US vs. the Rest: is American English Taking Over?

Is American English taking over?

Spoken English
Around the world, spoken English can sound very different; hell, even in the same country it can sound, to the casual listener, like a different language. This difference can sometimes lead to misunderstanding and difficulty in communication; however, not so long ago (certainly in my lifetime), there was very much more diversity within the spoken English language.

Brought up in the UK, I listened to the different American accents in various US television shows and films with fascination, and could identify several New York dialects, the New England inflection, the drawl of the southern states, and all very different from a west coast accent. I was a Scottish miner’s brat, who’d never met an American; the power of talking pictures.

Whilst in Scotland I was able to tell what village someone came from by their accent. After moving to a new mining community in England, I came into contact with miners’ families from all over the UK; so many different accents: Wales, Ireland (Ulster & Eire) and the Northern and Southern counties of England; a multitude of different accents. Continue reading “US vs. the Rest: is American English Taking Over?”