Should I Correct American Spellings ?

[PeaceBlondie]

Well, now that you mention it, Ijustwannateach, your name is a sentence that has no spaces, and 'wanna' is not in Webster's and the Oxford dickthionareez.

[Stephen Cleary]

As a proud englishman, i all ways do my best to teach my students how to spell correctlly and that ofcourse is the British way.

I use to work with some american teacher who just did'nt have a clue how to spell properly. Color instead of Colour, Polis instead of Police and Center instead of Centre. Thats the big Problem with poeple from that part of the world, their so simple in the head that they try too simplify the english langauge.

I say that un-less Americns learn to spell propely, they ought to bugger off and go teach else where.

Edited May 21, 2007 by stevesuphan

[DrFisher]

As a proud englishman, i all ways do my best to teach my students how to spell correctlly and that ofcourse is the British way.

I use to work with some american teacher who just did'nt have a clue how to spell properly. Color instead of Colour, Polis instead of Police and Center instead of Centre. Thats the big Problem with poeple from that part of the world, their so simple in the head that they try too simplify the english langauge.

I say that un-less Americns learn to spell propely, they ought to bugger off and go teach else where.

I honestly hope you posted this as a joke because if you did not I'm not sure what form of English you use but it is not British or American. If you are serious I guess it makes it ten times more funny.

[colino]

God i thought my spelling was bad

[Ijustwannateach]

Well, now that you mention it, Ijustwannateach, your name is a sentence that has no spaces, and 'wanna' is not in Webster's and the Oxford dickthionareez.

Oops! I'm so ashamed.....

[WapiJohn]

Hi all im just wondering about should i correct the spelling mistakes that the students make when writing ie color, and tire (on a wheel ) or am i just beating my head against the wall ?, they seem to be used alot over here by major retail outlets ,,, so spell as it sounds or the queens english ?

it will be intresting to hear what everybody thinks , il go with the majority

ta very much

I am British, and teach British English to my students ( 1000+) However when I am faced with the " Lazy English " words like labor, color etc. I simply tell my students that that is the American spelling and this ( labour, colour etc ) is the British spelling. No big deal.

It is very difficult for the students because they are being taught from both British and American Text books and they get very confused. I hate the American corruption of our beautiful language, but I put my personal feelings to one side and tell my students that is is important to learn both British and American English, because most of the Internet is in American English.

My school is aware of the differences and last year the mid term exam for M5 students was the differences between British and American English. No problem !

I do have a bit of fun with American terms when teaching my students " You never ask a British man if he is wearing suspenders. You would probably get a punch in the mouth! " This always gets a laugh, when I explain why. Also Brits wear their pants under their trousers.

I had a student come to me the other day and he wanted to go to the toilet I said to him do you want the rest room? He replied " I just want to go to the toilet I don't want to rest!

Another term I cannot tell my students is the word " fanny " it has different meanings in British and American English. If you used that term to an English woman you would probably get a slap in the face or worse !

Don't make such a big deal about the differences go with the flow.

After all, we know we have the best language in the world

[CalicoConsulting]

I ain't learnt to quit using learnt.

[mbkudu]

A few years ago when i taught in LOS. I had a little girl(6 or 7 years old) ask me why Americans say Z(ZEE) and English(ZED). This girl was Thai and her parents are Thai but she was born in New York and spoke English with and American accent. She was/is a very smart girl. My answer was that "Neither was wrong. But since i teach English and i am British then Z(ZED ) is what i will continue to teach. She seemed happy enough with my response.

I wondered about this too. I never heard of it until my children came home saying zed when they said the alphabet. They pronounced it more like sat though. I told them it is a Zeeeebra not a Satbra or Zedbra in your case. Now they have the thai teacher using Zee instead.

I'm American and have always taught it as 'zee' and not 'zed', however it makes more sense to teach it as

'zed' because 'zee' is often confused with the letter 'C' or 'cee' or should I say 'see'.

[WapiJohn]

A few years ago when i taught in LOS. I had a little girl(6 or 7 years old) ask me why Americans say Z(ZEE) and English(ZED). This girl was Thai and her parents are Thai but she was born in New York and spoke English with and American accent. She was/is a very smart girl. My answer was that "Neither was wrong. But since i teach English and i am British then Z(ZED ) is what i will continue to teach. She seemed happy enough with my response.

I wondered about this too. I never heard of it until my children came home saying zed when they said the alphabet. They pronounced it more like sat though. I told them it is a Zeeeebra not a Satbra or Zedbra in your case. Now they have the thai teacher using Zee instead.

I'm American and have always taught it as 'zee' and not 'zed', however it makes more sense to teach it as

'zed' because 'zee' is often confused with the letter 'C' or 'cee' or should I say 'see'.

Aha ! A wise American. A very valid point, something I hadn't considered. ( A good American friend of mine also has the ability to look at things objectively, a rare gift for both British and American )

[Stephen Cleary]

Well, now that you mention it, Ijustwannateach, your name is a sentence that has no spaces, and 'wanna' is not in Webster's and the Oxford dickthionareez.

Oops! I'm so ashamed.....

Sure, ijustwannatech' a supposed moderater on this forum, is a complerte shame to the english langauge with his 'wanna'. Such american trosh.

I hasten to advice that un-less 'ijustwannateach' improves he's english langauge skils i shall have to send a PM to his boss Mr Goerge, telling him to boot out Ijustwannateachenglish.

So, 'ijustwannateach' i llok forward to waking up tommorrow to reading yout name "I want to speak English' not <deleted> 'I wanna!!'

Let this be a warning to any one who wnats a job in Thailand, and especialy the americans with their darned hotdog.

Edited May 21, 2007 by stevesuphan

[CalicoConsulting]

But if you say Zed it kills the rhyme in that song. Plus, Zed was the name of Bobcat Goldthwaite's character in the Police Academy movies.

I, on the other hand, taught all my students in China how to say "y'all" and how to sing Randy Travis's "Deeper Than The Holler." That's right, they speak Southern.

Who says you can't eat grits with chopsticks?

[PeaceBlondie]

The American Calico cat from the southern states has a valid point that's seldom admitted by Yankees (meaning north of the Mason-Dixon line). Y'all is a good way to say the plural of the second person. As recently as the King James Version (1612), you, your was always plural, and the singular was thee, thou, thy, thine. Y'all leaves no doubt that a plural audience is being addressed. OTOH, all dialects of English use an ambiguous we. In batsi-kop, there are two first person singular forms: we including the audience, and we excluding the audience.

Spelling....when teaching English in Thailand...do we honestly expect Thais to pronounce whilst or amongst, even if they spell them correctly?

[CalicoConsulting]

The Chinese have ni (you singular) and ni men (you plural), so North Carolina has you and y'all. (No youse or younse in MY classroom.)

On the other hand, a jarring transition from Willie Nelson to Eminem was a bit rough on those students. I had to teach them that "I'm'a'change" is in fact a complete sentence with subject, verb and infinitive phrase acting as an object.

Aren't you glad I don't teach in Thailand?

[calibanjr.]

I've had Southern people call me y'all, just referring to me by myself, singular. Ain't that purty standard? I've also heard, as a plural, "all y'all", from Texans mostly PB! I always thought that one was cool!

[PeaceBlondie]

I would only say all y'all with a drawl, when I meant something like, "all youse guys" on the west side of Chicago.

But you do occasionally hear a Texan say the plural possessive: "Are these y'alls' books here?"

[Ijustwannateach]

Well, now that you mention it, Ijustwannateach, your name is a sentence that has no spaces, and 'wanna' is not in Webster's and the Oxford dickthionareez.

Oops! I'm so ashamed.....

Sure, ijustwannatech' a supposed moderater on this forum, is a complerte shame to the english langauge with his 'wanna'. Such american trosh.

I hasten to advice that un-less 'ijustwannateach' improves he's english langauge skils i shall have to send a PM to his boss Mr Goerge, telling him to boot out Ijustwannateachenglish.

So, 'ijustwannateach' i llok forward to waking up tommorrow to reading yout name "I want to speak English' not <deleted> 'I wanna!!'

Let this be a warning to any one who wnats a job in Thailand, and especialy the americans with their darned hotdog.

[bald_at_35]

umm not read a word of this thread, but IJWT - I sent you a pm. I'm pretty sure another Thailand forum would warmly welcome you back again.

[wolfmanjack]

A few years ago when i taught in LOS. I had a little girl(6 or 7 years old) ask me why Americans say Z(ZEE) and English(ZED). This girl was Thai and her parents are Thai but she was born in New York and spoke English with and American accent. She was/is a very smart girl. My answer was that "Neither was wrong. But since i teach English and i am British then Z(ZED ) is what i will continue to teach. She seemed happy enough with my response.

I wondered about this too. I never heard of it until my children came home saying zed when they said the alphabet. They pronounced it more like sat though. I told them it is a Zeeeebra not a Satbra or Zedbra in your case. Now they have the thai teacher using Zee instead.

I'm American and have always taught it as 'zee' and not 'zed', however it makes more sense to teach it as

'zed' because 'zee' is often confused with the letter 'C' or 'cee' or should I say 'see'.

If you pronounce the ZZZEEEEE correctly as in hard on th ZZZZ part then it should be very difficult to mistake it for cee which is soft on the c part.

[wolfmanjack]

I've had Southern people call me y'all, just referring to me by myself, singular. Ain't that purty standard? I've also heard, as a plural, "all y'all", from Texans mostly PB! I always thought that one was cool!

When a yankee lady is having sex she says you can cum now. When a southern belle has sex she says y'all can cum now.

Old joke I know but some brits may not have heard it before.

[WapiJohn]

Hi all im just wondering about should i correct the spelling mistakes that the students make when writing ie color, and tire (on a wheel ) or am i just beating my head against the wall ?, they seem to be used alot over here by major retail outlets ,,, so spell as it sounds or the queens english ?

it will be intresting to hear what everybody thinks , il go with the majority

ta very much

Spelling is not really a problem, the differences can be easily explained.

But American pronunciation is very hard to explain. In particular the Americans inability to pronounce the letter " T "

The Thai's have a problem with " L " and " R " and the Americans have a problem with " T " and " D "

I have to tell my students that words like " Butter, Better, British etc. " should be spoken using the letter " T "

NOT the American way " Budder, Bedder, Bridish etc. " as there is no letter " D " in any of these words.

Edited May 22, 2007 by WapiJohn

[CalicoConsulting]

I've never met a Brit yet who wasn't aware that English has many different accents, yet some assume all Americans speak the same. I've never said budder in my life.

[WapiJohn]

A few years ago when i taught in LOS. I had a little girl(6 or 7 years old) ask me why Americans say Z(ZEE) and English(ZED). This girl was Thai and her parents are Thai but she was born in New York and spoke English with and American accent. She was/is a very smart girl. My answer was that "Neither was wrong. But since i teach English and i am British then Z(ZED ) is what i will continue to teach. She seemed happy enough with my response.

I wondered about this too. I never heard of it until my children came home saying zed when they said the alphabet. They pronounced it more like sat though. I told them it is a Zeeeebra not a Satbra or Zedbra in your case. Now they have the thai teacher using Zee instead.

I'm American and have always taught it as 'zee' and not 'zed', however it makes more sense to teach it as

'zed' because 'zee' is often confused with the letter 'C' or 'cee' or should I say 'see'.

If you pronounce the ZZZEEEEE correctly as in hard on th ZZZZ part then it should be very difficult to mistake it for cee which is soft on the c part.

Try explaining that to a Thai student !

[WapiJohn]

I've never met a Brit yet who wasn't aware that English has many different accents, yet some assume all Americans speak the same. I've never said budder in my life.

I tell my students that there are many different English accents, both in America and in The British Isles.

I also tell them that I have difficulty understanding many British Accents particulary Northern ones, as well as many American, South African, Australian etc. accents.

[colino]

thanks for all the input its been very interesting to read what you all think,and had to say on the matter

thanks again

colino

[WapiJohn]

Twendee, Thirdee, Fordee, Fifdee, Sixdee, Sevendee, Eighdee, Ninedee

[wolfmanjack]

I've never met a Brit yet who wasn't aware that English has many different accents, yet some assume all Americans speak the same. I've never said budder in my life.

Yeah. I am not sure where in the USA he is talking about.

Maybe the southern drawl ????

Personally i can think of about 7 different accents for the USA. Some more difficult to understand than others.

[Scott]

When I am teaching, (and usually using a book), I stick with the vocabulary and spelling that is used. I now have books using both American and British spelling, sentence structure etc. I just stay with the book because it is much less confusing for the students.

I do explain (with older students) the differences is spelling and encourage them to use one system or the other, but not to mix them. However, I don't ever take points off for spelling that is incorrect in one system or the other.

[meadish_sweetball]

blame Bill Gates and his oxymoron ,

American English ............sheeesh.

Linguists have acknowledged different varities of English for considerably longer than any Microsoft spellcheck programs have been around. The developers were enlightened enough to understand that there is a valid difference.

You can be as condescending as you like towards the majority, but it does not make you look any more sophisticated, especially not when your ideas go against the majority of experts within the field you are commenting on.

[meadish_sweetball]

Spelling....when teaching English in Thailand...do we honestly expect Thais to pronounce whilst or amongst, even if they spell them correctly?

Not sure if you're joking, but I was taught British English at school. Even back then in the Palaeolithic (Paleolithic) era, 'whilst' and 'amongst' were not recommended forms. While they may still be acceptable in writing I very much doubt they are taught to Brits nowadays, except as older or more formal variations of 'while' and 'among'.

As for Z [zi:] or [zed] it should not matter too much. Thais have a serious problem with getting the voiced s right though, so for that reason it makes sense with [zed] as even pronounced [sad] which is the way it comes out from most Thais, it will be distinguishable from 'c'...

The reason for calling it [zed] in the first place is in the Greek origins of the letter. Swedish has 'säta' and other European languages have 'zeta' / 'seta'.

[chinthee]

blame Bill Gates and his oxymoron ,

American English ............sheeesh.

Linguists have acknowledged different varities of English for considerably longer than any Microsoft spellcheck programs have been around. The developers were enlightened enough to understand that there is a valid difference.

You can be as condescending as you like towards the majority, but it does not make you look any more sophisticated, especially not when your ideas go against the majority of experts within the field you are commenting on.

Speaking of the majority, whether you like it or not, America's influence in media, software and the internet, and generally in so many fields as the sole superpower today means that necessarily American English has become increasingly prevalent, and often preferred. Further, linguists will agree that the most effective living language is one that is successful in assimilating contemporary changes in culture, etc.. That's what makes English such a vibrant global language, witness the rise of wikipedia, etc..

For those of you pining for strict constructionist English language, you're sounding ancient. Who cares? It reminds me of the French trying to eliminate English words or Franglaise. Of course, the caveat is that I agree it will be more confusing when teaching English here.