eaten as a snack or a dessert. Probably the most famous kind of cookie is the chocolate chip cookie.

In the UK, they call this sweet food a biscuit.

This can be confusing for Americans because in America, a biscuit is a small bread that is often served with gravy or jam–so it can be sweet or savory. (If you want to learn more about how to talk about food, by the way, I have an episode about that very topic. You can find a link to it in the description.)

I don’t know if there is a British equivalent of an American biscuit. Maybe a scone? I’m not sure, to be honest. 

Either way, Americans say “cookie” and the British say “biscuit” for the same item.

Now, I want to talk about some common, everyday differences between American and British English.

The first one is the use of the word fancy.

Fancy in American English is commonly used as an adjective that describes something expensive, impressive, or extravagant. So, for example, we’d say something like, “I need to dress up nicely because we’re going to a fancy restaurant for our anniversary.” Or, “Wow! You’re looking fancy today! Are you going somewhere special?”

In British English, on the other hand, fancy has a lot more flexibility. It can be an adjective, a verb, or a noun. 

As a verb, it can mean “to like” as in “I fancy him”; it can mean “to imagine” as in “fancy my surprise”; it can mean “to believe uncertainly” as in “She fancied she heard him say something mean about her”. 

As a noun, you can take a fancy to someone meaning to like someone.

See what I mean? Very flexible.

In America, we don’t really use “fancy” in these ways. We sometimes use “fancy that” meaning “imagine that” but I wouldn’t say that it’s very common. We mostly use it to describe something as expensive, impressive, or extravagant. 

Another common, everyday expression that’s different is how we express our tiredness. 

In American English, if you’re really tired–you didn’t sleep well and you worked all day–then we would probably say, “I’m exhausted.” In British English, however, they might say, “I’m knackered.”

Knackered is actually a word that has entered my daily vocabulary, even though it isn’t American English. That’s because my husband’s parents are British. My husband was born in and grew up in America, but he uses some British vocabulary and grammar because of the influence of his parents. So he uses knackered in his daily vocabulary, so, because I hear it a lot, I have started using it as well.

Alright, we covered a lot in this episode. As you can probably see now, there are a lot of differences between British English and American English, but remember: you can choose to focus on one or explore both. It depends on your style, needs, and preferences. There’s no one right way to do it. Learning a language is a very personal journey.

Let me know in the comments if you are focusing on one dialect–like American English–or if you’re exploring multiple dialects. Do you think there are more benefits to one method over the other? Let’s discuss it.

As always, thanks for being here! Until next time, my friends! Bye!