More confusion when you are writing in Canada but for an American forum. I guess we should all remember this quote, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Thank you for your comment. Thank goodness we can set our language preference in Word! There is a separate setting for 18 different varieties of English, including not only Canadian, British and American, but also Australian, Irish, Indian, Jamaican and South African, to name just a few!
That should certainly help if we ever find ourselves writing for audiences even farther afield than the U. Totally, Sheila. I was wondering more when we write to American forums using our Canadian English, but over there it is or might be considered an error, since they have different spellings, do they keep in mind the origins of the writer?
Has anyone ever experienced this? My guess would be that most educated Americans are aware that British spelling differs from American spelling and is considered equally correct. But I have no personal experience to go by. Are there any readers out there who have experience using British or Canadian spelling in an American Internet forum? Well, I think Canada has dropped the ball. Big time. The fact is that correct spelling is merely a convention agreed upon by the speakers of a language.
So if a significant community of speakers adopts a particular style of spelling, then that spelling is correct for them, regardless of what other language communities might choose to do. Speaking as a Canadian, I think Canadians should use British spelling. It is nonsense to try to reinvent the wheel.
The English language was fully functional long before us and does not require editing. Is there an equivalent page about Canadian French?
I find how language changes really fascinating. However, the following posts may be of interest to you:. Now that the Canadian Oxford is no longer being updated since !
As time goes on and language evolves, the CanOx does risk becoming outdated in a few areas. I'd love to hear how you guys are dealing with this! But, for those who might be concerned about the age of the COD, there is a newer Canadian dictionary: the Collins Canadian Dictionary the second paperback edition came out in The Portal may consider switching to one of these resources in future.
I'm thinking Pierre Trudeau, but I'm not sure. I am a Canadian employment counsellor and a former English language instructor. I was educated in the UK and Canada. I am finding that a significant number of Canadians are using US spelling.
In the long run, Canadians might adopt American spellings. It is important to preserve Canadian English and Canadian spelling. I have some ideas, but I am not sure where to share them. Since Canadian English and Canadian spelling help to distinguish us from other English-speaking countries and thus contribute to our sense of national identity, we agree that it would be a shame if they disappeared. If you would like to share your ideas on preserving Canadian English, we invite you to contribute a post to the Our Languages Blog.
Living in America U. My English must be extremely difficult to learn for foreigners! Even we get confused. My question is: What's the correct way to spell Canadian OR Canadien? The Montreal hockey team is named the Canadiens and so called in both official languages. As another reader has already noted, both spellings are used in English, but not with the same meaning.
The best thing to do is to pick a reliable Canadian dictionary and use it consistently. Is it true that Canadian spelling of words have more letters colour vs. I was told this by a university student. In time, Canadians may end up favouring the simpler approach. I am a copywriter and copyeditor. I blog on writing and social media tips mostly, but I sometimes throw in my thoughts about running a small business.
Follow me on Twitter at hotpepper. Previous Post. Next Post. Skip to content One of the challenges of Canadian English is that it incorporates British English while simultaneously incorporating American English. While English spelling is chaotic and inconsistent, we would be worse off with phonetic spelling. English dialects have so many differences in accent and pronunciation that we would have big trouble understanding people writing phonetically in their own dialect. Accurate writing and spelling requires learning lots of rules, and regional usage is a key element of that.
It would be confusing and inaccurate to change the name of the event, which is essentially serving as a proper noun, to match my normal spelling practice. Rules have exceptions, and you need to learn those.
Anyone who codes HTML will already be familiar with this problem. There is no difference in meaning between center and centre. Center is the preferred spelling in American English, and centre is preferred in varieties of English from outside the U. Some people do make distinctions between the words.
For instance, some prefer to treat center as the word for a place or institution and centre as the word for the middle point of something. But while these preferences may be taught in some schools and are perhaps common among careful English speakers in Canada, the U. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account.
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