Is English your first language? If not, was it easy for you to learn it? When did you start learning it?
There are some major languages in the world that celebrate their own days, such as English, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, French, and Russian. Since I’m blogging in English, I thought it would be fun to talk about English Language Day, which happens to be today (April 23), the anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, that bard who gave us the word “courtship” in Love’s Labor Lost (1597) and “lonely” in Coriolanus (1623).
Today, we primarily see two main types of English in the commercial world of fiction books: American English and British English. From those two stem many variations and local dialects, idioms, sayings, colloquialism, and slang words.
I usually write in American English because most of my readers read in American English, even though some of my novels take place outside of the USA. Smile for Me (Vacation Sweethearts Book 1), for example, is set primarily in the Bahamas. I hinted at British English in this novel, but since my readers are mainly from the USA, I use all American English grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
What about the novels you read? What are some American or British jargons that baffle you when you read a novel? I think that the more we read books written in a certain lingo or from particular regions of the world, the more we are used to the words and phrases. What say you?
Do you prefer to read novels written in American English or British? Does it matter to you at all?
If you speak multiple languages, does your mind automatically switch to a different mode of comprehension when you read books in another language?
Well, happy English Language Day to you! Prior to this blog post, I had no idea there was such a day. Did you know this day exists?
If you’re looking for new books to read in English (hehe!), I have two free ebooks that you can download via BookFunnel, if you don’t already have them on your Kindle reader:
- Ask You Later (A Savannah Sweethearts Prequel) tells the story of a mixed-media artist and the gallery owner’s non-artistic daughter.
- Time for Me (A Vacation Sweethearts Prequel) takes us back to that same gallery with the story of an archivist and a bronze sculptor.
Happy reading!
Au revoir!
USA Today bestselling novelist Jan Thompson writes clean and wholesome multiethnic contemporary Christian romance with elements of women’s fiction, Christian romantic suspense with an air of mystery, and inspirational international thrillers with threads of sweet Christian romance. Join Jan's mailing list for her latest book news: JanThompson.com/newsletter
I only speak British English , but because so many books and films ( and my one sister) use American English I don’t consciously notice the differences.
I love free books, they make me feel good, even if I already have them, as is the case this time 😊
I am an Aussie and we use mainly British or the Queen’s English. I am use to American spelling but will still use British English spelling myself.
My penfriend from America was visiting and wanted to a bus tour and she said “I lucked out” I started to say I am so sorry you missed out and she was “No I am doing the tour on Saturday. I was so confused. Here if we could do the tour we would say “I was lucky and got a ticket” If we didn’t get it we would say We were unlucky or we were out of luck and missed out on the tour.
There are other sayings or words with different meanings. Like Sidewalk – footpath,
Oh and as a kid I couldn’t work out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It wasn’t til I was older I found out what you call jelly we call jam, here Jelly is your jello. So a peanut butter and jello sandwich just didn’t sound normal.
I enjoy reading either. Have a blessed weekend.
When I’m into the story, I don’t tend to notice whether it’s American or British English. I speak Commonwealth English myself, but most of my readers are American, so I ask my editors to look out for spelling, phrases, and idioms that might trip them up.
I speak fluent Norwegian, and have enjoyed reading some of my favourite novels in that language. I also understand written French, but not well enough to pick up the subtleties that mark great writing.
That’s true about films in American English. I was actually constantly surprised that some of the best actors were not Americans, but they spoke in American accents indistinguishable from native speakers.
Thank you for your comment! Glad you have the ebooks!
Hehe! Isn’t that interesting that the world “lucked” might have opposite connotations.
PBJ is interesting for sure. To add to the confusion, we say “strawberry jam.” I rarely hear people say “strawberry jelly.” But we do say “grape jelly” which is what PBJ uses traditionally.
I think Jello came from the name brand and stuck somehow. Like Kleenex for tissue paper and Xerox for photostat, although nowadays, Xerox seems to have fallen out of use. In its place we hear “photocopy.”
Thank you for your comment. Have a great weekend!
Have a blessed weekend too!
Same here re: which English it is. However, when I read novels published in Britain, I did see the single quotes instead of double quotes. IDK if that’s still common practice in books in UK? For example:
American quotes: “She wants to read ‘This Mag’ instead of ‘That Mag,’ you know?”
British quotes: ‘She wants to read “This Mag” instead of “That Mag,” you know?’
Is that still true today? I tried to peek into Look Inside at Amazon UK, but for some reason, my browser won’t display the 10%. So I was unable to see if that’s still the publishing norm these days.
Wow. I had no idea you speak Norwegian and French. Now that’s a hard language to learn, I suppose? I hardly speak anything else but English these days and languages I was able to comprehend as a child are lost to me, but I am trying to re-learn at least one of them just because.
Thank you for your comment! Have a wonderful weekend!
I read lots of books that use both! I grew up reading Betty Neels Harlequins, and she used British English. I did have to figure out what some things meant, like lorry, petrol, and boot, which are a semi (or delivery truck), gas, and trunk. As long as I know the book is written in British English I can make the distinction and it doesn’t bother me. I do like a language guide in the back (or front) for words that are really unfamiliar and in a different language.
I’d rather read American English because I don’t understand some of the British English words used. I didn’t know there was an English Language Day, but I’m not surprised since there seems to be a special day for everything now. 😊
Nice! I do like those glossaries too e.g. for Scottish and Welsh. Lots of words I don’t understand there.
I also watch news in British English sometimes, so I am familiar with the different words used on both sides of the pond.
Yes, good point about British books. I read a lot of Regency novels, and they are often in British English. It reads more authentically if they are, IMHO.
Thank you for your comment! Have a great weekend!
Yeah, I had no idea there was such a day until I was looking at the list of events that happen on April 23, the day my blog post would go live.
Now these language days are official UN days, apparently. Three days ago was Chinese Language Day (April 20). French Language Day was on March 20.
Yes, there are fun unofficial days now on the calendar, including unusual or seemingly off-the-cuff days. Last month, I blogged about “Make Up Your Own Holiday Day” and that is not an official international Day, obviously, but it was fun nonetheless.
Thank you for your comment. Have a wonderful weekend!
I have always spoken American English. For a few years I had a friend from England so she taught me some differences. I love Historical Fiction and have been working on learning different common words and phrases from the different time periods. I do proofreading for a few authors who write these books and spend a lot of time looking words/phrases up! There are times I can’t find what I want so I will put the phrase in to the author & tell them I’m not sure if it’s a mistake or just language I don’t know. It has been a great way for me to learn but I have far to go! I love to learn though so that keeps me going.
I had heard about English Language Day before. There seems to be a ‘day’ for just about anything anymore, some are fun and a few are downright strange. There have been times I think someone has far too much time on their hands! Examples: National Cheesy Sock Day, National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, Scotch Tape Day, Do A Grouch A Favor Day, National Handcuff Day, National Rubber Eraser Day…..🙄
no preference
I love words, so happy day.
Not sure we have grape jam/jelly here.
Strawberry jam is popular (but not for me) Its funny its orange marmalade not jam here too.
We do have grape flavoured jelly/jello
When I went to a retreat in Canada I needed to stick something and I said I need some sticky tape. My friend loved it she said next time she was ordering scotch tape she was going to ask for sticky tape.
Yes, some books published in Britain still use single quotes, but more and more of them are using double quotes. When I checked on my bookshelves just now, there was a mix of both.
Norwegian isn’t too hard to learn if you already speak English. There’s a lot of common vocabulary, and the grammar is much simpler.
I’ve forgotten some languages I knew as a child, too. Completely gone!
Thank you so much for sharing. I read mostly American English. There have been a few books that have been British English. I was able to get the idea of confusing language. God bless you.
A lot of national days I didn’t know existed! :-) I guess I learn about new things everyday.
As far as language, it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s American English or British. Just as long as I can read since I don’t speak any other language, lol!
I like any English as long as I understand it. I spoke both English from Canada & French.
I read both but my 1st language was French till I was 12.
Yes, those are interesting days e.g. Bubble Wrap Day :-)
And then there are annual weeks and months also. I almost wrote about one of those weeks for my Saturday blog post, but apparently it would have been the last day when this blog post was published, so I nixed the idea.
Have a great week!
That works too!
Words are fun indeed!
Sometimes I have to google British words (especially Scottish and Irish) just to see what it means in the novel.
Thank you for your comment!
I hear you re: as long as it’s in English. :-)
Apparently April 23 was also World Book Day. I didn’t know that LOL.
Thank you for your comment!
Nice! French is a bit hard, but I have a French cookbook (in English) and it uses a lot of French terms. So I picked up on some of the words.
Wow! That’s quite interesting re: French. It’s not easy to learn. So it’s a good thing you learned it when you were young!