Why Should You Learn British English?

There are approximately 160 accents  of English around the world.  

Within the British Isle alone  you will find over 30 of them. So  

which accent should you be learning if you  are learning English as a second language?

In the title of this video I indicate  that the answer is British English,  

and I will come on to why in a moment. Firstly I want to address the biggest  

misconception about British  English and American English.  

Many students feel that they must learn one or  the other, and that if they have started learning  

American English then they shouldn’t look  at British English resources. So let me make  

this CRYSTAL CLEAR - We both speak ENGLISH, we can  understand each really well. In fact the top 5,000  

words used in British English are pretty much  the same as the top 5000 words used in the USA. 

In fact any version of English is still English.  Of course, we all have our own dialect, and  

accents, but it really doesn’t  matter which version of English  

you look at, it’s still the same language. If you do have difficulty understanding someone  

then it probably has more to do with the pace (how  fast they speak), volume (perhaps they mumble),  

or a lack of clarity (they just don’t  enunciate their words properly). 

SO, fundamentally as you are learning  English to communicate in some way,  

it really doesn’t matter which version you  are learning, as long as you speak clearly.

BUT if you want my guidance on this question  “Which version should I learn?” then I will say  

British English. Learn British  English and learn a modern RP accent. 

Basically learn to speak like me, why? Because I  want you to stay here with me and be my students  

forever more. And I teach  British English of course. :) 

All joking aside, how you speak is a personal  choice, your voice reflects your personality,  

characteristics and your identity, or at  least the ‘identity’ you want to portray.  

Some students love my accent and  desperately what to acquire this accent,  

which by the way, if that is you, then I  can seriously help you to achieve your goal,  

head over to englishlikeanative.com and  check out my British Pronunciation course. 

Some students feel that they have a  mixed version of English because they  

started learning one version and then changed to  a new teacher who taught them a different version.  

In this case I would say don’t worry, don’t  stress, English is English, you will be understood  

in the real world. The only exception would be  if you are taking some form of English exam,  

in many cases they need consistency. Therefore  if you begin the exam using American spellings  

you will need to continue with American  English throughout that exam.  

So just for fun, I am going to  tell you the reasons why I think  

you should learn British English and if you have  any additional reasons please comment below.  

Let me stress this is just for fun. So  I think British English for many of you  

is more of a challenge. Many people say to me that  British English is harder to learn perhaps because  

there is more American media that goes global so  there are more American films around the world,  

American music is more popular globally, so people  are more familiar with the American accent and  

find that that one's easier. So take the challenge  and challenge yourself to take on British English  

instead. Some also think it's less common more  people go for American English they think that  

American English is easier so everyone learns  American English and therefore it's less common  

more exotic so be exotic be different don't be  part of the majority be part of the minority.  

Another reason many people love  the sound of British for me  

British English is just the way we all sound  and to me hearing other accents is much more  

exciting um but for many people around the  world they say oh we love the British accent.

Another reason is that some of  the coolest characters are British  

let's see you have James Bond, Sherlock Holmes,  

Lara Croft, Harry Potter, Austin Powers, maybe  not, Jack Sparrow, can you think of any more?  

Another reason is that some people say that  British English is the purest form of English  

because well English is from England originally  so I'm really scraping the barrel here, aren't I?  

Wouldn't you want to learn the  original version of this language?

Okay another reason there are some  awesome British English teachers online  

providing free resources to help you you've  got Lucy, Elliot, Tom, Leila & Sahbra,  

the list goes on, but the biggest reason to  learn British English is because you want to,  

because you like this version and it inspires you  to learn. So in a nutshell, in a nutshell means  

to summarise it doesn't matter which version you  choose it's all the same language but I endorse  

British English I'm here to help you if that's  what you want to now on Englishlikeanative.com  

you will find my pronunciation course with over  150 video lessons, over 5 000 practice audios,  

downloadable lesson notes, interactive activities,  and access to an exclusive Facebook group,  

and live lessons if you want to know more then  I'll leave a link in the description below  

that's all from me for now, hopefully, I'll  see you in another video take care bye.