Brought to You by the Letter Z and the Colour Gray
One of the things that I've been wondering about is whether or not I should be converting to Commonwealth English while I am in Canada. First off, I have no intention of changing from American to Commonwealth just for the sake of fitting in (slightly odd is fun). However, I wonder if people would see it as rude for me to not attempt to change. (One shouldn't go to Germany for a few years and refuse to speak German, despite most Germans knowing English.) If my plans were to live in Canada forever (or "for ever"), then I would not hesitate to migrate my English as well. But since I plan on returning to the U.S. in 3 or 4 years, I am stumped.
There are two sides to this as well. Not just the spelling, but also the speech. By speech, I do not mean accent (I have no intention of picking up a Canadian accent, just as I avoided picking up a South Carolina accent). For example, should the letter Z be pronounced "zee" or "zed?" I have one professor who is originally from the U.S. and who slipped and said, "zee" during a lecture. She then promptly stopped and justified this mistake by saying she had a conversation with an American the previous day and then continued using "zed."
So, leave a comment and let me know what your opinion is. I guess I am most interested in getting candid remarks from Canadians as to whether or not they think it is rude to not attempt to change, but I invite anyone to comment.
posted by Sean @ 10:18 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
As an English MA, I'm probably expected to have a strong opinion, but I don't.
I say, pick on and stick to it. Just be consistent in your writing style. I doubt anyone would be offended if you opted to keep the American English. And if they are offended, they have deeper issues than style of English.
Some people say $\xi$ (ks-eye) and some say squiggly. I like the squiggly.
Huh? Canadian accent? I don't get that! I don't think actors have an accent and most of them are American, and I also don't think I sound different from them! Do we really have accents? Because I don't think you do Sean! But as far as spelling and studd, whatever! We're so much influenced by the states that even Canadians use whatever ex. night and nite... I just think the ght is more romantic!*L*
studd? That was supposed to be stuff... damn those Freudian slips...*LOL*
I disagree with your German analogy because in this case you aren't dealing with a totally different language, just a slightly altered version of English.
I would stick with the American since it is what you grew up with, although I'm betting you'll pick up some of the 'native tongue' whether you want to or not.
Thanks for the comments!
Yes, I'm aware that the German analogy stinks, but really I couldn't think of anything better.
For the accent, I gave a talk today in my seminar class and then the prof said "Oh, you're American? You sound Canadian." Then went on to say that I don't sound like a Texan. This is actually not the first time someone has said that (about Texas accents = Americans). So, my new thinking is that Canadians watch so much American TV that they don't notice the different accent. However, Americans watch no Canadian TV (minus the totally cool Red Green Show) and thus they notice the difference.
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