Question:
Which version of English do foreign people learn when learning English?
Do they learn American or British? Take someone from Peru who wants to
learn English as a foreign language. Do their text books have British or
American or the ought to be standard English?{
Answer:
It depends on a variety of factors: where their teachers were schooled (if
their teachers are non-native speakers of English), where their books were
published, the nationality of the owner(s) of the school (if it is a private
school), etc.
In my decade of experience as an ESL instructor, I've found that Latin
Americans tend to learn _North_ American English (let's include Canada, shall
we?) while Europeans learn British English (could there be a "rule of
proximity" operating here? <-- ESL in-joke). The Japanese learn seem to learn
either, depending on some of the factors I listed above.
Concerning an international standard, there really isn't one. Each English
language area has its own standard. My advice to students who want to learn a
standard would be to learn the standard of the language area in which he is
planning to live, to communicate with (excuse the awkward grammar--I'm
composing on-line), or to work.
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