The Improve Your English Thread v3

[Tiberius]

Same here in Australia.

[Freaky]

Originally Posted by Tiberius

Same here in Australia.

And South Africa

[arithmancer]

Originally Posted by Freaky

And South Africa

'Base' and 'vase' rhyme with 'ace' in US English (generally: US English isn't exactly uniform). :

[Tinkie]

Originally Posted by Masterfroggy

In English English, as apposed to American English Base and Vase, sound nothing like each other.
In the part of the UK where I come from:
Base rhymes with face or mace
Vase rhymes with Mars, jars or cars

I think that in British english Vase sounds more like "Vaz", rhymes with "cars" as you dont pronounce the "r" as in the US
In US it is more like "maze"

what about the "tomato" - tom-ey-to vs. tom-ah-to?(-ey as in hey)
I studied in England but I prefer the US pronunciation. "potato" is written in the same way but you do not say po-tah-to , you say po-tey-to

[Masterfroggy]

Originally Posted by Tinkie

I think that in British english Vase sounds more like "Vaz", rhymes with "cars" as you dont pronounce the "r" as in the US
In US it is more like "maze"

what about the "tomato" - tom-ey-to vs. tom-ah-to?(-ey as in hey)
I studied in England but I prefer the US pronunciation. "potato" is written in the same way but you do not say po-tah-to , you say po-tey-to

I've never met anyone who pronounces it Vaz. (or anything like a word rhyming with "has or daz". All the english people I know who use the word pronounce is to rhyme with jars or mars there is no hard az sound on the end of vase, it’s more a long rs

tomato i say it as " Ter mar toe" most of my amrican friends (Californians mostly) seem to pronounce it Ta may toe

potato - pah tay toe

[Abraxas]

Originally Posted by Masterfroggy

In English English, as apposed to American English Base and Vase, sound nothing like each other.
In the part of the UK where I come from:
Base rhymes with face or mace
Vase rhymes with Mars, jars or cars

Do you mean that it's pronounced 'vars' and not 'vaz'? That's the first time I'm hearing(more likely reading) this. Not that I disagree as I'm neither british nor american...

[Masterfroggy]

Originally Posted by Abraxas

Do you mean that it's pronounced 'vars' and not 'vaz'? That's the first time I'm hearing(more likely reading) this. Not that I disagree as I'm neither british nor american...

see my post ^, Ive never ever heard any one say Vaz when meaning a vase, not even close

[Rastaban43]

Haha, I see what the problem is ... you're basically saying the same things, but you're writing out different pronunciation guides: one from an American perspective and one from an English.

Americans say vase (usually rhymes with "face" but occasionally "days".)
Britons usually say vase (ryhmes with "jars" if your British or "jaws" if you're American.)

Americans say tomato (rhymes with potato whether you're American or British, I don't know of any correct alternate pronunciations.)
Britons say tomato (rhymes with Italian "gelato" but not quite as delicious!)

Seriously, there are thousands of vocabulary differences (two words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently across cultures are considered vocabulary differences) between American and British English and to cover them all here would be exhausting.

[ominous]

Lost

Here comes my list of who's English is good for me to understand and who's worst in the "Lost".
Of course, it's solely subjective and from a Korean point of view.
The order comes down from "I fully agree with you" to "What the hell are you talking about?"



1. Jin & Sun - You know what? Jin's Korean is not perfect while Sun's Korean is impeccable. In fact, he immigrated to the US when he was 2 and has lived there ever since. In Korea, there was a subtitle even Jin spoke Korean in episodes from season 1. How wonderful it would be if all native speakers talk like Sun.

2. Locke - God bless him!

3. Kate

4. Jack

5. Micheal

6. Hugo

7. James Ford

8. Charlie & Claire

9. Sayid

10. Eko - You little devil. I like everything about you, from your muscular body to your mind-blowing smile. But, CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING WITH YOUR PRONUNCIATION OR DO I HAVE MALFUNCTIONING EARS?

[Freaky]

Originally Posted by ominous

9. Sayid

Well, he is at a disadvantage of actually being English but talking with an "arabic" (?) accent

[confutatis]

Originally Posted by Masterfroggy

In English English, as apposed to American English Base and Vase, sound nothing like each other.
In the part of the UK where I come from:
Base rhymes with face or mace
Vase rhymes with Mars, jars or cars

Interesting. In the U.S., calling it a 'vahz' is somewhat of an affectation, someone showing how 'international' they are . As mentioned later, most people's pronunciation rhyme it with 'ace.' Someone from either Georgia or Mass. might pronounce 'mars' as 'Mahz', but most Americans pronounce the R. Some of us Texans would turn it into a two-sylable word - 'maw-ers' - heck, we can make 'yes' a two sylable word! (yay-us)

[Freaky]

Pronunciation is not only different in different countries. My sister lives in York (top of the country) and she pronounces (for example) the word "bath" the same way as "math", whereas we down in Devon (bottom of the country) say "barth" (like darth (vader))

[icklek]

Pretty much everyone in Belfast pronounces Vase to rhyme with has (or vaz, to use an example from higher up the thread).

[Jedi_Girl]

When your posting do you put for fact or for a fact?

[Masterfroggy]

Originally Posted by Jedi_Girl

When your posting do you put for fact or for a fact?

Personally neither, I would say “this is a fact “or “the fact of the matter is”

If you were to want to say something along the lines of “I know for a fact this is true” There are much neater or simpler ways to express yourself
“I know this to be true” or “I believe that this is true”

One minor point
“When your posting do you put for fact or for a fact?” The ‘your’ in this question should be written as ‘you’re’
“It is your shirt” for example means that the shirt belongs to you
“If you’re going to post a question…”

“You’re” is always a contraction of “you are.” If you have written “you’re,” try changing it to “you are.” If it doesn’t work, the word you want is “your.”

[undomiel9]

Someone had a good idea with this thread... thank you, whoever you are.

I have some questions to the English native speakers, as it has been bothering me for some time now: do you care if you read a post with poor spelling and grammar, and with misused phrases, everything totally mixed up? Is it easy for you to guess who is native and who is not? Does it bother you at all?

[Mundungus Fletc]

Really bad grammar, poor punctuation and netspeak usually indicate a native speaker. People who speak English as a second language usually try harder.

[Freaky]

Originally Posted by undomiel9

I have some questions to the English native speakers, as it has been bothering me for some time now: do you care if you read a post with poor spelling and grammar, and with misused phrases, everything totally mixed up? Is it easy for you to guess who is native and who is not? Does it bother you at all?

No, unless I know the person is an English speaker, but then I feel frustrated for them.

I agree with Mundungus Fletc, it is usually an indicator of a foreign speaker...I could never write or speak in anything but English (and Afrikaans and a tiny bit of French) so I don't worry about it and am usually very impressed - particularly when they are young posters (in the forum's case).

[undomiel9]

Seems I ought not to try too hard, unless I want to be unmasked

[Rag]

It doesn't bother me, although I do prefer to read more correctly spelt articles.

What bother me are the so-called "upper-class" people in Britain who have a better education in their native language and enjoy to feel superior and criticize those who are not so good with writing (or speaking). When you really study English hard, you will realize that, like all languages, it develops through time, and there is no 'standard of correctness' long-term.

Eg.:
In the 13th Century, people in Britain, even the professional writers, used double negatives. They were accepted by all until a Bishop or someone of important religious status declare that they are incorrect to be used. Personally I think he had the right idea, but it just shows how flexible language is.

(I apologise if anybody feels that I'm having a rant about what I disaprove of there, or if anyone is offended. I simply have a big interest in discussions like these and thought it was appropriate to bring that up.)

P.S: Languages rule!!