To ask why some Mumsnetters find the use of American English suspicious?

[MonaLisaDoesntSmile]

Some while back I wrote a thread under another username, and was accused by a few members to have written a fake story because I used words that are much more commonly used in the US. For the record, I learned English as a second language and my secondary school teacher was from the US, I also spent my teens watching American shows and films. 15+ years in the UK and I still use flashlight, trashcan, gas, fall, intersection and a number of other words that got stuck in my head.
I have it happen since a few times to other people- today someone decided a thread posted by a user was done by chat GTP because it sounded 'American'.
Why are people so baffled by the fact that there may be American users on the site, or people educated in the US/international American schools, or just people who have learned English with the help of American media rather than BBC?

We are an insular and narrow minded nation, suspicious of both foreigners and anything unfamiliar. Look at Brexit; a triumph of bigotry, isolationism and ignorance. Completely self-defeating with nothing to recommend it at all.

How rude. We are a highly multicultural nation. Including me.

Oh FFS 😂 @Lundier eta because it's clearly important to her!

Yep. Depressing, isn't it? I'm a languages teacher and I've encountered quite a lot of incrrdulity and even hostility over the years at the idea that learning a foreign language might be good or useful. Not in my current (very multicultural girls') school, thankfully.

Yes, we are. Unfortunately that doesn't actually get rid of the insular attitude, which seems to have risen again in recent years.

That's for different reasons other than language as far as I can see. It's because we are a small island heading for 70 million people with not much money and not very good public services.

No it's not because of language at all. The lack of willingness to learn languages is a symptom, not a cause.

Schools don't teach languages. That's the government's fault not because this country is insular. I speak 4 reasonably well only one of which I was taught in school. (One was for family reasons).

So, like a local shop for local people?

I hate to burst your bubble, but if they'd wanted to keep it 'a British website for British women' they could have geo-blocked it. I suspect they decided advertising clicks from outside the UK, including the US, were just as valuable as those from whatever sorry little backwater in which you reside.

You and your comment have no bearing on me and my life. Not now, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not in a year. Your comment was a moment in time that I will soon forget among all the other things that are forgotten forever.

Similar vibes.

Even older Indians in India (those who speak English, of course) have a complex and nuanced command of the language. And I don’t just mean literary or culture industry types.

You guess? 😂
Of course I can use it, no one needs your permission.
Please pinpoint me to a regulation stating you need a blue passport and being a supporter of Reform to be able to post here :)

Agree wholeheartedly @TertiaryAdjunctofUnimatrix01, same with many former children of the colonies from the Caribbean, east Africa like Kenya etc, their syntaxes and variety of vocabulary exceeds that of many US English speaker. It is amazing. Furthermore many of the former speak at speed without fault. Many US natives speak excruciatingly slowly.

What on earth are you talking about? Schools definitely do teach languages. We teach 3 at my school. It's compulsory to teach a foreign language from KS2 in primary school to the end of KS3 in secondary school, though optional at GCSE.

@AllProperTeaIsTheft

But I was replying to your earlier comment that we arent willing to learn languages. Your latest post suggests that your earlier post isn't true.

Whereas your latest post suggests that you can't read. I clearly stated in my earlier post that I teach languages and that I have over the years encountered some unwillingness and hostility towards learning languages (though not at my current school). How on earth did you interpret that as 'Schools don't teach languages'? Quite a lot of kids also don't like learning maths. Do you think that means schools don't teach maths?

You can use it, anyone with access to the website can use it. It was intended for British women, it’s a predominantly British website, the clue is in the name “mumsnet.” Expect people to assume that you are British.
You spoke to me with disrespect. like others you’re desperate to “one up” another person. You’re not worth my time. And I am quite philosophical. I am glad that you have no bearing on my life, it helps to see things in perspective that what you have to say does not matter.

Cool your boots! I think we've got crossed wires.

"Philosophical"? Sure you are 😂 Thanks for the laugh😂
You sure sound bothered despite underlining 5 times you are not, but that's OK. It also helps to know that whatever you say also does not really matter to anyone else, so there is balance in the world.

@HorribleHisTories15

It is very basic to learn US English

For starters, that's quite a poorly expressed thought.

Second - you'll need to expand on this bald statement if you want to convince anyone you're not just looking g down your nose at something you have no knowledge of.

Yes, it goes with a PP's phrase to the effect that anti American sentiment here on MN (and there's a lot of it) is "punching up".

The correlated notion of the 'special relationship', which involves the older, wiser - and former - world power teaching the newer, rising power the ropes is an acknowledgement of the post imperial reality that flatters the UK. That view of matters is not shared by the US.

The antipathy toward all things American is a defensive reflex.

@mathanxietythere is no need for the hostility. International schools in Germany and France state quite often that they teach US English as it is easier for children and students to learn in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary. The UK form of English is not always phonetically adherent, as such it can pose difficulties to those learning it as a second language, especially for adults where the learning of languages is different (see TEFL training, and speech and language therapy literature). As such, US styled English can be an easier attainable level of English for enunciation.

Youre a speck on this earth that one day won’t exist in your current form. One day your “lights” will go out and you will never see your family and friends again. Almost everything you have done or said of a similar nature will not have any bearing or impact on the inevitable. Consider what really matters - arguing with me, is a drop in the ocean