Jas
I would like to know about standard English. Is there any English teachers here? I really want to know about standard English. Is standard English British English?, Is there any place where native language is pure standard English?. As an English teacher which(standard or Native English) do you recommend to your students for their aim speaking level. ( I meant, do you say your students like "Your aim must be to speak like native English speakers" or "Your aim must be to speak standard English because most people understand when somebody speak standard English"). Keep different accents of native English in your mind when you answer me.
May 25, 2015 7:12 PM
Answers · 11
3
When people say you should learn standard English they just mean English that is grammatically correct. It's got nothing to do with being from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia or whatever other country you could think of that has English as the first language. A teacher from any native speaking English country, and indeed some people with a high level in English from other countries should be able to teach you standard English. If you speak standard English EVERY native speaker will be able to understand you. There are some informal expressions that differ from country to country, but the standard form of the language is basically the same in each of these countries. There isn't any such thing as a standard accent in English either. People use received pronunciation as an example of an accent that is easy to understand but there isn't a 'standard' English accent. When you speak English the important thing is to be clear, I wouldn't worry too much about imitating a certain accent.
May 25, 2015
3
Standard English is just the English language that is accepted in a country where English is spoken. So, American English, Canadian English, British English, etc. are all called standard English in the countries where they are spoken (even though there are some vocabulary, pronunciation and even some acceptable grammar differences among them). The important thing for English language learners is to learn to speak grammatically correct English - it is very difficult to lose the accent of your native language when learning English - it would usually take many years of continuous practice.
May 25, 2015
2
There's no such thing as "standard English". All varieties of English are completely mutually intelligible with any other, so there's no need. RP English is generally considered to be the standard accent when it comes speaking clearly, and the Oxford dictionary is generally accepted to be the standard dictionary people refer to, but these are all informal designations. Native English speakers can speak to English speakers from other countries the same way they speak to their parents. They don't switch to a standard accent to talk to each other, and there's no such thing anyway. If someone told me my Australian accent was non-standard and that I should speak "standard English", I'd just think that person was an idiot. At the most someone might have to slow down if their accent is too strong. For the most part the grammar and vocabulary of different varieties of English are exactly the same, so we can label some slang and grammar non-standard if it's local to a specific region. English doesn't really have dialects the same way other languages do - we just have accents.
May 25, 2015
Some British actors had this Translatlantic accent in the 40's and 50's. If you watch any movie with the British actor Cary Grant you'll see a good example of this. Personally, I think it sounds kind of silly nowadays, or old fashioned as Jmat said.
May 25, 2015
Incidentally, there used to be a standard English called "Transatlantic English". It was an invented accent that was a cross between British and American English. It fell out of use in the 1940s and 50s, so now it isn't really used any more. You can hear it in very old movies and radio broadcasts. You might sound old-fashioned if you use it, but it might be the closest thing to what you're looking for. I don't know how easy it is to find resources on though.
May 25, 2015
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