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英式英语和美式英语该选哪一种呢?
I’m the parent of a seven-year-old boy, and I’m going to teach him English. To tell the truth, I prefer British English to American English. But in the real world the American one seems to be more popular. Could you tell me which one I should choose?
我有一个七岁的男孩，我想教他英语。说实在的，相对于美式英语来讲，我更喜欢英式英语。但在现实生活中，美式英语似乎更流行一些。您能告诉我该选哪一种吗?
Choose American English: that’s likely to be more useful to your son, especially in south-east Asia. However, please note the following:
There’s hardly any difference at all between British and American English. The main difference is phonological (the way the language is spoken). Differences in vocabulary and spelling are very limited and there are hardly any differences at all in structure. Of course, for adults, the range of reference can vary between BrE and AmE. British English has a European range of reference. AmE and AusE similarly reflect the references of the geographical locations. This is one reason why AmE and AusE are so important in SE Asia.
Whatever you teach your son, he will end up speaking Chinese English. This is inevitable. However, if he has been taught American English, he will be trained to understand this right from the start. A lot of learners find spoken standard American English harder to understand than spoken standard British English.
English is a world language. People are learning it worldwide because they have the expectation that they will be able to use the language they have learned in any part of the world. The dominance of English has historical reasons relating back to the British Empire, but its widespread use today is largely due to American influence worldwide. Here are some reasons why people learn English:
－political: English may be a neutral means of communication between different language groups in a large country: e.g. India.
－economic: English is the language of trade, business and tourism.
－practical: English is the language used by air traffic controllers, in academic conferences, etc.
－scientific and technical: most scientific information is published and retrieved in English; the language of the Internet is English.
－entertainment: the language of films, videos, computer games, etc. is largely English.
选美式英语：这对你的儿子可能会更有用，尤其是在东南亚。但要注意以下几点：
英式英语和美式英语之间并没有太多的区别。主要的区别是语音方面的(即英语的说法)。词汇和拼写上的区别是很有限的，结构上就更是没有什么区别。当然，对于成人来说，英式英语和美式英语之间的关联范围可能是有差别的。英式英语具有欧洲的关联范围，而美式英语和澳洲英语也反映了地理位置的关联。这也是美式英语和澳洲英语在东南亚这么重要的原因。
无论你教你的儿子什么，他最后一定讲中国式英语。这是无法避免的。但如果教他美式英语，从一开始就要训练他理解美式英语。很多学生觉得标准的美式英语口语理解起来比标准的英式英语口语要困难。
英语是一门世界性的语言。全世界的人们都在学习它，因为他们希望在世界各个地方都能用得上所学的这门语言。英语的统治地位有其历史原因，可以追溯到大英帝国时代，但今天英语的广泛应用在很大程度上是因为美国在世界上的影响。以下是人们学习英语的一些原因：
——政治原因：在一个大国(如印度)内，英语可以作为不同语言人群之间交流的中立媒介。
——经济原因：英语是贸易、商务和旅游的语言。
——实用原因：英语是空中交通管理台和学术会议等场合使用的语言。
——科学和技术：多数科学信息是用英语出版和获得的；英语还是国际互联网的语言。
——娱乐：电影、录像、电脑游戏等的语言也多为英语。
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