Spot-on: An American Learns to Speak English

As someone once said, we are “two nations separated by a common language". Oscar Wilde said “We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language.” George Bernard Shaw was credited with saying: “England and America are two countries separated by the same language.”

It has been the subject of many humorous accounts, books and web sites. As an American Expat, I am faced daily with pronunciation and spelling differences, word usage variations, new slang, different forms of words, new words and all done in various dialects. It is not just a difference of driving on the other side of the street. We speak and think in many different ways as well. Here are a few of the web sites that offer us a resource to translating Ameri-English to Brit- English.

The American-British British-American Dictionary

By Jermey Smith http://www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/

American-British/British-American Dictionary http://www.travelfurther.net/dictionaries/

English to English http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/2284/

The Best American Guide to Speaking English http://www.effingpot.com/

Have a brilliant day!