What's the difference between American and British English?

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It isn't difficult to tell British English from American English. But can you name the differences? Sure, some words are different, but that isn't it. In this video I go through the most important differences in the pronunciation. If you, like I, ended up speaking with a mixed up accent, this video will help you to pick one and throw out the other.

0:00 My English Troubles
2:02 Different Words
3:08 The tap "t" in AE
3:48 The silent "r" in BE
6:22 The "ɔː"
6:58 The move from "ɑ" to "ɒ"
8:21 The "əʊ"
10:33 Sponsor message

[frankhoffman]

I never expected a pronunciation video from Sabine, but she dissected it and analyzed the parts like the scientist she is.

[MaxWattage]

I do so love German dead-pan humour, and the joke at 5:30 was a masterclass in keeping a straight face.

[ypirnay]

@ 6:19 "The English arse don't exist in German"
Priceless!!
Your are the embodiment of a sharp eye, a sharp mind and a sharp tongue (mostly in the cheek).
We all love you, Sabine.

[thomaseberhart]

Sabine has me in stitches, every time. I think if she read the telephone book to us, she would be still the same, mesmerising and funny!

[iPadApprentice]

Sabine, your understanding of English idioms, slang, and subtlety is really impressive.

[moriahgamesdev]

Interestingly, Sabine's British/German accent aligns perfectly with the super smart physicist cliche.

[deepfriedsammich]

Sabine: "So, that's it folks. Next week we're back to talking about science."
Outraged Linguists: "So, linguistics isn't a science now?"

[petermartell]

As a child I had a strong British accent thanks to my mother (Liverpool). It was very embarrassing in school as I could not even say my name (too many 'R' sounds) without gales of laughter from the class. Then the Beatles came along and I was a hit. Very much enjoy your channel. loved the music vids.

[broxtt]

I’m English and just returned to Europe after 10 years living in the States. It’s so fascinating to see such a detailed and accurate explanation of everything that has been intriguing me on a more intuitive level for so long. Thank you.

[carlosalbertoteixeira]

5:39 — I replayed more than 30 times Sabine spelling the giant word concatenation. Loved it!

[joshuaquick]

I'm finding it hard to keep my English British with the influence of the internet, thank you for the video!

[waynetokarz]

Your intellect and humour are boundless! Your talent of enunciation is incredible! Greatly enjoy all your videos!👍🍻🇨🇦

[MagnusMoerkoereJohannesen]

I'm an International English teacher, and I sometimes get asked by my students, whether or not they should speak "British" or "American" English. My answer is always the same; don't try to speak *any* sort of regional English other than the one you are comfortable with. It doesn't matter whether or not your r's are rolled, rhotic or not, as long as you're easily understood - and that's much easier if you're comfortable. You'll never pass as a native English speaker anyway, and besides, why would you want to? Own your heritage, and love who you are.

[mikethespike]

I grew up in Manchester, UK, and came to Germany in my teens where I finished my schooling. My school in Germany taught US English, which turned out to be hilarious for me, but a bit awkward for my English teacher. I flatly refused to use US pronunciations, quiet honestly I felt daft doing so, and the teacher often had problems understanding my accent. He went so far as to tell me to shut up during lessons because my accent was confusing the class. I agreed on the premise that he gives me high grades, which he did. At leaving school I was given the highest grade in oral English in the history of the school and when I asked my teacher how he could grade me like that seeing as he hardly understood my accent he told me not to push my luck.

[glmx]

I grew up in Turkey. The public school I attended required us to focus on learning English for a full year (aka "the prep year") between the fifth and sixth grades. That meant taking English for almost 30 hours/week. They tried teaching us how to pronounce words in both Standard American and British English so I ended up developing a somewhat American-sounding, flat accent that was distinctly Turkish with a British flavor. Having lived in the States for two decades made my accent more American, but I still pronounce some words with an RP-like accent, which confuses people. Funnily enough, when asked to guess my country of origin based on my accent, the majority of native speakers used to pick Germany, including those who were familiar with the more typical Turkish accent.

[sejuanisupportonly]

What is fascinating about pronounciation - especially in Europe - is that you can almost immediately tell what is the person's original "native" tongue/language, by the way they pronounce English.
For example, even without your name on the channel "betraying" the German/Saxon everyone could tell that you are either German or from a place with a similar language.
Same thing goes for Italians that draw the ends of the words, the various Slavic languages that have a generally deeper pronounciation of the words, the French that are a bit sing-songy about it, the Spanish who have their own unique inflection and the Greeks who invariably just sound like you would imagine an English sheepherder to sound (I am Greek and I do not understand where this accent comes from, but we almost all have it).
Fascinating thing.

[Elurin]

As a retired ESL teacher, I think you explained a complex topic quite well. My last ESL job in China was with EF, and them, being a European company, taught British English, whereas I am Canadian. But, from a teaching perspective, the minor variations in accent is the absolute last thing I would teach, even in advanced classes. I taught a couple different lessons on the subject (CEFR C2) but just as an interesting side lesson.

The are certainly pronunciation lessons to be learned to make yourself understood (the "r/l" dilemma is an important one for Asian students) but aside from some basic fundamentals, they are not nearly as important for fluency as a lot of L2 English learners think.

[MiniLuv-]

Being Australian, I have no idea what you are talking about - both pronunciations are wrong :)
Happy new year to all of you - thanks for this and so may other videos Sabine.

[DavidGuyton]

Someone please explain how Arnold Schwarzenegger has been in America for like 50 years and we can all do his accent but he can't do ours.

[dooleyfussle]

You never surprise me with your topics, but often I am over the moon with your your dresses and hair styles. This one is especially ...nice.