Jhoyner Santiago Paez Yate

Carolina Andrea Betancurth Bedoya

Shara Yireth Narváez Valbuena

Language
variation
vol.1

Understanding English
Variations
Agenda

03 / introduction

04 / Juliet’s english class

08 / Michael's journey

09 / Michael learning the

pronunciation of England

10 / Michael meeting a
Frenchman on his trip

11 / Traveling and learning

American, British and Australian English / 02

 introduction
In the vast and dynamic universe of the English language,
there are countless variations and nuances that reflect the
cultural and linguistic diversity of its speakers around the
world. From the bustling streets of New York to the tranquil
fields of the English countryside, each region brings its own
color and style to English, giving rise to an unparalleled
wealth of expressions, dialects and forms of communication.

The book you hold in your hands is a fascinating journey

through these variations of English, a compendium of stories
that captures the unique essence of each linguistic variant.
From London Cockney to Caribbean Island Creole to
Australian English peppered with vernacular terms, each
story is a window into a different world, where words come
to life in unique and evocative ways.

Through these stories, we will explore not only lexical and

grammatical differences, but also the cultural and social
singularities that shape language use. From colloquial
expressions to ancestral sayings, each page immerses us in
an enriching and revealing linguistic experience.

Whether you are a language enthusiast, a curious traveler,

or simply a lover of good stories, this book invites you to
delve into the many facets of English and discover the
beauty of its linguistic diversity. Get ready for an
unforgettable journey through the variations of the English
language!

American, British and Australian English / 03

Juliet’s english class
It was one of Julieta's favorite days, the sky was clear and the
sun was shining brighter than ever, adding that today she
had her favorite class, English. Julieta was a very curious
child, despite her young age, every day she made an effort
to put an end to her doubts and thus acquire all the new
knowledge she could. On the other hand, her teacher, Rose,
was always happy to give answers to the curious Juliet.

-Hello, Miss Spencer - said little Juliet to her teacher Rose.

-Hi, Rosie, it's good to see you. How are you?

-I'm pretty good today, thanks for asking. And I have lots of
questions, I hope you can answer them for me.

Miss Spencer smiled at her student, she had been waiting for
this moment since Rose entered the classroom - Of course, I
told you that you can always ask me anything you want.

- I was with my mom at the mall and we ran into a friend

that my mom studied with in college, her name is Emily, and
when they said hello, Emily spoke so differently that I was
curious as to why.

American, British and Australian English / 04

- What did Emily say that caught your attention so much? -
Miss Spencer asked, intrigued by Juliet's story.

- Emily mentioned that she had bought a sweater at a

sweater store because it was so cold outside. That struck me
as odd because I've always heard that it's called a jumper.

- Ah, I see. Well, that's because of the differences between

British and American English. In British English you use
"jumper" instead of "sweater" like in American English," the
teacher explained.

- What other differences are there between British and

American English? - Juliet asked, intrigued to learn more.

- Well, apart from "sweater" and "jumper", there are other

differences between British and American English. For
example, in British English you say "lorry" instead of "truck",
and "lift" instead of "elevator". These are small differences,
but important to know," the teacher replied.

Juliet nodded, making a mental note of these differences.

-I'd love to continue having this conversation, but we have to

get the class started, don't worry, it just so happens that
what you just asked me is closely related to the topic of
today's class.

Juliet nodded towards her teacher and went to sit down.

The class began with Ms. Spencer explains about the
linguistic variations between British and American English.

American, British and Australian English / 05

- Good morning, class. Today we will talk about the differences
between British English and American English - began Miss Spencer,
capturing the attention of all the students, including Juliet.

The teacher proceeded to explain the differences in pronunciation,

vocabulary and grammar between the two types of English, using
examples and practical exercises to give the students a better
understanding.

- Now, let's move on to words of English origin. Can anyone name a

word that is derived from Arabic? - Ms. Spencer asked, encouraging
student participation.

Juliet excitedly raised her hand and responded, "Coffee!"

- Way to go, Juliet! "Coffee" comes from the Arabic "qahwa." Now, who
can mention a word of Scandinavian origin in English? - the teacher
continued.

The students actively participated, mentioning words like "sky" and

"husband." Ms. Spencer praised her students' knowledge and
encouraged them to continue learning about the linguistic roots of
English.
- Now, who has ever gone skiing? Oh yes, 'Ski' is a word that also
comes from Norwegian. It's the sport we do in the snow with long poles
on our feet to slide down.

American, British and Australian English / 06

Finally, the class came to the topic of Italian words in English, where
the teacher explained how words like "piano" and "opera" have been
incorporated into the English vocabulary due to cultural influence.

-And other words from Italy, like 'pizza'. Who likes pizza? Me too! It's a
delicious Italian dish with dough, tomato sauce, cheese and other
toppings on top. And who has tried Italian gelato, 'gelato', it's so rich
and creamy!

Juliet was fascinated with each word and its origin story. She was
inspired by Ms. Spencer's passion for teaching and was excited to
continue exploring the world of the English language and its linguistic
nuances.

Thus, English class became an exciting journey through words and

their meanings, thanks to teacher Rose's enthusiasm and dedication
and Julieta's endless curiosity. together, they continued to discover
the richness of the English language in every lesson

American, British and Australian English / 07

Michael's journey
Michael had a vacation in England. He was excited and
eager for new experiences in his life. He was very confident,
because he knew that in England they also spoke English like
in his native country, so this language wouldn't be a problem,
right?

Newly arrived in the country, Michael noticed the changes in

his language. First, you quickly noticed that their way of
speaking and pronouncing is different depending on the
area of ​the country you are in. Michael realized this because
he was in a restaurant and struck up a conversation
between 2 natives but from different native areas. He noted
that this was the same as what was happening in America.

Second. He noticed variations in grammar, this occurred

when he wanted to explain to a native where he worked, he
said, “I have an office job” and the native believed that this
was not his current job. This confusion occurs because in
England, the verb tener in the past tense is used “have” and
to refer to the present tense it is used “have got.”

The third change that Michael noticed was when he wanted

to attend a soccer sporting event, the change in vocabulary
was a little confusing for him, because he did not know that
in England to refer to “soccer” they used “football”, this made
it Michael will think about American football in his homeland.
Another example of this but a little less chaotic was when he
tried to order a cookie in a street shop, he did not know that
in England they used “biscuit” to refer to a cookie instead of
“cookie”.

American, British and Australian English / 08

Michael learning the
pronunciation of England
On his trip through England, Michael encountered variations
in his language that he did not expect, such as changes in
his vocabulary, grammar and accent. But there is also a
drawback in terms of pronunciation, because England has
some changes that are easy to notice for natives of America.

One of these changes and to Michael's surprise was in the

pronunciation of the “o”, when listening to the natives speak
he noticed that they pronounced it like Spanish and that it
was not as elongated. An example of this is in the
pronunciation of the words dog and hot, in British English it is
pronounced “dog” and “hot”, while in American it is “daag”
and “hhaat”.

The same thing when pronouncing the “a”, Michael noticed

that the British lengthened it more compared to the
Americans. For example, in the word “bath” and “grass”, the
British pronounced it as “baaaz” and “graaasss” and the
Americans pronounced it as “baz” and “grasss”.

Another letter that changed a lot is the “r”, in American

English it is pronounced a little like in Spanish, only with the
tongue a little further back, in British English this letter cannot
be heard if the letter is at the end of the word, for example, in
the words “art” and “water” in American English it is
pronounced “art” and “uárar”, while in American “aaat” and
“uóta”

Among all this there are several changes but Michael saw
that it was noticeable and easy to get used to.

American, British and Australian English / 09

Michael meeting a
Frenchman on his
trip
A Frenchman was in the same hotel as Michael, they
bumped into each other in the dining room at breakfast
time, Michael couldn't help but greet him and maybe have a
new friend. While the conversation continued, they picked up
a rather interesting topic of conversation, and that is the use
of certain words that both languages ​share, of course the
Frenchman knew how to speak English, but he also couldn't
help but ask if certain words meant the same thing in both
French and English. in English. He first asked about the word
“money” evidently it is a word that is commonly used in
America, on the other hand, in France this is not the case but
the word is still used by some natives, due to being a word of
very ancient origin, but it still means the same and refers to
money. The second word that is also used in both languages
​is “sport”, the Frenchman says that this word was not always
like this, he explained that in the past “desporter” was used,
and this meant “to describe something that one enjoys
doing”, but with the influence from English this changed to be
“spor”. The third and last word before ending the
conversation was “advice” which means advice in America,
in old French “avis” was used to refer to an opinion, but again
English took influence and transformed it into “advice”. It's
interesting to see two different languages ​sharing words with
a very similar meaning.

American, British and Australian English / 10

 Traveling and
learning
One day a university in Australia gave study scholarships to
Stanford University located in the United States. The
scholarship was won by a boy named Jack Smith. He was 22
years old and lived at 76-20 34th Ave. The boy was a student
at language program and this being a unique opportunity
for him, he very happy traveled to Australia prepared to face
this new challenge. Upon arriving in Australia, Jack decided
not to attend the intensive Australian classes since he
believed that he would not have problems with the language
since these countries spoke English.

The first day that Jack attended university in Germany, he

realized that both countries spoke English but that they did it
in very different ways, since in Germany they spoke much
faster and the pronunciations of the words varied, for
example it was very noticeable. and it was common for
Australians not to pronounce the letter "r" and this changed
their pronunciation a lot. Little by little Jack was forced to
attend intensive Australian classes, there he realized the big
difference that these languages had even though the
language of the two countries was English. In the classes he
realized that in northern Australia the language is less
understood since the people from these sectors speak much
faster and more confusingly.

American, British and Australian English / 11

Over time, Jack began to know words that do not exist in
American English, for example, to say elevator in Australian
you say lift, to say apartment you say flat, to say gasoline
you say petrol, to say vacation you say holiday, among
many others. words that were new to jack.

At the end of his stay in Australia, Jack felt satisfied with

everything he had learned about Australian English. This
served as an experience for him not to trust languages since
it does not matter if the same language is spoken in two
countries, there will always be variations in the language
either by region, by age or by the way each person
expresses themselves.

When Jack returned to the United States again, he realized

that he loved and was passionate about languages. For this
reason, Jack decided to continue learning about the
variation of languages from different countries and thus
began his trip to the country of Greece.

On this trip he was accompanied by his partner named

Isabella since they both felt the same passion for languages.
On this trip through Greece they realized that English words
are of Greece and Latin origin, with an estimate of more than
40,000 words of Greek origin.

American, British and Australian English / 12

Jack and Isabella created a list of Greek words in English, these being
one of them:

Aero in Greek means air, for this reason there are words in English
such as Aerobics, Aerosol, Aerospace.

Bi, Biblio in Greek means book, for this reason there are words in
English such as Bible, Bibliography, Bibliophile.

Bio in Greek means life, for this reason there are words like Antibiotic,
Biography, Biology.

Dec in Greek means ten, for this reason there are words such as
Decade, Decagon, Decathlon.

Den, Demo in Greek means people, for this reason there are words in
English such as Epidemic, Democracy, Demography.

Just like these Greek words, there are many more that were adopted
into English and that were very helpful in enriching Jack and Isabella’s
vocabulary in the language.

When Jack and Isabella returned to the United States, they decided to
share with their classmates in the language program at their
university, the wonderful experience in Greece. They told them about
the roots of the Greek words that were part of English. Jack also talked
about what he had experienced in Australia and how he had learned
to distinguish Australian English from American English.

Fauget American, British and Australian English / 13

 In the middle of the conversation, one of his colleagues
named Michael Brown told the experience that he had
recently lived in the country of Germany. It all started when
Michael traveled to visit his uncle’s house who lived in
Germany. There Michael realized that although English and
German come from Germanic, English was much easier to
learn than German.

On those vacations at his uncles’ house, Michael decided to

learn the German language, so he began to search for
information about the relationship that these two languages
had, finding that both languages use the same alphabet,
several German words are used in the English language,
several English words are used in the German language,
many other words sound very similar to German and English
words often follow the same grammatical rules and both
languages use the Arab numeral system, making both
German and English popular languages.

Some of the most famous English words with German

origins are hamburger, abseil, angst, kindergarten, kitsch,
Poltergeist, Gestapo, Lager, Pretzel and Diesel.

Michael’s classmates were simply amazed by how the world

is full of linguistic variations depending on the region, being
the way each person expresses themselves and this
motivated them to continue traveling to different parts of
the world, thus learning about linguistic variations that exist.

American, British and Australian English / 14