1、Which English? When you receive a phone call from a friend, howlong does it take you to know who it is? A fewseconds, perhaps. The quality of someone’s voiceand their choice of words make a person instantly recognisable, even though you can’t see him or her. In this sense everybody's
2、 use of language － whether English, Chinese, or any other－is different. You could say that there are as many varieties of English, or any other language for that matter, as there are speakers of it. English is spoken as an official language in more than 60 countries across the worl
3、d and it can sound very different from place to place. Pronunciation, as well as grammar and vocabulary, can change very quickly from one area to another. For example, within London the most famous dialect is cockney. It is only usually spoken by people from the east of that city so
4、it is not the only form of English you will hear. You can usually tell which part of the English-speaking world someone comes from by their accent, and there are some very recognisable accents all over Britain. It is also quite easy to tell British and American English apart. Althoug
5、h most people believe there is a right and a wrong way to speak English, there is not really a standard form that everyone can agree on. English spread across the world over hundreds of years because of trade, exploration and business, and this process produced many different English
6、es. Professors of linguistics, writers and teachers all worry about providing a perfect model to follow but as it is so widely spoken, it has become impossible to say which English is “correct” and which is “incorrect”. Perhaps correctness doesn’t matter－as long as speakers can under
7、stand each other －it’s communication that counts. Australia G’day!D’ya speak Strine? Or rather, Hello! Do you speak Australian? Australia is one of the youngest nations in the world. The first English speakers arrived little more than 200 years ago-and they didn’t want to. Most of th
