England and America

"England and America are two countries divided by a common language." This interesting quote was said by the famous writer of more than 60 plays, George Bernard Shaw. The Nobel Prize Winner was born in Dublin in 1856, lived most of his life in London, and died in Hertfordshire in 1950. Known for being a dramatist, a critic, an active Socialist, a brilliant platform speaker, and a satirist, Shaw even got an adjective named after him, namely “Shavian”. As far as the quote is concerned, the differences between American English and British English are definitely there, and it does have an influence on the communication between Americans and the British. This might be a reason why it is possible to separate two nations who share a common language- they don’t understand each other because of the thousands of new words and phrases the Americans incorporated in their everyday lives after they became independent. In addition, the situation between the two countries was especially difficult during World War II. As for me as a language learner, I know that there are differences in meaning and spelling as well as cultural ones that I have to learn to avoid misunderstandings.