varieties of English by Jeppe Guldager Storgaard 2017a

1. Why does "English" have a plural?

English is very definitely around and that word came into being about 10 or 15 years ago really to reflect the reality of what happens when English becomes a global language. Want to have an English that actually reflects your local interests, your history, things around you.

2. What happens when the English language is adopted in a country?

They start to make it their own. They start to shape it and push it in a direction it never was in before now, this happened ever since English

3. How long did it take for American English to develop?

It only takes few days for a new variety of English to start to grow because as soon as you arrive you want to talk about what you see.

4. Crystal explains that varieties of English are culturally influenced. He speaks about Clapham Junction and SOHO as examples of British English being culturally defined. What does he say about SOHO and Clapham Junction which you can only understand if you are familiar with the British cultural background?

Clapham Junction: name of a railway station in the south of London, most chaotic railway station in Britain. “You will get lost, you will probably miss your train”

Soho: traditional sex shop area in London, you just line there if you’re going to Soho.

These are words you will only understand if you know the british culture. If not, you’ll not know that saying ‘’it was Clapham junction’’ is another way of saying it was very chaotic.

quiz:
https://www.english-in-chester.co.uk/e-learning/lesson/differences-between-british-english-and-american-english/

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