Do Americans speak proper English?

Question

Is the english spoken in England any more 'correct' than the english spoken in the US. Did our language evolve from a common ancestor 400 years ago that would make our languages distinctly different but not wrong?

Answer 1

Ok, I am a linguistics/TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) major, and I will tell you exactly what all my professors have told me repeatedly: there is no such thing as "proper" English, just region-specific English. England and America don't have uniform dialect patterns across the countries; people from Georgia speak radically differently than people from Massachusetts and people from London speak radically differently than people from Yorkshire, but English is English across the board. People all over the world speak the language "natively," like in Singapore and India there are families that speak English as their L1 (aka primary language) but those two Englishes are different from both American and British English. There's no proper English, just different dialects with different cultural and L2 (secondary language) influences.

Answer 2

all language evolves, some faster then others, but though having a common ancestor, American English, and the English spoken in England have evolved and have subtle differences between the two. the best way to see the differences is look at the slang used in that country.

Answer 3

I know that English over in England is a different dialect than here in America. In America there are also different dialects for each region that you visit. There are many different cultures within the country here and that impacts language. Also our neighbors Canada and Mexico also influence our borders. I've heard from friends that the easiest places for someone from England to visit are typically Washington D.C. and Central California. I know the slang is much different and American slang, to me, seems to change on a daily basis. Much of the written language is the same. I would think that aside from a few words here and there that an American could pick up a book in England and be able to read and vice versa.

Answer 4

The English written and spoken by literate Americans is just as good as that of literate English men and women.
However, in both countries, there are many people who don't use the language well and sometimes you can barely tell what language they are writing/speaking.

When I speak English to Mexicans, they say they understand me more easily than they understand Americans becuse I annunciate more clearly. Although this might no be true, because Mexicans are so nice, they like to give compliments.

Answer 5

English is a universal language but in America we speak a dialect of English, in England they speak a dialect of English, and different dialects are spoken throughout the world.

Answer 6

most people will disagree with this, but the one spoken in southern england is the 'correct' or at least 'standard' form of english, all others including american are branches off of that one, that some may say are incorrect. the one in england is one of the oldest and although there are a few new words brought from other cultures (most being the names of curries or chinese food) it has remained the same for several hundred years

Answer 7

Our version of English is different, that is all.
In every country, there are developments and additions made to a language as you move from area to area and this is no different for "the English speaking world."

Indian English is out of sight, and yet it is perfect for them and suits their needs just fine.

If we legislated changes in language, it would be dull indeed..... although the Academie Francaise (sp?) does very well at looking after the French language ...to see that it keeps its orignal form. And that is ok, too. They have rights.

Answer 8

Everyone speaks the language differently, but usually incorrect. In the south they say Ain't ~ Which is not even a real word, and in England they use all kind of slang too.

Answer 9

Americans speak proper American-English. The individuals in the UK speak UK-English. Slightly different.

Answer 10

Dialects are not "wrong".. they are just indicate the changes a society goes through. For example, ebonics and yiddish are both (albeit debated) considered a language. However, "pig latin" is not considered a valid language.

Language is just there so people can get their points across to one another, and to label one "correct" and one "incorrect" would have to be contingent on whether the standard of being understood is met, not nescessarily how close to the origin it is.