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Question for the Canadians

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Do you learn English-English or American-English at school?

For example, I write colour (not color), favourite (not favorite), jewellery (not jewelry) and centre (not center) - all English-English spellings because I schooled in ex-British colonies. To write the American version looks like a spelling mistake (although my spelling is atrocious). I - quite ironically - correct my spellcheck.

Just curious. There is no right and wrong. It's all about what you were taught at school - and I'm not familiar with the Canadian schooling system.

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38 replies

Latest reply was from Helena

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

We seem to swing both ways. I learned the british way with "our" but sometimes cave into spell check pressure and use the U.S. versions. We have the French influence as well. My father pronounces schedule as "shedule" and I write cheques rather than checks. I suspect it is regional and that some provinces are more inclined to the British than others.

Very interesting question and I am looking forward to reading the responses.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Aha. Thanks, Cheryle. I write "cheques". (Not checks). And say "shedule" too.

L'Abeille

Veteran

Most of the official spellings are the same as the Brit ones, except we have jail not gaol, and tire not tyre. And we say zed not zee. Although since many kids (cough...mine...) were influenced by the American version of Sesame Street that generation is a little more mixed up on the alphabet. We have cheque and catalogue and centre and theatre, although spellcheck makes the last two increasingly rare!

I suspect that while i was living in South Africa (1987-95) at some point the official guideline that the press uses switched to American spelling for some things, which I noticed in our news magazine subscription (the "color" spelling), and then switched back, just to gaslight me. I think I saw reference to this somewhere later but would be grateful if anyone can confirm!

Belladogga

Not Canadian but went to school and live in the ex British West Indies. When I was at school in the seventies only British-English spelling was accepted as correct. In the nineties, I remember a discussion among university lecturers about whether it was fair to insist on British spelling when the prescribed textbooks were American. Now even in primary (elementary) schools many textbooks and fiction books are American and the spelling situation is very fluid. Some older people still insist that only British spelling is correct. Vocabulary has changed as well - for example, "trash" not "rubbish", "cookie" not "sweet biscuit" and "gas" not "petrol".
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Gaylene

Veteran

I was schooled in the British-English version. Up until the mid 90s, I'd have said "check" was a verb in Canada, and teachers would correct students who omitted the "u" when spelling neighbour or colour, or forgot the double "l" in jewellry.

To me the switch to American spelling really took off when spell checkers came onto the market. Most Canadians didn't bother going into their settings to reset the default American version. As a result, most of my students born after that date are almost startled to see the British spellings in a document.

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

My teachings in school were all with the British spelling and I have trouble to this day switching to the American version.

ETA: My 19-year-old however was schooled using both and definitely uses the American version in his daily life.

kerry

Veteran

British spellings. As a teacher, I teach that way too, so do my colleagues. I spell check spell check frequently!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Fascinating. It's not as cut and dry as I thought it was. Thanks very much for your info.

Style Fan

Veteran

British spellings. I wonder if someone who grows up with computers and has American spell checks might be more influenced by the American spelling. I teach at a University and I have noticed over the years the students are using American English more.

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I use British spelling - but I think I do it just because it looks more posh

Runcarla

Veteran

British spelling (Queen's English?) and cheque not check, etc. but I went to French language schools until university. All my work stations (work and home) have dictionaries!

Glory

Veteran

Interesting. Like Shannon I was schooled in the British spelling. My children use both and media has certainly influenced them.
I grew up with measurement of Fahrenheit rather than Celsius, gallons rather than liters and inches rather than centimeters. For my children they look at me with astonishment when I speak in feet and inches.

Gail

Veteran

I am from the UK but have lived in the US for almost 30 years. I still have to look twice at words , decide where I am, then what spelling to use !

Neelie

Veteran

Only British spelling, and my 11 year old is still being taught that way. I add in a few Frenchisms since I grew up in Montreal. I think American spelling looks empty...

Aziraphale

Veteran

We learn Canadian English, which is a blend of the two. For instance, we tend to follow the American for words like 'organization' (rather than the British 'organisation'), but we maintain the extra 'u' in words like 'colour' and 'favour'. My Canadian computer will tell me I'm spelling something wrong if I leave the u out of those words, but it's got the word 'organisation' underlined in red.

We also tend to follow the British conventions for some Latin words (amoeba rather than ameba, say) but the American for others (fetus rather than foetus). I have no idea why.

We tend to follow the American usage for punctuation. We use double quotation marks for dialogue, for example, instead of single ones ("Hi, my name's Elisabeth" vs 'Hi, my name's Elisabeth'). Having said that, I've been experimenting with the single quotation marks when I write on this forum.

However, we call punctuation marks by their English names -- for example, we say 'exclamation mark' and 'quotation mark' like the English, rather than the American 'exclamation point'. The only exception I can think of is the period, which in England is a 'full stop'.

My dictionary is an Oxford Illustrated, printed by the Oxford University Press (NY), and it lists the variant spellings, although generally the American spelling first.

In fact, now that I think about it, I'm not even sure if there is an official 'Canadian English' or if it's just a journalistic convention. I'm going to go look it up now!

Aziraphale

Veteran

This from Wikipedia:

Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English in its vocabulary, as well as many distinctive Canadianisms. In many areas, speech is influenced by French, and there are notable local variations.[4]

As such, Canadian English and American English are sometimes classified together as North American English, emphasizing the fact that the vast majority of outsiders even from English speaking countries (and even some Anglophone Canadians and Americans themselves, except for French Canadians), cannot distinguish Canadian English from American English by sound.

and

Canadian English spelling is largely a blend of British and American conventions.

I have found the above statements to be true. I also think that many Canadians probably don't realize that we speak and write a blend of both American and British English. Canadians like to think of themselves as not American, thankyouverymuch (in the same way that New Zealanders feel slighted if you accidentally identify them as Australian), and because of this I've met lots of Canadians who take pride in the fact that they employ British spelling conventions such as the 'u' in colour and get quite stroppy about how to say the last letter of the alphabet ('it's ZED, not zee!'), but don't realize that they use American spellings for other words, and almost exclusively follow American punctuation conventions.

Jules

Veteran

Nice summary Aziraphale. That was my impression as well - we use a mix that is termed "Canadian". And I got burned in university once because only American OR British standards were acceptable for a (mock) journal submission

Oh, and how people used to give me crap for saying "zee" - my American Dad and Sesame Street largely taught me the alphabet. People did take that quite personally 35 years ago. Not sure anyone cares quite as much these days.

Jules

Veteran

There's another one actually - I went to university to do a bachelor's degree, not college

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

EXCELLENT, summary, Elisabeth. Many thanks. I learned something new: Canadian English.

And it's zed, Celsius, university, secondary school and exclamation mark at the Cox Castle.

Anonymous

Not on the forum these days, but couldn't help notice this thread while taking a quick sneaky peek ...
I work in publishing and always use the traditional British spelling, which is also what I was taught in school. I ALWAYS correct my autocorrect (American iPhone) and am pretty particular about spelling. And, I am one of those people Elizabeth refers to as getting 'stroppy' : (great word, by the way) about spelling and usage...it just goes with the territory. Either you be accurate and consistent, or you devolve into linguistic anarchy - lol. (texting dialogue pun intended) . Disclaimer: if I've misspelled anything here it's someone else's fault

jackiec

Veteran

Great summary, Aziraphale! My response would have been British, but Canadian is a better answer. I still correct back to the "u" in colour and favourite, etc. I always thought I was an extreme stickler that way, but it seems there are just as many sticklers out there. Laughing at Lisa - if there's an error it's someone else' fault - of course!! Exclamation mark

Gaylene

Veteran

Laughing at Lisa's getting "stroppy" about grammar and spelling. I used to hound my students until I finally capitulated after reading essays that include " Cn u c it?" At that point, it didn't seem worthwhile to fret about the omitted "u" in favour; I had a bigger task ahead of me.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Spelling differences aside, it's fun to come up with all the different words that mean the same thing in American, British, and occasionally Canadian English. Belladogga mentioned a few.

One time we were sitting around with some 'couple' friends -- the husband is English and the wife is American -- and we were trying to come up with as many vocabulary differences as we could. Canadians seem to prefer British spellings, yet often use the American word, it seems. We eat cookies (not biscuits) and fuel our cars with gas (not petrol); we wear a backpack rather than a rucksack and walk the dog on a leash, not a lead. We vacuum instead of hoover our floors and carry cargo in the trunk (not the boot) of the car. There are hundreds of differences. Only occasionally will we use the British word (we go to university, not college, unless it's a community college), or sometimes even use a completely different one -- for example American trash = British rubbish = Canadian garbage.

Our word for what Americans call a 'garbage disposal' ('garburetor') was a source of endless amusement to our American friend. I asked her husband what they call it in England. He shrugged and said, 'I have no idea -- I don't know anyone who has one!'.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Gaylene, you make a great (and funny) point. With the advent of texting, written English is going all for sh*t. Mind you, I'm OK with the idea that languages evolve. I'm not married to the idea that British usage is somehow better than American. I think that's an outdated idea that's tied to snobbery and colonialism. But 'texting language' makes my eye twitch. (Picture Scrat from Ice Age when the glacier is about to crack down the middle. That's me). Arrrrgh. It makes the user look like they've got an IQ of 70.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I am late to this conversation but thank you, Aziriphale! That was a fabulous summary! Canadian English it is.

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

It is a shame that the younger generation doesn't seem to have a strong foundation in language. My son said that if I reviewed a paper he wrote and gave him a 70, he was almost guaranteed to get an "A". Another difference is that we wait in line and the British queue up.

Runcarla

Veteran

As an avid reader, my vocabulary has been informed by my choice of literature. Just last week a co-worker said to me 'nobody talks like that any more' and accused me of archaism. I guess that's what happens when your favourite author is Anthony Trollope, and you read the classics during your formative years

Does anyone (Canadian) remember the CBC 'Royal Canadian Air Farce' character 'The English Major'? I think his horse's name was 'Simile'?

Kim

Veteran

One more difference (Canadian English btw.) It took me until just now to realize that I was not misspelling jewellry! I corrected it when spell check said to, but was mystified as to why I would misspell that "easy"word! Who knew?? LOL I knew about the u and the noun "check"but not jewellry!

I was recently in the Deep South, U.S.A and had to ask for the ladies room at a store. As a Canadian I asked for the "washroom". I got the deer in the headlights look from the guy, until I corrected myself and said "Bathroom". (In Britain I had to rephrase and ask for the "Toilets".) Language is a funny thing!

Marlene

Veteran

Yes, Canadians speak Canadian English...a hybrid of British, American and French. I was born and raised in Vancouver, BC and moved to California 23 years ago. I consider myself bilingual since I can switch back and forth between American and Canadian English easily as necessary. Although I find when I am nervous, I slip back into my native Canadian English without thinking. I still need to be mindful about which language I am speaking. My husband says I switch to Canadian English complete with accent within minutes of crossing the border when I go home!

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