If were in america...?

Question

If were in america why do we say we talk english instead of american?

and in brazil they say they speak brazilian not portuguese

Answer 1

you speak American English, it is different from the Queens English of UK, and different (but not as much different) from Canadian English, notice the different spelling my system passes for "colour", color is not recognized by my spell checker and I have to tell it to ignore it. And we say Z to rhyme with Ted, not Z to rhyme with sea. Those are just a couple of small examples. But these are only dialects of English, and English, is flexible.

Answer 2

I'm not in America, but that would be because that's the name of the language. If for some reason you need to be precise, you can say you speak/write American English.

I've only ever heard of "Brazilian Portuguese", never "Brazilian" as a language name--but I haven't been to Brazil or spoken to many Brazilians. The dialect of German I hear here is almost always called "Swiss German"--very rarely "Swiss".

Answer 3

We're in America, so we speak English. The same reason they speak Spanish in Mexico, Portuguese in Brazil, and French in Canada.

Answer 4

Becasue English is the language that Americans speak.

There are American slang words, spelling and pronunciations that are different, but the language is not different.

In Canada they speak English, not Canadian.

In Australia the speak English not Australian

The English language has been around since long before the US was founded, which is why it is used and still called by it's correct name

Answer 5

Not every country is the hub of its pervasive language. The majority of Portuguese speakers are in Brazil but it's not called Brazilian. Same deal with Mexico.

Answer 6

We speak the English language, but I would say it's an American dialect.

Answer 7

That is such a good question.

We say we speak English, because the majority of the first people who settled here were from England. So, that's how it started.

I'm sure if you asked someone from England now, they wouldn't call what we speak "English". And they would be right. LOL.

Answer 8

It was the English that makes up the majority of the Americans ........just like Australia, New Zealand......they also speak English.

But some words, spellings have been altered...even the slang.
eg: taxi / cab, elevator / lift, color / colour, flavor / flavour, football / scoccer, football / rugby, etc........

Answer 9

We ARE in America and we SPEAK English. I guess it is because most of the early settlers were of that descent.

Answer 10

We speak English although what some people call english now days is pretty crappy english.