Hi again and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast.

My name is Mandy, and this is our 108th episode.

Listen to the end of today's show to hear about another audiobook I recommend for non-native speakers,

Holes by Lewis Sacker.

I'll also tell you how you can get a copy of this book for free.

Today I'm going to talk about a couple of differences between American English and British English.

I come across learners with very different levels of

awareness when it comes to the dialects of English in different countries. Certainly, it would

be easier for all of us, teachers and learners alike, if American English and British English

were the same. But I kind of like the differences. After all, we are in

different countries and even on different continents. Certainly our cultures are different,

so it seems our speech should give us clues about our individual backgrounds. Of course,

I fully understand that within these English-speaking countries,

there are many, many differences in smaller regional dialects.

I'm speaking only about a few specific words within the most standard accents.

When I'm teaching, there are two words that tell me a student has had some British learning experience,

the words learnt and spelt.

That was learnt, L-E-A-R-N-T, and spelt.

S-P-E-L-T.

In American English, the verbs to learn and to spell are regular in the past tense.

We simply add E-D and we get learned and spelled.

In British English, a T is used instead.

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