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British English v. American English

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raptr
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British English v. American English [#permalink] New post   17 Nov 2007, 18:28
I am applying to both US and UK schools and something just struck me. When I write my essays for the UK schools should I actually use British English? For example, should I write "generalisation" and not "generalization"? How about "reorganisation" v. "reorganization"?:) "Favourable" v. "favorable"?

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[#permalink] New post   17 Nov 2007, 18:46
I guess as long as you don't mix British and American English, you should be fine.
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Re: British English v. American English [#permalink] New post   17 Nov 2007, 19:00
I would recommend that you use British english for the UK schools. It is pretty easy to set language settings in word.

raptr wrote:
I am applying to both US and UK schools and something just struck me. When I write my essays for the UK schools should I actually use British English? For example, should I write "generalisation" and not "generalization"? How about "reorganisation" v. "reorganization"?:) "Favourable" v. "favorable"?

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[#permalink] New post   17 Nov 2007, 19:01
[quote="KingKREEP"]I guess as long as you don't [i]mix[/i] British and American English, you should be fine.[/quote]

I am writing in American English. However, in one of my essays I am discussing an elective called "[b]Globalisation[/b] and the Impact of Global Business". Should I just keep it this way? :)
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[#permalink] New post   17 Nov 2007, 19:59
Use their name for classes as taken from course book/website. I would stay with your normal way of writing. I am sure they are used to Americanized spellings.
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[#permalink] New post   18 Nov 2007, 07:13
I second what river said. For the course names, use the spellings used by the university brochure/website. Anyway, you are enclosing the name within double quotes. So that should be OK.
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[#permalink] New post   18 Nov 2007, 09:16
I used British english because thats the way things should be.
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[#permalink] New post   18 Nov 2007, 09:30
rhyme wrote:
I used British english because thats the way things should be.

go back to italy you foreigner :wink:
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[#permalink] New post   18 Nov 2007, 09:40
rhyme -- do you normally use British English, or you used it specifically for your UK applications?

KingKREEP - Actually, I [i]italicized[/i] the course titles :)


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[#permalink] New post   18 Nov 2007, 10:59
raptr wrote:
rhyme -- do you normally use British English, or you used it specifically for your UK applications?


Ignore him. He's been here so long he's gone cuckoo! Just kidding! While I do differ with him on this particular topic, rhyme is absolutely invaluable when it comes to essays - style and content. Italicized, quotes, whatever...just do something to show that the word/phrase is different from the rest of the essay. Good luck!
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[#permalink] New post   18 Nov 2007, 14:06
raptr wrote:
rhyme -- do you normally use British English, or you used it specifically for your UK applications?

KingKREEP - Actually, I italicized the course titles :)


Thanks all


I'm actually being a bit silly.

When writing a serious paper I (tend to) use British English because, frankly, it got beat into me while I attended a British boarding school years ago. Most of the time it just comes out on its own actually. I used it in my essays because it comes out naturally, not in fact because I think its better. The reality of it is, it doesn't make any difference at all, though certainly you should try to be consistent. Just pick whatever seems more natural to you....

My attempt at humour was actually the response my professor gave me when I complained that he had corrected various spellings in a paper i handed in... .
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[#permalink] New post   19 Nov 2007, 09:09
Apart from the usual "or" vs "our" stuff, there are many cultural differences. Eddie Izzard captures this with a tongue in cheek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0onquIv89g
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[#permalink] New post   19 Nov 2007, 11:48
rhyme -- It is funny you should say that. I am not a native speaker and being from Europe I first learned British English. Then, when I came to the States for college, my English Comp professor would always correct my British spellings.
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Re: British English v. American English [#permalink] New post   05 Jan 2008, 05:02
I correct everyones English in the office. I make it British (Commonwealth) English :D... including the Americans in the office.
I go by the stance of Documentation -> Commonwealth English, Code -> American English.
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Re: British English v. American English [#permalink] New post   05 Jan 2008, 14:32
I still spell things like "travelling" and "daemon" the British way... for some strange reason.
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rhyme
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Re: British English v. American English [#permalink] New post   05 Jan 2008, 15:22
eddie izzard rocks. For the record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IzDbNFDdP4

I've actually use the "lie-zure" in my day to day language...
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Re: British English v. American English [#permalink] New post   05 Jan 2008, 20:15
when i lived in france, I had to take English...as in ESL english...hurray for lockstep nationalized education! Anyway, my professor, who was french, would correct my stuff to make it english. whatever.
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Re: British English v. American English [#permalink]
05 Jan 2008, 20:15

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