Americans that write like the English

[Svenskaflicka]

Having learned Brittish English in school, but being subjected to American English on TV and radio, I always get confused with u's and -er/-re, so I mix them all around, and spell differently depending what mood I'm in.

 

[Why]

The car below is a jag-you-er...... NOT a "Jag-wire."

 

[wildsweetone]

*drooling big time*

 

[Why]

*drooling big time*

Agree...

 

[Gabriel_Lee]

Chicklet

It looks right because it is right.

GL

 

[Madame Manga]

Re: British

I could read a US author, say Zane Grey, and write a pastiche of his style but it would be awkward to maintain.

Good God, no! Zane Grey? You'd sound like a late-Victorian-educated Ohio dentist trying to do an antebellum Texas drawl. Not like an American of this or any other century. ;-)

And I should know--I own more than fifty Zane Grey novels. *blush* An excellent grounding in some respects, but not a model of American dialect for any writer to follow!

MM

 

[TheEarl]

Tu puis, si tu veux. Moi, je l'ecrit toujours.

Bien sur, si vous ecrire en Francais, en peut parle tigre. Vous doit m'excuse pour mon mal Francais; c'est cinq ans quand l'ecole.

La Marquis

 

[pop_54]

Hmm

Chicklet there is no problem with you spelling English as it was invented, because you are American doesn't mean you have to do anything you don't feel comfortable about just to feel American, you are it, so no need to force yourself to be it.

The words you mentioned do in fact seem very odd to most when spelt 'or' rather than 'our' I think.

I have word spell check set to UK English and it does a reasonable job of correcting and reminding.

I don't object to American English or any other brand of English for that matter, each to their own, I'm easy, (or so I've been told ), and it doesn't offend or annoy me.

What I did object to once however was a feedback e-mail that told me my story was too British and the spelling was all wrong for the American market, so he/she only gave it a 2 vote.
I reminded the sender that as I am British, and the story was set in Britain, the story was bound to be British.
I also reminded him/her that as I don't get paid for writing, the story was not aimed at any market in particular.
I then went on to ensure a 1 vote for every other story of mine by telling him/her that if he/she were too thick to sort out a few spelling differences maybe they should go for picture stories.

pops.......

 

[oggbashan]

Re: Re: British

Good God, no! Zane Grey? You'd sound like a late-Victorian-educated Ohio dentist trying to do an antebellum Texas drawl. Not like an American of this or any other century. ;-)

And I should know--I own more than fifty Zane Grey novels. *blush* An excellent grounding in some respects, but not a model of American dialect for any writer to follow!

MM

I still like Zane Grey. I accept his version of America as a fantasy land where all the baddies wore black hats, the ladies ended up with the good guys and you knew everything would come right by the end.

I have written one story about "India". It bears as little resemblance to the real country as Zane Grey's country does to the US. Perhaps I should have set my story in Ruritania.

The problem remains. How do I write a story set in a place I don't really know? How do I convey a Texan, a New Englander or a Chicago Southsider?

I could do research but I don't think any amount of research would give me the tools to sound authentic. So I'll stick to what I know or set my stories in a fantasy world of my own invention.

Og

 

[Guest]

So I'll stick to what I know or set my stories in a fantasy world of my own invention.

Ogg, I always presume everyone's stories are set in a fantasy world of their own invention, even if somewhat autobiographical. My stories are all set in an elevator in a posh (upscale, for U.S.) Tokyo department store. I know dept. stores and elevators but have never been to Tokyo.

My English was learned in Catholic schools some decades ago, and therefore more rigorously studied than in most public schools, and from reading a variety of English literature including works by Irish*, American (Southern, E. and W. coast, midwest, etc.), English (of various class), Russian (Nabakov, Brodsky), and other English writing authors. Then there is a variety of fine journalism, criticism and academic work. I began with American comic strips and comic books (the ones for girls mostly but some of boys). I read Shakespeare and Chaucer well in their original texts (though it took a while to get over all those long-tailed f's) and select translations of much of the earliest western canon.

*I tell people my favorite English writers are the Irish: esp. Yeats, Synge, Wilde, Beckett, Joyce.

I suppose I spell like I was taught and do not use English spellings but I believe I use the best of English gleaned from my education and readings. I never feel confused, and though I use the OED I do not use some of its spellings as the words would not fit my texts.

My first language was Spanish (long forgotten but for a memory of its rhythm and texture), and I love many other languages and their literature (in transaltion) but I truly love the English language best, on a deeply profound level; it meets all my expressive need.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I'm thinking about starting a thread for Non-Americans Who Can't Make Up Their Mind If They Should Write Like The English Or The Americans.

 

[Guest]

I'm thinking about starting a thread for Non-Americans Who Can't Make Up Their Mind If They Should Write Like The English Or The Americans.

That's too long a title, Flicka. How about "Bi-polar English Users"?

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I don't even know what that means!

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I can make up my mind perfectly. I was taught British English at school, I read British English as much as American English, most of the time it makes more sense, I'm culturally closer to Britannia than to America (although America was named after a Portuguese lol), so there's really no competition. The problem is I slip, sometimes. Damn you Americans and your movies! Always trying to confuse me...

Happy 4th of July, BTW.

 

[Guest]

Damn you Americans and your movies! Always trying to confuse me...

Hi Lauren, nice to see you here.

I had a Parisienne friend who visited NYC as a young girl and expected to see everyone 'singing in the rain' and tapdancing on the streets. She was so disappointed.

Perdita

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Okay... That's not exactly the image I have of New York, but I see your point.

What I mean is, and I'm sure it's the same thing for Svenska, we know what is the correct way to write something (when I say correct, I mean according to the rules we're trying to follow, i.e. British English), but because we hear so much music and watch so many American movies (I'm not sure about Sweden, but in Portugal we abhor dubbed movies), sometimes, if we're not focused, we let American expressions weasel their way in. That's one of the things I try to keep an eye on while editing.

 

[JUDO]

Re: Re: Re: British

The problem remains. How do I write a story set in a place I don't really know? How do I convey a Texan, a New Englander or a Chicago Southsider?

Og

Write the story and ask one. Lit is a perfect place for getting wonderful editorial feedback; particularly on cultural/societal descriptions and language.

I wrote a story set in 19th C. Egypt about the British characters at a dig and established resort of the time. My British editors helped me immensely. The end result was very satisfying. I highly reccomend using the resources at hand.


- Judo

 

[Lauren Hynde]

That makes perfect sense. If I were to write a story about two surfer chicks getting it on in California, I'd definitely try to write it in American English and look around for the appropriate editor to help me.

 

[JUDO]

That makes perfect sense. If I were to write a story about two surfer chicks getting it on in California, I'd definitely try to write it in American English and look around for the appropriate editor to help me.

Ooo... Pick me, pick me!
<jumping up and down, waving my hands>


- Judo

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I am SO tired of explaining that we don't have elks and bears and wolves running loose in the streets of our towns...

 

[oggbashan]

I can make up my mind perfectly. I was taught British English at school, I read British English as much as American English, most of the time it makes more sense, I'm culturally closer to Britannia than to America (although America was named after a Portuguese lol), so there's really no competition. Happy 4th of July, BTW.

Portugal is Britain's oldest ally, so I am pleased to hear that you understand British English.

Since being allied to Portugal we English/British have been at war sometime or other with almost everywhere else except Switzerland and Antarctica.

Happy 4th July to the former colony.

Og

 

[Madame Manga]

Re: Re: Re: British

I still like Zane Grey. I accept his version of America as a fantasy land where all the baddies wore black hats, the ladies ended up with the good guys and you knew everything would come right by the end.

Absolutely. As I say, I have shelves full of his novels! Sure, I bought all of them from second-hand stores before I hit eighteen, but I still read them from time to time. Some of his dialog sounds like words that human beings would speak, and some of it doesn't, that's all. He's of the school that spells dialect differently from standard English, which isn't much done any more. The actual dialect, if read aloud, does sound like working-class Texan, but with a grand infusion of Victorian purple. It's both hilariously unrealistic and superbly dramatic. Frankly, I love the guy. ;-)

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Portugal is Britain's oldest ally, so I am pleased to hear that you understand British English.

Since being allied to Portugal we English/British have been at war sometime or other with almost everywhere else except Switzerland and Antarctica.

I'm sure we'll get them yet, though! Those penguins never fooled me for a second.

Can you recognize what is represented in this monument, in the centre of Porto?

http://cm-porto.wiremaze.com/media/449218/455970.jpg

 

[ag2507]

I'm sure we'll get them yet, though! Those penguins never fooled me for a second.

Can you recognize what is represented in this monument, in the centre of Porto?

http://cm-porto.wiremaze.com/media/449218/455970.jpg

It's very small: I can't see it at all.

AG

 

[Lauren Hynde]

It's very small: I can't see it at all.

AG

Oops. What about now?

http://cm-porto.wiremaze.com/media/449218/460459.jpg