American words and spellings not corrected in UK schools

[Fifiplays]

I find that schools no longer correct pupils when they use American English words and spellings in schools. For example, 'Airplane' (Aeroplane), 'Regular' (ordinary), 'Cotton candy' (candy floss), 'Program (when not a computer) etc etc. Does anyone have a good experience of schools being viglilent to this?

I think 'senior' school might be more linked to private schools.

I've been a teacher for a looong time and I don't think that's true. If you go on Wikipedia and click at random on the lists of secondary schools from across England and Wales, there is a big range of names. High schools, academies, upper schools, senior schools, senior academies. Senior is generally the opposite to junior. Lots of areas' state schools used to be divided into junior and senior schools (whether the name of the school had 'senior' in the title or not). Certainly not something restricted to private schools. Some private (and state) schools might refer to their upper years being the seniors though.

I went to one in the 1970s. It merged and changed its name in the early 2000s.

I went to a grammar school in the late 1960s/early 1970s. When it became a comprehensive school through merging with a secondary modern a year before I left, it became a high school.

Some people just seem very invested in the idea that the way other people use language is wrong. You see it a lot on MN. The usual targets are Americans, Scots, the Irish, people from the Midlands who dare say 'mom' even though they aren't American and teenagers.

I just tried to find out if UK exam boards accept American spellings/words. I couldn't find much, but the Cambridge board said 'Examiners are used to marking papers in British amd Australian or American English. What is important is consistency. In longer pieces of writing, candidates should avoid using different spellings for the same word'.

If exam boards don't care, teachers are unlikely to make a fuss about it.

“Airport used to be strictly reserved for Aerodromes with custom facilities (i.e. a port).”

that’s v interesting!

I work in a school. The amount of material produced by teachers who use z instead of an s is really shocking.

You do yourself no favours with this post. The very first word on your list was originally used in Britain and Ireland and never fell out of use in many parts of those countries. There is nothing wrong with it, and it's not just American English.

Our head teachers were always called the Principal (Ireland from the 80s onwards), and there are plenty of High Schools in both Ireland and Northern Ireland so I doubt those are Americanisms either.

Student all over the world sit Cambridge exams, that's why

My old school became Scumbags High School in 1971 when the grammar system ended in my borough. I hadn't even been born at that point. It remained a High School for over 25 years.

There are also many Independent Schools that have been High Schools for significantly longer.

Student all over the world sit Cambridge exams, that's why

True. But I am wondering whether the other UK exam boards would mark down for U.S. spellings or words.

Getting my 1973 Shorter OED again, this list is somewhat mixed...

Gotten - English since 1637. Used in ill-gotten and begotten as well as on its own.
Principal - the head man or woman, the most usual designation of the head of a college or hall outside Oxford and Cambridge since 1438. However, its widespread use for head teachers is imported from the US.
High school - used for certain classes of schools for secondary education in the British Isles since 1505. As per one of my earlier posts, the secondary school I attended adopted the name "High School" in the early 1970s - 1972 I think.
Movies - this one did originate in the US in 1913.
French fries - another American term.
Garbage - meaning rubbish since 1583.
Candy - confectionery made of or with crystalized sugar since 1769, but use of the term to mean sweets in general including chocolate is an Americanism
Cookies - an Americanism (although in Scotland it meant a baker's plain bun)

I remember 20 years ago I was reading some EU legislation and it referred through to "diapers" in the English version. I cannot imagine the French letting French Candianisms slip into formal EU documents.

Not 'wrong' in the native country.

I stand corrected!

I correct students if they use American spellings (ize / ise).

Usually they haven’t changed the default setting on Word.

Programme is a French word, program was the original British English spelling. Regular has been in use in British English for generations. Airplane refers to planes operating out of ports that have a comercial basis rather than just transportation. What do you believe is spelled incorrectly in the words cotton or candy?

The word viglilent doesn’t exist in the English language.

It's annoying, agreed. I also rarely hear of a film these days in the UK. It's always referred to as a movie.

I was always told it was a TV programme, and a programme of events. But a computer program.

High school is also a British term, with different meanings. High School in my area meant a mixed comprehensive from age 11 to 14. I suppose in other areas that might have been called a middle school. Down the road there was another High School, in that case it meant a girls' private school, from age 4 to 18.

Gotten is of course used in parts of the UK and also Ireland I believe.

I do think it would be a a shame if due to cultural saturation/media American English steams over all other varieties though, particularly as English actually comes from over here!

High school (senior school)

As others have said, "high school" is used in the UK, especially Scotland.

In fact, the US got "high school" directly from Scotland. The first school to call itself a high school was (and is) the Royal High School in Edinburgh. An early school in the US was modeled on the Royal High School and the name spread.

I went to a high school for girls which was opened in the 1800s.

I don’t see high school as American.

Oh my goodness! Shocking indeed!

I agree. Using the word movie instead of film is not "language evolving".

Why isn’t it?

Weren’t films “talkies” once upon a time?

Come to that, I would probably say “silent movie” not “silent film” for a pre-talkie motion picture ;-)

My dc say cinema
i say pictures.

Film not movie.
(not sure about silent film v silent movie)