David Crystal: Which English?

Are you familiar with the Macmillan YouTube channel? They've posted great interviews and presentations by their eminent writers. Some MELTA members enjoyed going to IATEFL together last spring and heard a talk and a reading by David Crystal. Here he presents the problem of choosing which variety of English to teach:


Which variety do you teach, and why?

I generally teach American English, my native tongue. But when I've been doing a lot of writing and translating for clients who have ordered British English, I am sometimes confused into using British English pronouns and expressions. Just last sumnmer, to my acute embarassment, I found myself saying "at the weekend", which to me sounds wrong, wrong, wrong. Does that ever happen to you? Any experience to relate?

Lindsay Clandfield poll: Who are the most influential people in ELT today?

Lindsay Clandfield, EFL teacher trainer and author of the wonderful Six Things blog, is inviting you to vote on which authors have had the greatest influence on you as a teacher. The list is excellent. You'll find the poll here.