Listen to the BBC World Service, and try to copy the speakers. Most words are used in the same way in different English-speaking countries. There are some words which are used differently, and some expressions particular to certain countries or regions. However, US usage is tending to become dominant as American films and TV are widely shown in other countries.

You can look up words on www.forvo.com to hear how they're pronounced different places. Eg. http://forvo.com/word/water/#en (scroll down to the map) http://forvo.com/word/person/#en http://forvo.com/word/year/#en

Yes, I think it's hot. The entire language is pronounced differently from the American way(s)! Every word is pronounced differently in terms of the accent, though most words have the same sound. It is to be noted, however, that even within England, the main island, there are many different accents. "Received Pronunciation" is standard (though people with certain socio-economic and political beliefs dispute this). Beyond this there are the posher and the poshest accents. Even at Eton, however, different boys have different accents. A simple (or simplistic) way of gauging some kind of standard (which I know is what most Chinese learners want - they want to know a very good standard and do not wish to get bogged down in the debate about class and diversity), is to listen to all of the Queen's broadcasts, most notably all the annual Christmas messages, which are available on Youtube. You will enjoy all the beautiful hymns too.