My apologies to all. I had not meant to open up *a can of worms*, only to take issue with the acceptance of American English as a world standard. Consider me chilled.
Anthony 2008/9/4 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Anthony, chill mate. > > I was also going to give him *a piece of my mind* but thought better of > it. > > As I *mused* over his email I realised that he was really attacking > Russians who wanted to learn British English instead of American English. > > Then i thought* Let's not make a mountain out of a molehill* and *let's > not make waves. Let sleeping dogs lie*. > > This is an information mail list, not a flame anyone-who-offends-you-list. > > Being British and in the 'middle ground, I understand; > All dialects of England English > All dialects of Scottish, Irish and Welsh English > All dialects of American English > Indian English > Pakistani English > German English > French English > Russian English > Asian English (with a little bit of concentration on my part) :-) > Australian English > South African English > Icelandic English > Mexican English > and too may others to mention here. > > Even if someone learnt *Queen's English* they would be lost with *Geordie > *or *Scouse *and forget the 'ze' of French English or the lack of > consonants of middle American English. > > I normally find that these people who complain about 'British English' > compared to 'American English' really don't know more than 1 dialect of > either. > Americans generally (I apologise to Americans who are world travelled, and > seeing as you are reading this in Moscow, that's you I'm apologising to) > know their continent's dialects and that's all, Brits however due to our > (ex) colonies and European travel can manage to teach a greater range of > English understanding. > > There is, I must point out, more dialects of English within the British > Isles than there are within the rest of the world's English speaking > community. (BBC's The History of English) > > Oh dear, listen to me, I seem to have *vented my spleen, to have waffled > on for a bit*, and there's me* without the gift of the gab!* > > For those Russians who want to know the meanings of these and other phrases > seek a middle-ground British-English teacher. (*read between the lines*) > > Not me by the way. I work in Construction. :-) > > By the way, the BBC has an excellent self teach English webpage. www bbc > co uk > > Julian > > > > *"Anthony Corbett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>* > Sent by: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > 03/09/2008 15:32 > > Please respond to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > The Moscow Expat List <[email protected]> > > > To > "Kirill Galetski" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "The Moscow Expat List" < > [email protected]> cc > Subject > Re: Expat List Russians' preoccupation with British English > > > > > Would you go to Quebec to learn French, or Brazil to learn Portuguese? I > doubt it. Why would you want to learn American English with all its > corruptions and barely understandable slang, originating from immigration > several hundred years ago, when you can learn British English, the latest > form of a language that is constantly refining? In addition, the UK is > considerably closer, unless you live in the Far East. > > Why would you teach both forms of a language? That is like teaching several > dialects of a language at the same time. > > My two pence worth! > > Anthony > > 2008/9/2 Kirill Galetski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Hi, > > Russians' preoccupation with British English and necessarily having a > British is irksome at best, idiotic at worst. As a former English teacher, I > take offence [sic] to it. > > The world standard for business is American English, with all of the > trappings thereof. It's not an accident that major non-Anglo corporations > such as German concern Bosch have American English as their standard for all > English-language communications. > > To quote Bill Bryson from his book MADE IN AMERICA, An Informal History of > the English Language in the United States, > > "To this day it remains a commonplace in England that American English is a > corrupted form of British speech, that the inhabitants of the New World > display a kind of helpless, chronic 'want of refinement' every time they > open their mouths and attempt to issue sounds. In fact, in several > significant ways it is British speech that has become corrupted, or, to put > it in less reactionary terms, has quietly evolved." > > Nevertheless, I believe that when English is taught, both the American and > British varieties should be taught in nearly equal measure. This implies > having a teacher that is competent to do both, but it certainly does not > limit the teacher to being only of the British nationality. > > Just my two kopeks' worth. > > Kirill. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[email protected]> > Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2008 12:03:37 +0400 (MSD) > Subject: Expat Digest, Vol 47, Issue 3 > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > Message: 1 > > Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2008 21:37:25 +0400 > > From: "Dasha Repina" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> > > Subject: Re: Expat List English tutor > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "The Moscow Expat > List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <[email protected]>> > > Message-ID: > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > > Hi John, > > > > thanks a lot for your attention, but the requirement of my boss is quite > > exact. He wants British teacher. > > > > All of the best, Daria. > > _______________________________________________ > Expat mailing list* > [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[email protected]>* > **http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat*<http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat> > * > **http://www.expat.ru/forum/* <http://www.expat.ru/forum/> > > > > -- > Anthony Corbett > Head of International M&A > Vimpelcom > 4 Krasnoproletarskaya St. > Moscow 127006 > Russian Federation > > T: +7909 991 7783 > M: +7962 942 1682 > E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > S: anthonycorbett_______________________________________________ > Expat mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat > http://www.expat.ru/forum/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Expat mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat > http://www.expat.ru/forum/ > -- Anthony Corbett Head of International M&A Vimpelcom 4 Krasnoproletarskaya St. Moscow 127006 Russian Federation T: +7909 991 7783 M: +7962 942 1682 E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] S: anthonycorbett
_______________________________________________ Expat mailing list [email protected] http://www.lists.ru/mailman/listinfo/expat http://www.expat.ru/forum/
