British or American?

Malaysia favours British English but American English has a wider reach.

WHEN teaching in a school or writing for a newspaper, 

a decision has to be made on which of two variants of English to adopt

– British or American – 

so that there is consistency in usage.

Countries in South-East Asia tend to favour the English of their ex-colonial masters. 

So Malaysia and Singapore have largely adopted British English while the 

Philippines has tended towards American English.

In terms of vocabulary, it is clear that confusion can occur in some cases 

if we mix the two variants of English.
For instance, before going on a road tour,
"we will put our luggage into the car boot and check under the bonnet "

while Americans 

"will stash their baggage into the trunk and pop the hood for a last lookunder it before they depart."

The difference in spelling between British and American English 

is not as complicated as many would imagine.
 Words ending in -our in Britain such as colour, harbour and parlour become in

America color, harbor and parlor.
Words ending in -ise in Britain such as realise, criticise and equalise would in America 

become realize, criticize and equalize.

The Americans  have a greater output of books,

magazines and newspapers as well as a greater supremacy
in online resources utilising their brand of spelling, making our task of championing British English
seem almost like a losing battle at times. 

Some people have, however, argued that if we are to adopt British English, we should adopt it wholly,
without exceptions. I find this approach problematic as I have always found that we should not be
dogmatic in the use of language as it is a constantly evolving force and stays relevant through its
ability to absorb and discard whatever the source.

British and American English do interact closely with each other

and there is a trend among modern users
to know and use both, especially in the area of vocabulary.

So while “film” is British and “movie” American,
people these days tend to use them interchangeably and as a way of not having to repeat themselves.

Despite its waning influence,
British English still has great cache among English language speakers,

not least because of its still strong literary traditions, so it is not necessary to jump on the

American English bandwagon as yet.

 F/n>> The Star Online