Most students realise that there are some variations between the English used in London and in Washington. But how important are the differences, and which version of English are students meant to use?
Some international students find the differences between British and American English quite confusing.But generally speaking there are bigger differences in the spoken language than the written. You do not need to worry about pronunciation in an essay! The most significant differences for writers concern spelling, vocabulary and style. However, it should be said that most American teachers understand English vocabulary, and vice versa. You are unlikely to be criticised for writing 'program', for example, instead of 'programme' if you are in Britain. Here are some examples of the main differences:
British English American English
Spelling
colour color (+ other -our words)
defence defense ( + other -ce words)
centre center ( + other -er words)
Vocabulary
autumn fall
full stop period
motorway freeway
NB Most vocabulary differences are in everyday words, rather than academic language.
Style
Quotations in British English are marked by single quotation marks, in American by double:
'All you need is love' "All you need is love"
Students studying in countries such as Singapore, Australia or New Zealand will normally be expected to write in British English, while those in North or South America and parts of the Middle East generally use American English.
In the past ten years an increasing number of companies have set up in business offering to write essays for students. They may advertise their services in student districts or on the internet, claiming to write an essay to order 'for study purposes'. But in reality they know that hard-pressed students may be tempted to pretend these are their own work, and hand them in for assessment.
There are several ideas why this is a bad idea. Firstly, although students may spend up to £100 per essay, the quality may be so poor that the work is given a fail mark. But more importantly, passing off someone else's work as your own is plagiarism, and the punishment in an academic community may involve suspension from your course. Thirdly, even if the fraud is not detected and leads to your passing the course, what is the value of your qualification? Just having a piece of paper is not going to qualify you for a career.
Learning how to write good academic work is a vital part of your education. There are no short cuts, but once you have mastered the skill of writing you will have an ability you can use for the rest of your life.
Read more on this topic here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20298237
The two main reasons for using adverbs are:
a) to provide more detail with verbs and adjectives:
Reasonably good data is available for the last twenty years
Decomposition eventually ceases in landfill sites
b) to introduce new points, generally at the start of sentences:
Currently, the earth's atmosphere seems to be ...
Alternatively, the use of non-conventional renewable energies ...
Adverbs usually give information about:
a) Time (when?) - The statistics were examined retrospectively
b) Degree (how much?) - Output declined considerably
c) Manner (in what way?) - The conclusion was legally correct
When using adverbs to introduce sentences writers need to take care not to be subjective. Adverbs can work like the author's 'voice', so that words like 'fortunately' or 'happily' can be seen as expressing personal opinions.
Sadly, poverty is still common in rural districts
Currently, poverty is still common in rural districts
