🌍 UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENT TYPES OF ENGLISH
English is everywhere: films, songs, signs, apps and the Internet. But English is not always the same.
Sometimes words change. Sometimes spelling is different. Sometimes pronunciation sounds strange.
In this unit, you’ll start with two big varieties: British English (UK) and American English (US) — and then zoom out to see English around the world.
Not to choose “correct English”. The goal is to understand different Englishes and communicate without stress.
🤷🏻 1) BRITISH VS AMERICAN ENGLISH Complete Guide
Same origin, different evolution. Let’s compare grammar, spelling, vocabulary and pronunciation.
A) Grammar Differences
Here are the key grammar differences in a single table.
| 💂🏼 BRITISH | Grammar Point | 🗽 AMERICAN |
|---|---|---|
| I’ve just eaten | Present Perfect vs Past Simple | I just ate |
| shall (more formal) | Auxiliaries | will / should |
| The team are | Collective nouns | The team is |
| burnt, learnt | Irregular verbs | burned, learned |
| at the weekend | Prepositions | on the weekend |
| I’ve got a car | Have got / Have | I have a car |
| Have you got a pen? | Questions with HAVE | Do you have a pen? |
| It’s cold, isn’t it? | Tag questions | It’s cold, right? |
| He has got better | Got vs Gotten | He has gotten better |
🧠 Activities (Grammar)
- Which auxiliary sounds more formal in British English?
- Which form is more common in the US: burnt or burned?
✅ Answer Key (Grammar)
- shall
- burned
Let’s check our learning with these games:
B) Spelling Differences
These are 7 very common spelling patterns:
| 💂🏼 BRITISH | Rule | 🗽 AMERICAN |
|---|---|---|
| colour, flavour | -our ↔ -or | color, flavor |
| defence, licence | -ence ↔ -ense | defense, license |
| organise, recognise | -ise ↔ -ize | organize, recognize |
| analyse, paralyse | -yse ↔ -yze | analyze, paralyze |
| travelling, cancelled | -ll ↔ -l | traveling, canceled |
| centre, fibre | -re ↔ -er | center, fiber |
| paediatric, manoeuvre | ae/oe ↔ e | pediatric, maneuver |
🧠 Activities (Spelling)
- Rewrite in American spelling: colour, centre, organise, travelling.
- Write 3 more UK → US pairs (different from the table).
✅ Answer Key (Spelling)
-
colour → color
centre → center
organise → organize
travelling → traveling - Examples: tyre → tire · jewellery → jewelry · mould → mold
- tyre – rubber wheel cover (UK) / tire (US)
- jewellery – rings, necklaces… (UK) / jewelry (US)
- mould – fungus (UK) / mold (US)
C) Vocabulary Differences
Everyday differences: home, transport, food, clothes…
| 💂🏼 British | 🗽 American |
|---|---|
| flat | apartment |
| rubbish | trash / garbage |
| bin | trash can |
| crisps | chips |
| chips | fries |
| petrol | gas |
| lorry | truck |
| trainers | sneakers |
| trousers | pants |
| pants (UK = underwear) | underpants |
| sweets | candy |
| toilet | bathroom / restroom |
Note: In the US, “pants” are normal trousers. In the UK, “pants” can mean underwear.
📝 Worksheet — British vs American English
Now let’s put everything together. These worksheets review vocabulary and spelling differences between British and American English. We’ll do it in class: first individually, then we correct it together.
Worksheets:
D) Pronunciation Differences (UK vs US)
British and American English are written very similarly, but they often sound different. In this video, you’ll hear some of the most common pronunciation differences.
🔎 Main pronunciation differences shown in the video (UK vs US)
| Feature | British English | American English |
|---|---|---|
| Word stress |
adULT BALlet BROchure gaRAGE vacCINE adVERtisement HOSpitable |
ADult balLET broCHURE GARage VACcine adverTISEment hosPIta-ble |
| -ILE ending |
AG-ile FER-tile HOS-tile MO-bile VER-sa-tile |
A-gile FUR-tile HOS-til MO-bil VER-sa-til |
| A sound |
bath — /bɑːθ/ laugh — /lɑːf/ class — /klɑːs/ chance — /tʃɑːns/ ask — /ɑːsk/ after — /ˈɑːftə/ can’t — /kɑːnt/ example — /ɪgˈzɑːmpəl/ |
— /bæθ/ — /læf/ — /klæs/ — /tʃæns/ — /æsk/ — /ˈæftər/ — /kænt/ — /ɪgˈzæmpəl/ |
| R sound |
hard — /hɑːd/ were — /wɜː/ ear — /ɪə/ pure — /pjʊə/ more — /mɔː/ chair — /tʃeə/ bar — /bɑː/ |
— /hɑrd/ — /wɝː/ — /ɪr/ — /pjʊr/ — /mɔr/ — /tʃer/ — /bɑr/ |
| -IZATION |
civilization- /ˌsɪvəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ organization- /ˌɔːɡənaɪˈzeɪʃən/ authorization- /ˌɔːθəraɪˈzeɪʃən/ globalization- /ˌɡləʊbəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/ |
- /ˌsɪvələˈzeɪʃən/ - /ˌɔrɡənəˈzeɪʃən/ - /ˌɔθərəˈzeɪʃən/ - /ˌɡloʊbələˈzeɪʃən/ |
🧠 Activities (Pronunciation)
- Listen again and write 3 words where UK and US pronunciation is different.
- Which difference is easiest for you to recognise: stress, A sound, R sound or T sound?
- True or False: “Different pronunciation means incorrect English.”
✅ Answer Key (Pronunciation)
- (1) Examples: adult, garage, bath, water, better.
- (2) Open answer.
- (3) False
📘 Mini Dictionary (Pronunciation)
- stress – the part of a word pronounced more strongly
- vowel sound – sound made by a, e, i, o, u
- rhotic – pronouncing the “R” sound (common in US English)
- non-rhotic – “R” is silent in some positions (common in UK English)
- soft T – American pronunciation where T sounds like D
Pronunciation differences are normal. Understanding them is more important than copying an accent.
🌍 2) ENGLISH BEYOND THE UK AND THE US Global English
British and American English are important — but they are not the whole story. Today, English is a global language. People use it to travel, work, study, play online, and communicate across countries.
You don’t “own” English because you were born in the UK or the US. English belongs to everyone who uses it.
A) Native, second-language, and international English
- Native English: spoken at home (UK, US, Ireland, Australia…)
- Second-language English: used daily with local languages (India, Nigeria, Singapore…)
- International English (lingua franca): used between people with different first languages (tourism, work, internet)
🧠 Activities (Global English)
- Write 3 situations where you personally use English (or see it) in real life.
- Circle the best idea: English is (a) one correct model (b) many valid varieties.
- What matters more in real communication: perfect accent or clear message?
✅ Answer Key (Global English)
- (1) Open answers.
- (2) (b)
- (3) Clear message
- global language – used in many countries for communication
- lingua franca – a shared language between people with different languages
B) Accents: different sound, same English
Accents change because of history, geography, and contact with other languages. An accent is not a “mistake”.
Accent ≠ level. A strong accent can belong to a fluent speaker.
🧠 Activities (Accents)
- Think of 3 English accents you’ve heard (films, series, YouTube…).
- True or False: “If you don’t sound British or American, your English is wrong.”
- Write 2 strategies to understand accents better (for example: focus on keywords).
✅ Answer Key (Accents)
- (1) Open answers.
- (2) False
- (3) Examples: slow down the audio · listen twice · focus on content words · use subtitles first, then remove them
- accent – the way a person pronounces a language
- fluency – speaking smoothly and confidently
- keywords – the most important words (content words)
C) Which English should you learn?
The best answer is simple: learn the English you will actually use. It’s normal to mix vocabulary sometimes. What matters is consistency when you write and clarity when you speak.
| Your situation | Good choice |
|---|---|
| Travelling a lot / tourism | Clear international English |
| Watching US series / YouTube | More US vocabulary is OK |
| Studying with UK materials | More UK spelling is OK |
| Writing emails / exams | Choose one spelling system and stay consistent |
🧠 Activities (Which English?)
- Do you prefer UK or US spelling? Write 3 examples (colour/color…).
- Choose one: I write in (UK/US) spelling, but I understand both.
- Write a 2-line message in “international English” (simple, clear, no slang).
✅ Answer Key (Which English?)
- (1) Open answers.
- (2) (Open choice — both are valid.)
- (3) Example: “Hello! I’m looking for the bus station. Can you help me, please? Thank you.”
- consistent – always using the same style/system
- slang – very informal words
🎯 That’s it for Unit 3!
