Writing in English or American

[r937]

dyslexics of the world untie!!

[WordsofWorth]

that's easy to say, but what if one doesn't actually know which way to do it? if you use spell check, then as the kids say, you're gonna have a bad time...

This is the problem, sadly. Too many people grow up not really knowing how to spell. As one of those people who constantly complains about exams getting easier, I can say with some assurance that they, in fact, are. I have seen applications by potential editors who can't spell, and even applications from teachers (English teachers no less) who can't spell. What chance the kids?

It's rife in the real world too, as nobody seems to know or care. I even saw a beer fridge in a shop in February that sported a sign saying "cold beer's" - just what was the apostrophe for? It wasn't hand written, it was embossed in white plastic on a drinks fridge. No wonder we can't spell as a society.

[J in Calgary]

I realize I'm late to this discussion, but as an American in Calgary, I'll just point out that it doesn't bother me to encounter British versions of words (storey, centre, and so forth). It didn't bother me when I read books or papers by British authors before I moved to Canada, either, so if you are more comfortable with that, I don't think it's something that is a deal-breaker for American audiences.

[deanaov]

Should we write in American English or English English (as I like to call it) on our blog posts. It feels kind of odd writing in American English, particularly using color instead of colour.

You can see more on the dialects here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_English. I live in a commonwealth country and we use the same English and people do from England, I am also biased in that I grew up in the UK. I think even HTML was founded by an English chap but colour is still coded as color in the then HTML property.

What should we do and why?

For the record I am using American English because it's the spellchecker on my WP site and I feel the Internet's main form of English. Would make an interesting argument if search engines differentiated between the two of them, considering search engines take synonyms into account.

A blog embraces all types of English. It's your personal space, your playground and you can post anything in it.

Here's my personal take on your concern: Use the language that you're comfortable with. Simply use your English if it sounds natural. Your audience will understand whether the one reading your post is an American. Some readers can feel if a blogger is trying to pretend that he's someone he's not. I have also read a number of blogs written by British writers and I have enjoyed reading it. It's a good feeling to read a blog with a slight different tone and spelling. The search engines, on the other hand, got no problem with it. As I see it, you'll be good as long as the post is written in high quality. On the other hand, it might be better if you'll consider having two English blogs that targets two different audiences. This technique is pretty a waste of time and it's inevitable to have duplicate posts. However, the final decision is all up to you.

[rudiemartin]

do you proofread your content yourself?? does it mean that you know uk/us english rules well? i personally think that there is not much difference and people would not even notice the type of english you use. it definitely needs to be written by a native-speaker and proofread. that's it.