American or British English? Which one should you study?
Which one should you study? American or British English? Do you need to know the differences between American and British English? Which one should you learn? We also have detailed article here about differences between American and British English.
Which is More Popular American or British English?
Based on demographic data, British English is spoken by approximately 70 million people in the United Kingdom, and American English by approximately 350 million people in the United States.
When giving figures for the US, we assume that the Spanish-speaking population in that country also speaks English. Canada is also another country that closer to American English with more than 30 million English-speaking population.
Australian and New Zealand English are relatively differentiated from British English. Population of these countries, which total approximately 30 million.
Also, the English spoken in Ireland with a population of 5 million is closer to British English than American English, although there are certain differences.
As a result, English is the mother tongue of around 500 million people around the world. About 75 million speak British English, 370 million speak American English, and 30 million speak Australian and New Zealand English. It is clear that American English has numerical superiority.
Image: Wikimedia
Americans and British Can Understand Each Other?
It should not be forgotten that native speakers of both variations can easily understand each other. In this information age, pronunciation differences between American English speakers and British English speakers are no longer a handicap. People who speak these two variants now are busy to joke and have fun about those differences.
For example, while in the USA, the word “pants” means “trousers“, same word means “underwear” in the United Kingdom. If you are speaking one of these variations, you should be careful about some word differences when you are on a travel.
View this post on Instagram
Is American English Easier Than British?
I know people wonder whether American or British English is more difficult, in other words, which is easier to understand and speak. However, there is no scientifically precise answer to this question. Some find American English, others British English difficult and incomprehensible.
It is impossible to say which variety is more difficult than the other. This is purely a matter of perception for someone who is learning English.
View this post on Instagram
Which one should you learn?
My personal advice is for English learners to think about your situation. Are you living in an English speaking country? Are you going to live in the USA or UK? If it is the United States then you should be learning American English. But if not, you should focus on British English grammar and spelling standards.
As you can see, a choice between the two varieties of English will be purely personal.
On the other hand, no matter which variety you pick , mixing two variations should be carefully avoided.
