Learning english

A hot potato

Speak of an issue (mostly current) which many people are talking about and which is usually disputed

A penny for your thoughts

A way of asking what someone is thinking

Actions speak louder than words

People"s intentions can be judged better by what they do than what they say.

Add insult to injury

To further a loss with mockery or indignity; to worsen an unfavorable situation.

At the drop of a hat

Meaning: without any hesitation; instantly.

Back to the drawing board

When an attempt fails and it"s time to start all over.

Ball is in your court

It is up to you to make the next decision or step

Barking up the wrong tree

Looking in the wrong place. Accusing the wrong person

Be glad to see the back of

Be happy when a person leaves.

Beat around the bush

Avoiding the main topic. Not speaking directly about the issue.

Best of both worlds

Meaning: All the advantages.

Best thing since sliced bread

A good invention or innovation. A good idea or plan.

Bite off more than you can chew

To take on a task that is way to big.

Blessing in disguise

Something good that isn"t recognized at first.

Burn the midnight oil

To work late into the night, alluding to the time before electric lighting.

Can"t judge a book by its cover

Cannot judge something primarily on appearance.

Caught between two stools

When someone finds it difficult to choose between two alternatives.

Costs an arm and a leg

This idiom is used when something is very expensive.

Cross that bridge when you come to it

Deal with a problem if and when it becomes necessary, not before.

Cry over spilt milk

When you complain about a loss from the past.

Curiosity killed the cat

Being Inquisitive can lead you into an unpleasant situation.

Cut corners

When something is done badly to save money.

Cut the mustard [possibly derived from "cut the muster"]

To succeed; to come up to expectations; adequate enough to compete or participate

Devil"s Advocate

To present a counter argument

Don"t count your chickens before the eggs have hatched

This idiom is used to express "Don"t make plans for something that might not happen".

Don"t give up the day job

You are not very good at something. You could definitely not do it professionally.

Don"t put all your eggs in one basket

Do not put all your resources in one possibility.

Drastic times call for drastic measures

When you are extremely desperate you need to take drastic actions.

Elvis has left the building

The show has come to an end. It"s all over.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Be optimistic, even difficult times will lead to better days.

Far cry from

Very different from.

Feel a bit under the weather

Meaning: Feeling slightly ill.

Give the benefit of the doubt

Believe someone"s statement, without proof.

Hear it on the grapevine

This idiom means "to hear rumors" about something or someone.

Hit the nail on the head

Do or say something exactly right

Hit the sack / sheets / hay

To go to bed.

In the heat of the moment

Overwhelmed by what is happening in the moment.

It takes two to tango

Actions or communications need more than one person

Jump on the bandwagon

Join a popular trend or activity.

Keep something at bay

Keep something away.

Kill two birds with one stone

This idiom means, to accomplish two different things at the same time.

Last straw

The final problem in a series of problems.

Let sleeping dogs lie

Meaning - do not disturb a situation as it is - since it would result in trouble or complications.

Let the cat out of the bag

To share information that was previously concealed

Make a long story short

Come to the point - leave out details

Method to my madness

An assertion that, despite one"s approach seeming random, there actually is structure to it.

Miss the boat

This idiom is used to say that someone missed his or her chance

Not a spark of decency

Meaning: No manners

Not playing with a full deck

Someone who lacks intelligence.

Off one"s rocker

Crazy, demented, out of one"s mind, in a confused or befuddled state of mind, senile.

On the ball

When someone understands the situation well.

Once in a blue moon

Meaning: Happens very rarely.

Picture paints a thousand words

A visual presentation is far more descriptive than words.

Piece of cake

A job, task or other activity that is easy or simple.

Put wool over other people"s eyes

This means to deceive someone into thinking well of them.

See eye to eye

This idiom is used to say that two (or more people) agree on something.

Sit on the fence

This is used when someone does not want to choose or make a decision.

Speak of the devil!

This expression is used when the person you have just been talking about arrives.

Steal someone"s thunder

To take the credit for something someone else did.

Take with a grain of salt

This means not to take what someone says too seriously.

Taste of your own medicine

Means that something happens to you, or is done to you, that you have done to someone else

To hear something straight from the horse"s mouth

To hear something from the authoritative source.

Whole nine yards

Everything. All of it.

Wouldn"t be caught dead

Would never like to do something

Your guess is as good as mine

To have no idea, do not know the answer to a question

COMMON ENGLISH IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS

These English idioms are used quite regularly in the United States. You may not hear them every day, but they will be very familiar to any native English speaker. You can be confident using any of them when the context is appropriate.

FAMILIAR ENGLISH IDIOMS & PROVERBS

These English idioms and proverbs are familiar and easily understood by native English speakers, but they are not usually used in everyday conversation. If you haven"t mastered the more frequent idioms yet, they are a better place to start, but if you"re already familiar with those expressions, the idioms below will further spice up your English.

TYPES AND EXAMPLES

 OF TRANSITIONS

Without transitions, your writing does not flow smoothly. Transitions are words and phrases that serve as bridges from on idea to the next, one sentence to the next, or one paragraph to the next. They keep the reader from having to find his or her own way and possibly getting lost in the reading.

Transitions can also be looked at as the glue that hold your ideas together. They are very important. Too many transitions can cause as much confusion as too few.

Therefore, you don"t necessarily need a transition between every idea or every sentence, but it is a good idea to use a transition between each paragraph. Transitions usually come near the beginning of a paragraph. However, you should use a transition wherever it works best.

Below are several ways transitions can be used. Also included are sample transitions that fit the category. Not every transition is listed.

Coherence

Coherence is the trait that makes the paragraph easily understandable to a reader. You can help create coherence in your paragraphs by creating logical bridges and verbal bridges.

Logical bridges

• The same idea of a topic is carried over from sentence to sentence
• Successive sentences can be constructed in parallel form

Verbal bridges

• Key words can be repeated in several sentences
• Synonymous words can be repeated in several sentences
• Pronouns can refer to nouns in previous sentences
• Transition words can be used to link ideas from different sentences

100 Things You Can Do To Improve Your English

1. Surround yourself in English. Put yourself in an all English speaking environment where you can learn passively. The best way to learn is through speaking.
2. Practise every day. Make yourself a study plan. Decide how much time a week you are going to spend studying and stick to it. Establish a routine.
3. Tell your family and friends about your study plan. Get them to push you to study and also don"t let them interrupt you.
4. Practise the 4 core skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. They all need to be worked on for you to improve.
5. Keep a notebook of new words you learn. Use them in sentences and try to say them at least 3 times when you speak.
6. Do a lesson at least once a day.
7. Memorisation of lists is one of the most common ways of learning vocabulary for a test. It"s only a good exercise for short term studying because you often do not retain the information that you have learned for a test.
8. Use your body clock. If you"re not a morning person, study in the afternoon.
9. You will find words easier to remember if you try to remember an example sentence using that word rather the word on its own.
10. Plan to take a test. You"ll find that you work harder when you need to study for something.
11. Saying that, it"s better not to study just to take a test. Think of the bigger picture. What can you do when you have a good command of English? How will the quality of your life improve?
12. Give yourself a long term goal. Focus on working towards it.
13. Give yourself short term goals too and reward yourself when you achieve each one.
14. Create an atmosphere in which you want to learn, not because you have to. You"ll learn more when you"re learning because you want to.
15. Know what works best for you. Think about what methods have been successful for you in the past and stick with them.
16. Figure out how you learn. It can be by memorising, reading, speaking, summarising or other methods. Find out how you study best. It can be in a quiet place by yourself or with a group.
17. Get help! If you don"t understand something you"ve got to ask someone. Ask your teacher, classmates or friends for help.
18. Review! Review! Review! Make sure that you take the time to review things you have studied in the past.
19. It"s not a good idea to study on your own for more than 30 minutes at a time. Take regular breaks, get some fresh air and stretch your legs.
20. Don"t be in such a hurry to move up a level. Concentrate on the level you are at now.
21. Watch DVDs rather than TV. It"s better to use something that you can watch over again to catch information you might have missed the first time.
22. Watching TV only gives you the chance to hear something correctly first time. This is better for high level students. It can be great practice for speaking to native English speakers so you don"t have to ask them to repeat themselves!
23. Read graded readers. These books are especially written for your level. Read a whole novel. You can do it! You"ll feel great afterwards.
24. Children"s books have easier words and are a good alternative to graded readers.
25. Newspapers are a good place to find passive constructs. Read through an article and see if you can find the passive sentences.
26. Read for the general meaning first. Don"t worry about understanding every word, then go back and look up new words.
27. For a word you don"t understand in a sentence, look at the other words around it. They will give you a hint. Try to guess the meaning from the context.
28. Learn root words. They"ll help you guess the meaning of words. For example:scrib = write, min = small
29. When you learn a new word, think of all its other forms: Beautiful (adjective),beauty (noun), beautifully (adverb).
30. Learn prefixes (dis-, un-, re-) and suffixes (-ly, -ment, -ful), these will help you to figure out the meaning of words and build your vocabulary.
31. English, unlike Japanese or French, uses word stress. For new words, count the syllables and find where the stress is. Only one stress per word and always on a vowel. Two syllable verbs have a stress on the second syllable (beGIN). 2 syllable nouns (TEAcher) and adjectives (HAPpy) stress the first.
32. Use English whenever you can. It"s as simple as that!
33. Don"t translate into English from your own language. Think in English to improve your fluency. Talk to yourself...but not on the bus otherwise people will think you have gone crazy!
34. You can"t learn English from a book. Like driving a car, you can only learn through doing it.
35. The most natural way to learn grammar is through talking.
36. Keep an English diary or journal. Start by writing a few sentences a day and then get into the habit of writing more.
37. Why not start an online blog and share your writings with the world?
38. To become a better writer brainstorm as many ideas and thoughts onto paper without worrying about grammar or spelling. Then think about the structure. After that, write your piece using good grammar and spelling. Finally, read it through or give it to someone else to check for mistakes.
39. Keep an eye on your punctuation as it can totally change what you"re trying to say. Check out the difference in meaning between these two sentences: "A woman without her man is nothing" and "A woman: without her, man is nothing".
40. Sing your heart out! Show the world your beautiful voice! Learn English songs and sing along with them to improve fluency and intonation... anyone for Karaoke?
41. Get a penfriend or use chat-rooms, forums and community sites. If you can"t speak to someone in English, this is the next best thing.
42. Shadow English CDs. Listen to a few sentences then repeat what you heard. Focus on the rhythm and intonation.
43. Have English radio on in your house. Even if you are not actively listening to it, you will still be training your ears.
44. Mirror CDs. Read out loud along with a CD. Again, this is great for intonation, pronunciation and rhythm.
45. Dictation. Listen to a CD or friend and write down what you hear.
46. Nobody likes to hear their own voice, but be brave and try it! Record your voice and listen to your pronunciation and intonation. It will help you to identify your problem areas.
47. Ask your helpful teacher if you can record his lesson. This is a great way to review. You can also listen to your teachers speaking speed and intonation.
48. Use an English/English dictionary as it will help you to keep thinking in English and not translating.
49. If an English/English dictionary seems scary, there are learner"s dictionaries for English students of your level.
50. Don"t become too reliant on your dictionary. Your dictionary should be an aid, not your main teacher. Try to guess the meaning of words rather than going straight for your dictionary.
51. Don"t give up! Stay positive! Sometimes you will feel that you aren"t learning quickly enough. Everyone feels like this, don"t worry about it. You"ll get there in the end.
52. Enjoy it! We learn more when we are having fun!
53. If you get nervous when speaking, take two deep breaths before you say something. You"ll speak better when you feel relaxed.
54. Keep yourself motivated by looking back at the textbooks and CDs you used in the past. You"ll be surprised at how easy they seem to you now! Congratulations, your level is improving!
55. You are never too young or too old to start learning English. Don"t make excuses not to learn. What are you waiting for?
56. Procrastination can stop you from being successful. To stop procrastinating, it"s important you understand if your procrastinating is to avoid studying, or if it is your bad habit.
57. If you haven"t gotten the results you wanted yet, it"s not because you"re bad at languages, it"s because you haven"t found your own special way of learning yet.
58. Use resources which match your level. Don"t use texts/listening exercises which are too difficult or too easy. Use materials which challenge you but don"t frustrate you.
59. Don"t worry about making your accent perfect. It"s an important part of your cultural identity to keep your accent. Native English speakers enjoy hearing English spoken with an accent.
60. There are many types of English: British, American, South African and so on. None of these are wrong or not as important. English is English.
61. Instead, be aware of the differences in American and British English and use your words accordingly. For example: Elevator (US) / Lift (British).
62. Carry cue cards with you. These are small cards which you can write new words on. You can pull them out and look at them whenever you a free minute.
63. Use post-it notes and stick them around your home. You can use them to label things. Stick one on your pet dog!
64. You can"t ignore phrasal verbs (two words verbs), there are hundreds of them in English and they"re widely used. The more you focus on their meaning, the more you"ll be able to guess the meaning of new ones. You"ll start to recognise their patterns.
65. Use your intuition. Go with your gut feeling, you"ll be surprised how often your first guess is the right guess. Like we said before, be confident.
66. Gather your thoughts. Take a second to think about what you"re going to say. You know the grammar, but maybe you don"t use it correctly when you speak.
67. Meet new people. Make the effort to mix with English speakers in your town. You could join a club or go to bars where foreigners hang out. Buy one a drink, they love that!
68. Be the person to start conversations in English. Try to keep the conversations moving and use listening words ("really?" / "go on..."/ "what happened then?") Don"t wait for others to speak to you. Get in there!
69. Debate. Discuss topics in a group. Each person should choose a viewpoint (even if you don"t agree with it) and debate it within the group. Make sure you get your point across. Learn to listen actively. Active listening will help in the classroom and it will help you get more out of, and contribute more to, group study sessions. Focus on the person who is talking. Don"t fidget or become distracted by other people or events. Concentrate on the speaker with your ears and eyes. Follow the movements the speaker makes in an effort to hear more. It may help to repeat what you hear others say in an effort to understand their thoughts.
70. It"s not enough to only learn English words. You can teach a parrot English words but that doesn"t mean it can speak English! You still need to have an understanding of grammar.
71. Verb tenses are used by English speakers to talk about the timing of actions. You might not have the same expressions in your own language. It"s important that you know these tenses and when to use them.
72. English has many irregular verbs. You should drill yourself on them.
73. Keep it up! If you take a break from speaking English, you will find that your level decreases and all your hard work has been wasted.
74. Don"t be put off by a bad test score. Sometimes students have the ability to pass an English test, but can"t communicate well with English speakers. If you can speak freely in English, you should be proud of yourself.
75. Remember that as long as you have tried your hardest, you have succeeded!
76. Learn English with a friend. You"ll have someone you can practice with and you can motivate each other to study.
77. Remember, the way we write English is not the same as how it"s pronounced. For example "Ough" has over 6 pronunciations. Familiarise yourself the Phonetic Alphabet. It will help you correctly pronounce words in the dictionary.
78. Get used to the "schwa" sound [É^TM] - an unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound. "Schwa" is the most common vowel sound in English. For example, the "a" inabout and the "u" in supply.
79. Keep in mind that it takes longer to improve when our level is high. Usually the fastest progress is made when we are beginners. Don"t think that you"re suddenly not learning anymore, it"s just a less noticeable progress.
80. Make sure that your English matches the occasion. It"s OK to use slang with friends but not in a business meeting. Decide in which situation it"s appropriate to use the words and phrases you have learned.
81. Textbook English is often different from the way we casually speak. To learn casual "slang" watch movies.
82. Idioms can be difficult to memorise, but they are great fun to use and they"ll make your English more colourful.
83. When talking we usually link words together so that two words can sound like one. Simply put, we link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a vowel sound (consonant > vowel). We link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a vowel sound (vowel > vowel). Practice these to improve your listening and pronunciation.
84. Make use of the internet. It"s full of resources to help you learn: BBC Learning English ; learnenglish.ecenglish.com
85. Think about your strong and weak points. Write down which areas you want to improve on and work on improving them. Of course, don"t ignore your strong points. Congratulate yourself on how well you"ve done!
86. Unlearn your mistakes. You probably make the same grammar mistakes over and over again. Use English tests results as a study tool. Go over your mistakes and choose one or two that you want to focus on. Use your favourite grammar book to check rules.
87. Use the correct article (a/an, the). Be aware that there is more to this rule than a/an= non specific, the=specific. For example: A university (not an university because it begins with a consonant sound). An hour (not a hour because the "h" is often silent).
88. For fluency, try image training. Before you go to that restaurant think through what the waiter is likely to say to you. Think of what phrases you are going to use.
89. Much communication comes through body language and gesture. These can be different between cultures and countries. For example, the two-fingered "V" for victory symbol is fine palms-out. If you make it with you palm facing toward you, you"ll offend a British person. It means...well, you ask a British person and find out for yourself!
90. The easiest one - Sleep! You"ll learn more after a good night"s sleep. You"ll be able to concentrate more.
91. Take an English course in an English speaking country.
92. If you studying abroad, mix with people from other countries not only people from your own country. It"s not a good idea for you to live in a shared house with people from your own country. Enjoy a more cultural experience by spending time with other nationalities.
93. Have you thought about getting a job or doing an internship abroad?
94. Get yourself a qualified teacher. Who wants to learn wrong things?
95. Nobody can learn all of the English language. No need to worry about trying. A useful shortcut to learning is that in English we have lots of words that have the same pronunciation, but a different spelling and meaning. For example, "come here" has the same pronunciation as, "I can hear the birds". You might find it easier to build vocabulary by knowing the different meanings.
96. Once you have a basic level of English explore the different ways you can say the same thing. This makes your English more interesting to the listener and it shouldn"t be too difficult for you because you already know the basics. For example, how many ways can we say, "Goodbye" in English?
97. When you are on your English course, be prepared for your class. Do your homework as soon as possible and hand it in on time. Review your notes and your last lesson a few minutes before the class. Doing this will refresh your memory and you"ll be warmed up for lesson.
98. Don"t get distracted in class. Focus on the lesson, don"t stare out of the window. Don"t be late, arrive a few minutes before the start of the lesson. Don"t sit next to people who won"t speak to you in English. Switch off your phone. Be organised, remember to take your textbook, notebook and pen.
99. Find a comfortable, peaceful place for quiet study. You need somewhere where you can focus 100%.

How Different are British and American English?

زبان انگلیسی به عنوان زبان بین المللی در تمام دنیا دارای انواع مختلف مانند انگلیسی استرالیایی، کانادایی، نیوزیلندی، بریتانیایی و همچنین انگلیسی آمریکایی است. در میان تمام این گونه ها، انگلیسی بریتانیایی و انگلیسی آمریکایی جز معتبرترینها محسوب می شوند. لازم به ذکر است که همه گونه های انگلیسی رایج در سراسر جهان تنها کمی با یکدیگر تفاوت دارند. در این مقاله، انگلیسی آمریکایی و انگلیسی بریتانیایی از نظر تلفظ، دستور زبان، کلمات و املا مورد مقایسه قرار خواهند گرفت.
به زبان آموزان، به عنوان افرادی که زبان اولشان انگلیسی نیست، به شدت توصیه می شود که یکی از دو گونه معتبر زبان انگلیسی، یعنی آمریکایی یا بریتانیایی را برگزینند و در انتخابشان ثابت قدم بمانند.

وقتی صحبت از تلفظ به میان می آید، آمریکایی ها (همچنین کانادایی ها) تمایل دارند کلمات را با سهولت بیشتری تلفظ کنند. با بررسی دقیق تر درمی یابیم، بیشتر کانادایی ها و آمریکایی ها صدای صامت/r/ را که پس از مصوت ها در کلماتی مانند mother, car, better و غیره می آید، به وضوح  تلفظ می کنند، در حالی که در انگلیسی بریتانیایی این صامت (consonant) تلفظ نمیشود. این پدیده از نظر آواشناسی "Elision" نامیده می شود.
برخی از تفاوت های بین انگلیسی آمریکایی و انگلیس بریتانیایی ریشه در ریتم کلمات دارد. انگلیسی زبانان بریتیش اغلب یک هجا را در کلماتی مانند secretary حذف می کنند، گویی این کلمه به صورت secretry نوشته می شود، در حالی که آمریکایی ها تمام هجاها را تلفظ می کنند. با این حال، مواردی نیز وجود دارد که به طور کامل معکوس این اتفاق در آنها می افتد، مانند specialty. آمریکایی ها این کلمه را با سه هجا تلفظ می کنند (spe-cial-ty)، در حالی که بریتیش زبان ها آن را با پنج هجا (spe-ci-al-i-ty) تلفظ می کنند.

از لحاظ دستور زبان، تفاوتهای ظریفی بین این دو نوع انگلیسی وجود دارد. به عنوان مثال، در زمینه جمع بستن کلمات (ساخت اسم های جمع)، در انگلیسی آمریکایی، اسامی جمع مثلا group و government به عنوان یک واحد در نظر گرفته می شوند. در حالی که، در انگلیسی بریتانیایی، این اسامی به صورت جمع در نظر گرفته می شود و طبیعتاً به همراه فعل جمع می آید. (به عنوان مثال، The government are...). همچنین، در رابطه با استفاده از "زمان حال کامل"( present perfect tense) ، باید ذکر کرد که در انگلیسی بریتانیایی، این زمان برای بیان عملی به کار می رود که در گذشته نزدیک رخ داده است و اثر آن در لحظه ای که در حال صحبت هستیم باقی است. به عنوان مثال:

I"ve lost my wallet. Could you please help me to find it?

در حالی که در انگلیسی آمریکایی، همان جمله با همین معنا را می توان به زمان گذشته ساده بیان شود. به این صورت:

I lost my wallet. Could you please help me to find it?

به علاوه برخی انگلیسی زبانان بریتانیایی صدای /h/ را که در ابتدای کلماتی مانند   "he" یا "his" می آید تلفظ نمی کنند گویی این کلمات "ee"  یا "is" نوشته می شوند.

یکی دیگر از تفاوتهای دستوری بین این دو گونه از زبان انگلیسی روش نشان دادن مالکیت است. در انگلیسی بریتانیایی، هر دو عبارت "have" و "have got" با هم برابر فرض میشوند و به یک میزان بکار می روند. مانند:

I"ve got a motorcycle.

I have a motorcycle.

اما در انگلیسی آمریکایی استفاده از have got برای نشان دادن مالکیت آنقدرها معمول نیست.

همچنین در انگلیسی بریتانیایی فعل سببی help به همراه حرف اضافه to  می آید. مانند این جمله:

The teacher helped the students to understand the problem.

اما در انگلیسی آمریکایی این حرف اضافه معمولا حذف می شود:

The teacher helped the students understand the problem.

در انگلیسی آمریکایی، اسم مفعول (past participle) فعل get معمولا gotten، اما در انگلیسی بریتانیایی   got است:

Alice has gotten good marks in her exams. (American English)

Betty has got good marks in her exams. (British English)

از نظر کاربرد معمول حروف اضافه در انگلیسی نیز تفاوتهای ظریفی بین این دو گونه زبان وجود دارد.

از سوی دیگر از نظر روش صرف افعال نیز تفاوت هایی بین این دو گونه زبان وجود دارد. در انگلیسی بریتانیایی، هر جا  امکان پذیر باشد، به فرم بی قاعده فعل اولویت داده می شود، در حالی که در انگلیسی آمریکایی، فرم با قاعده فعل است که به طور کلی بکار می رود. همان طور که در جدول زیر نشان داده شده است:

در رابطه با تفاوت های املایی بین انگلیسی آمریکایی و انگلیسی بریتانیایی، باید اشاره کرد که Noah Webster فرهنگ نویس آمریکایی، منبع اصلی این تمایز بود. او در دو نمونه از انتشارات معروف خود، فرهنگ لغت آمریکایی زبان انگلیسی (1828)، و کتاب املای آمریکایی (1783)، تلاش کرد تا با بکارگیری تقریبا منحصر به فرد زبان آمریکایی، املا را در ایالات متحده نظام مند کند. این تفاوتها به  عمد ایجاد شد تا این زبان را از همتای بریتانیایی خود جدا کند و توسعه سیاسی و مستقل این کشور جدید را اذعان نماید. (دایره المعارف انکارتا ، 2008)

موفق ترین تغییرات وبستر املای با or به جای our در کلماتی مانند honor، labor به جای کلمات بریتانیایی honour، labour، استفاده ازer به جای re در کلماتی مانند center, theater به جای کلمات بریتیش centre, theatre، استفاده از s به جای c در کلماتی مانند defense, license به جای کلمات بریتیش defence, licence، استفاده از ck پایانی به جای que در کلمات check, mask به جای کلمات بریتانیایی cheque, masque ، و نیز عدم بکار گیری k پایانی (traffic, public که در حال حاضر در انگلیسی بریتانیایی هم به جای کلمات قدیمی traffick، publick مورد استفاده قرار می گیرند) بود. بعدها، برخی اصلاحات دیگر نیز ایجاد شدند؛ مانند کلمه programme در انگلیسی بریتانیایی که به کلمه program در انگلیسی آمریکایی تغییر پیدا کرد. یک روش ایده آل برای آن که مطمئن شوید آیا در انتخاب نوع زبان انگلیسی خود ثابت قدم بوده اید یا نه این است که از ویژگی "چک کردن املای لغات" (spell check) در نرم افزار تایپ خود استفاده کنید.
جدول زیر برخی از دیگر تفاوت های موجود در املا، بین انگلیسی بریتانیایی و انگلیسی آمریکایی را نشان می دهد:

علاوه بر اینها تفاوتهایی هم از حیث کاربرد بین این دو گونه مهم زبانی وجود دارد. اعتقاد بر این است که تفاوت های عمده بین این دو نوع زبان انگلیسی، ریشه در انتخاب کلمات دارد. این کلمات اغلب شامل لغاتی می شوند که معمولا کمتر رایج اند. به عنوان مثال، potato chips آمریکایی بجای crisps بریتانیایی. اگر کاربرد کلمات را در گونه زبانی که انتخاب کرده اید به درستی ندانید، آنگاه زبان شما انگلیسی بیگانه (انگلیسی خارجی) است.  این امر به دلیل آن است که برخی کلمات و عبارات ممکن است معانی و تعابیر مختلفی در انواع گونه های زبان داشته باشند. جدولی که در زیر طراحی شده است برخی از تفاوت های مرتبط  با واژگان (انتخاب کلمات) و اصطلاحات انگلیسی بریتانیایی را در مقایسه با انگلیسی آمریکایی به تصویر می کشد: