Replying to > Hey Bud

> Who are you trying to kid? I asked my students whether they preferred
> UK English or US English. Out of 350 students 5

Well you are painting with a pretty wide brush. To be honest, I have to disagree with you. My experience has shown a distinct preference for American English. I am sure that there are many schools that might prefer British English as well. I just have not taught at any. I often use the Cambridge books which sometime include both versions of English, I always make it clear that both are correct. In matters of pronunciation, and understanding dialogue it's all about what your ear has been trained for. I have the same problem with British films and must listen intently to catch everything. As far as American English being a dialect, again seems a bit unfair to heap all Americans into a slang speaking grammar shredding group. English has traditionally been a language that mutates, progresses, as words fall in and out of the lexicon, so I would have to say that thy attitudes doth belie a certain prejudice. There are no Noel Cowards today that I know of or Keats so I'll just quote him.

Nothing is constant save mutability.

Oh, by the way I live in Harbin and everyone knows they speak the correct Mandarin, so all those other people in the South or Shanghai, or Nanning or I Chang, the can't be true Chinese, right?

Larry aka worldtour