Learn American English Online | Lingoda

Languages change. Different elements can influence language such as culture, distance and technology. British people no longer speak in the same way British colonists from the 1600s did. Hundreds of years and thousands of miles apart, you learn that American English and British English evolved differently.

There are a few reasons why American English and British English are different. When the first settlers came to the U.S. from England, they brought what’s known as the “rhotic speech,” which used to be the common tongue at the time. However, as time passed by, the British began to speak with Received Pronunciation instead of the rhotic speech, which still had continued in the U.S. You may have also noticed that there are differences between American and British English when it comes to spelling. This is because when the famous creator of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Noah Webster, wrote the first dictionary, he wanted to make American spelling different from British English to reinforce the nation’s independence from the British.

These are just a couple of the reasons why you will be encountering differences between American English and British English. You will find that the Lingoda teachers are quite knowledgeable and will be able to explain to you in more depth about these distinctions.