American and British Book Reviewers

English-Language

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A beta reader once commented: “A great book – but some typos are distracting.”  She learned English as a second language in school – British English that is – but the book was written (for a US readership in mind) and edited in American English, using the Chicago Manual of style.  Book Reviewers, authors and editors in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia or Canada for example, have the same issue.
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“England and America are two countries
separated by a common language”
~ George Bernard Shaw.

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Differences in Vocabulary, Grammar and Spelling.
Wikipedia reports: The English language is the third most common native language in the world, after Mandarin and Spanish.  Despite noticeable variation among the accents and dialects of English used in different countries and regions – in terms of phonetics and phonology, and sometimes also vocabulary, grammar and spelling – English  is categorised (categorized) generally into two groups: British (BrE) and American (AmE).

English is either the official language or an official language in almost 60 sovereign states.  It is the most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, and it is widely spoken in some areas of the Caribbean, Africa, and South Asia.  Have a look at the many verbs that are differently written in this comparison at Spellzone:

… our endings change to or, such as humour (British) into humor (American)
… our endings change to er, such as theatre into theater, or centre into center
… ogue endings change to og, such as catalogue into catalog
L endings do not double in US spellings, such as travelled into traveled……. and the list goes on and on.
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How the Language Evolved:
Because North America was settled in the late 17th century, American and Canadian English had time to diverge greatly from other varieties of English during centuries when transoceanic travel was slow.  Australian, New Zealand, and South African English, on the other hand, were settled in the 19th century, shortly before ocean-going steamships became commonplace, so they show close similarities to the English of South East England.  The English spoken in Ireland and Scottish English fall between these two groups.  Among varieties of English, it is especially American English that influences other languages.
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Huge Differences in Spelling.
Many readers and writers are surprised to learn that there are huge differences in spelling between English-speaking countries. A book, written and published in the UK, needs almost to be “translated” into American English and vice versa.
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Major Grammar Differences are:
Present Perfect
Past Simple/Past Participles
Prepositions
Possession
The Verb “get”
Vocabulary
There are also some more subtle differences that might surprise visitors to Great Britain, especially those who have learnt American English.  Linguistics lecturer Dr Lynne Murphy rounds up ten of the subtler US/UK mis-communications. 

Add to this the local usage of words, e.g. trousers or pants? Juggernaut or 18-wheeler? Lift or elevator? Tube, underground or subway? Find more eye-opening differences in British / American vocabulary, for example:

autumn – fall
barrister – attorney
bill (restaurant) – check
bookshop – bookstore
biscuit – cookie
caravan – trailer
chemist’s shop – drugstore, pharmacy
chips – fries, French fries
cinema – movies
flat – apartment
coffin – casket
pavement – sidewalk
petrol – gas, gasoline
postbox – mailbox
rubbish – garbage, trash
sweets – candy
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So, before you upbraid someone. or point out spelling “errors” have a look if it is not a British, Canadian or other English speaking individual or user of keyboards from these countries.

A person, for example, writing for newspapers in several countries has to adjust the writing for every article/country.  And then there are these not native English speakers…

My solution would be to place a note into each book, which English was used in the manuscript and editing. And also to let book reviewers know about it.
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Read more about the differences between US and UK English:

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/easy/aebe.htm

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/americanbritish.html

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/six-difference-between-britsh-and-american-english/3063743.html

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