QUOTE (kenm @ Feb 1 2005, 03:53 PM)

OTOH, each language has its strong and weak points.

Who is Otoh?
Language keeps changing. you can resist all you like but it won't stop for a few sentimentalists.
.'.

OTOH = on the other hand

there have to be some language guidelines, or we'll all end up ritin like dis cos dat's how da kids rite deze dayz in txts.

dictonaries ride a fine line between descriptive and prescriptive.

languages do evolve and grow, but there's a difference between something that's down to personal preference like ise vs ize, and people actually getting things wrong - like flout and flaunt as synonyms - think that is an example from a Bill Bryson book! if words start getting mixed up and misused like that, they cease to mean anything, and lose their usefulness.

Weil wir jetzt Beiträge auf russisch und latein hatten, wollte ich doch noch etwas deutsch einfließen lassen!

took extra care to use an Umlaut and the ß!

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ Feb 1 2005, 12:06 PM)

I always use what I consider standard British spellings etc, and always will.

Even if you go and live in America?

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QUOTE (Rhapsodin @ Feb 2 2005, 08:20 AM)

Was ist los? Ah, meine Strassenbahn ist kaput. Bitte, zeigen Sie mir den Weg zur U-bahn.

QUOTE (july @ Feb 2 2005, 08:27 AM)

QUOTE (Rhapsodin @ Feb 2 2005, 08:20 AM) Was ist los? Ah, meine Strassenbahn ist kaput. Bitte, zeigen Sie mir den Weg zur U-bahn.

What what what? Please enlighten us none-german-speakers!

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QUOTE (Rhapsodin @ Feb 2 2005, 08:50 AM)

QUOTE (Subatomic_Star @ Feb 2 2005, 08:42 AM) What what what? Please enlighten us none-german-speakers! My tram has broken down. Please show me the way to the underground train station. (July has had the goodness to correct my grammar - thank you!) Frightfully important to music.

Ok... just wondered...

QUOTE (Neon-lights @ Feb 1 2005, 05:33 PM)

Language keeps changing. you can resist all you like but it won't stop for a few sentimentalists.

Precisely - which is why our dear (paranoid?) Academiciens, in spite of all their green-velveted, sword-hanging immortal splendour, won't succeed in making people say "baladeur" instead of "walkman".....it indeed is a rear-guard action, like closing the stable door after the prize horse has bolted - or whatever.

QUOTE (spaceman @ Feb 2 2005, 01:05 AM)

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ Feb 1 2005, 12:06 PM) I always use what I consider standard British spellings etc, and always will. Even if you go and live in America?

Yup.

Entschuldigen sie bitte, wie komme ich am besten zum bahnhof bitte?

(excuse the terrible spelling and grammar, only did german for two years!)

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uh.......... *tries to pretend she has any idea what that means...*

The Babelfish version is jolly amusing...

QUOTE (Rhapsodin @ Feb 2 2005, 12:48 PM)

QUOTE (sarah-flute @ Feb 2 2005, 11:43 AM) Entschuldigen sie bitte, wie komme ich am besten zum bahnhof bitte? Vergessen Sie den Bahnhof. Gehen gerade aus, bis Sie einen herrlichen Mann dann treffen, Kaffee mit ihm trinken. 6ft mit braunen Haar und den netten blauen Augen. (wayhayyy)

He said:

Forget the train station.

Go straight ahead until you meet a wonderful man who you'll have coffee with. 6ft tall with brown hair and nice blue eyes!

lol...

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Rhaps, you're a nutcase...

QUOTE (Rhapsodin @ Feb 2 2005, 05:44 PM)

Thank you July!!!

no problem, rhapsodin!

immer wieder gern!

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QUOTE

I like baladeur.

so do I.

Much more elegant than walkman.

Maggie

Dear Forums Members,

To return to the topic in question, the majority of ABRSM publications are written in British-English and we do try to be consistent with that. We do however, produce a variety of publications specifically for our American audience in which American terminology is used. For example, our Jazz Assessment Guide.

For any German or Spanish speakers, our publication "These Music Exams" is available in these languages. For any German users who would like an introduction to the Prep Test in German, please visit our Germany Country pages:

http://www.abrsm.org/?page=regions/de/ger/...t/preptest.html

Whilst we do our best to avoid any inconsistencies, the odd exception does invariably slip through the net. Anyone who spots such an error, please contact our Publishing Company - publishing@abrsm.ac.uk
Many thanks

Christine Morris
Forums Administration

QUOTE (Rhapsodin @ Feb 2 2005, 11:36 PM)

But what sort of English is that?

It's Franglais of course - when the French anglify or the English frenchify....like cliche and deja vu over here, we Frogs have walkman, cool, top....

QUOTE (CMORRIS @ Feb 3 2005, 10:41 AM)

Dear Forums Members, To return to the topic in question, the majority of ABRSM publications are written in British-English and we do try to be consistent with that. We do however, produce a variety of publications specifically for our American audience in which American terminology is used. For example, our Jazz Assessment Guide.

Thanks Christine for the explanation. I think that looking back we decided it was British English but with the ize, which many people view to be American but is apparently in the English dictionaries. Any advance on why ize is used instead of the more standard ise? Is it just because that technically the dictionaries list them first so the publishers insist on that?

As an aside, interestingly enough (or maybe not interesting to most people...), searching on this forum for organize yields few results all but one of which are either on this thread or posted by people who I recall having said that they are American (the other being someone I believe is American but can't remember fully). A search for organise yields a few pages of results.

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