Do Canadians Use British or American English?
If you are an international student from Pakistan, or another South Asian country who wants to study in Canada, you might wonder if Canadians use British or American English. The answer is both. Therefore, whether you studied under the British Cambridge system or studied at an American School in Pakistan, which English you use in Canada doesn’t really matter, as long as you write well.
Why Is Canadian English Mixed-up?
Canada has been influenced by both the British and Americans. English-speaking Canada has been largely influenced by the British which explains why British English can be found in our schools, in our spelling and grammar. But Canada has the United States as its southern neighbour so American slang and word pronunciation falls inline with American English, sometimes. There are exceptions such as the way Canadians use vowels and their enunciation. Expect for Atlantic Canada, Canadians generally speak clearly with each consonant clearly enunciated, no dropping of the last consonant or slurring words. Sounds are distinct. International students find the Canadian accent easy to understand.
A clear example of American influence is in the car industry. We say trunk of the car rather than the boot. We spell tire rather than tyre. But in other areas we will write neighbour rather than neighbor, honour rather than honor. We retain British spelling for doubling consonants when adding suffixes such as travelled, counselling, etc. But if that doesn’t help you understand the uniqueness of Canadian English, it is now time to turn to other influencers. French immigrants are also part of Canada’s milieu, so we have French derived words that retain their British spelling like colour or centre. On the other hand, there are those Greek derived words, where Canadians switch to American spelling, words such as realize or recognize rather than the British realise or recognise. And let’s not forget a Dutch cookie rather than the British biscuit. We really have a mixed-up English language.
Do International Students Need to Use Canadian English?
No. We understand and accept both American and British English. As I said at the beginning, as long as you have excellent writing skills, your assignments at university or college will be well received. And if you want to pick up on Canadian English, when in Canada, buy yourself a good dictionary. Remember a dictionary is a student’s best friend. Which one should you buy? Well, the Canadian Oxford Dictionary one of course! And if you really want to know about other idiosyncrasies Canadian English has, use the Canadian Translation Bureau’s guide to help you out.
Canadians are proud of their English. We like to distinguish ourselves from the Americans. We say ‘zed’ instead of ‘zee’; it distinguishes the Americans from the Canadian ‘snowbirds’ who go to the Southern US for the winter months, escaping Canada’s harsher climate.