BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishAstudentisstudyingBritishEnglish.Hewonders:CanIhaveatalkwithAmericans?Cantheycatchme?LearnersofEnglishoftenaskwhatarethedifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish?Howimportantarethesedifferences?Certainly,therearesomedifferencesbetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.Thereareafewdifferencesingrammar.Forexample,speakersofBritishEnglishsay”inhospital”and“Haveyouapen?”Americans”inthehospital”and“Doyouhaveapen?”Pronunciationissometimesdifferent.Americansusuallysoundthe“r”inwords.TherearedifferencebetweenBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishinspellingandvocabulary.Forexample.”colour”and“honour”areBritishEnglishspellings.“Color”and“honor”areAmericanEnglishspellings.Thesedifferencesingrammar,pronunciation,spellingandvocabulary,however,arenotimportant.Forthemostpart,BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglisharethesamelanguage.S-U-N,Not“theSun”I’lltellyouastoryaboutaChinesestudent.IthappenedwhenhestudiedinEngland.HisfamilynamewasSun.ItisspeltS-U-N,justthesameastheEnglish,word“sun”,thesuninthesky.Englishisacountrywithbadweather.Itisoftencloudyormistyanditrainsnowandagain.Sothepeopledon’tgetmuchsunshineintheyear.WhentheChinesestudentarrivedatLondonAirport,atallEnglishpolicemanwithalongfacecheckedhispassport.ThepolicemanwasinterestedintheChinesename“Sun”inthepassport.HethoughtitwaspronouncedjustlikeEnglishword”sun”.SohesaidtotheChinesestudent,“IseeyournameisSun.Youarewantedhere.”Whatasurprisetohearthat!Everybodyknowifyouarewantedbythepolice,youmusthavebrokenthelaw.Soheaskedthepoliceman,”Isthereanythingwrongwithmypassport?DoIhavetogobacktoChinarightnow?”“Goback?”shoutedthepoliceman,”Nowthatyouarehere,we’llneverletyougoaway.”“What’shappened?WhathaveIdone?”askedtheChinesestudentinsurprise.Hethoughthewasgoingtobearrested.Itwasonlythenthatthepolicemanbegantosmile.Hesaid,”Youdon’tknowwhatyouhavedone,MrSun?You’vebroughtsunshinetoEngland.Sowedon’twantyoutogoaway.”OldFarmerandtheHorseOncetherewasanoldfarmer,withahorsewhichwasalmostasoldashimself.Hesetoutonemorningwithhisyoungsontosellthehorsebeforeitdied.Fatherandsonwalked,becausethefarmerdidnotwantthehorsetobetootried.Theymettwomenontheroad.Thetwomensaid,“Whyareyouwalking,farmer?Youhaveahorse.It’salongwaytothemarket.“Thefarmerknewthatthiswastrue,soherodeonthehorse,whilehissonwalked.Thentheymettwoladies.“Whatareyoudoingupthere,farmer?Can’tyouseehowtiredyourboyis?”Sothefarmergotdown,andhissonrodeinstead.Next,threeoldmenstoppedthem.Onesaid,“Whyareyouwalking,farmer?Getup.It’stoohotforanoldmanlikeyoutowalktoday.”Sothefarmergotupbehindhisson,andtheyrodeon.Sometimelater,ayoungwomanpassedthem.“Whyaren’tyouwalking?”sheasked.“Itisn’tfartothemarket.Giveyourpooroldhorsearest.”Sothefarmerandhissongotdownonceagain.Itisafactthatyoucannotpleaseallthepeopleallthetime.ThesameclothesOnedayMrBillsawawomaninthestreetwithtenchildren.Hewasverymuchsurprisedbecauseallthechildrenwerewearingthesameclothes----whitecaps,bluecoatsandblacktrousers.“Areallthesechildrenyours?”heaskedthemother.“Yes,theyare.”sheanswered.“Doyoualwaysputthesameclothesonthem?”askedMrBill.“Yes,”answeredthemother.“Whenwehadonlyfourchildren,weputthesameclothesonthembecausewedidn'twanttoloseanyofthem.Itwaseasytoseeourchildrenwhentheyweretogetherwithotherchildrenbecausetheywereallinthesameclothes.Andnow,wh...
