What do you teach?

Carrying on from a previous post regarding dates (YYMMDD/DDMMYY/MMDDYY), I beleive that  the COMMON differences abounding in the English language should be taught.  Our students will come across them, and teaching them now will make it easier for them.

Examples: 
Thong = flipflops/thong=g-string
tap=faucet
bonnet=hood
boot=trunk

Spelling differences:
our/or,
ise/ize
aluminium/aluminum

There will be a whole bunch more out there. 

And then the differences in pronunciation also need to be taught.


So - do you teach the differences?
 

....And then the differences in pronunciation also need to be taught.
So - do you teach the differences?

Yes.  Whenever possible.  With (often) humorous examples of confusions arising from various UK vs US variants.....but not very much on the Oz ones, since they rarely occur here.  

And I always try to advise when it's a "tom-Ay-to/tom-AH-to" case of pronunciation.

I'm often surprised how students don't really notice the difference in accents between native English speakers from opposite sides of the planet. They also often seem unfazed by lexical differences. Maybe this is because comparable lexical differences often exist between different regions of their own countries. This seems to be particularly true of swear words. For example, in Northern Italian a colourful word for an erect... well enough of that for now.

I'm often surprised how students don't really notice the difference in accents between native English speakers from opposite sides of the planet. They also often seem unfazed by lexical differences.

I think they understand that there are lexical differences - all you have to do to explain that is to talk about the differences between dialects or even the differences between 'official' putonghua and Shaanxi (substitute any province) putonghua and they'll agree.  But, like us, they need to know what the differences are.

I'm not so sure about the differences in accent being easily understood.  I've had students tell me they found it difficult to understand native speakers from a particular country because they had become used to a particular accent.

If they find it difficult to understand the Chinese of people from different parts of the country as first years (or even as adults - I have Chinese friends who won't speak to other Chinese friends of mine on the mobile, because they find the accent too hard to understand) then it isn't easier for them to understand in their non-native language.

My students can't pick accents (they thought I was Canadian) but they do find some easier to understand than others. Also, they use some words that aren't common in either the main North American/British English camps that their Chinese English teachers use.

I'll give this some thought. They do cover some of it in their college English class, but I don't know how much.

Two guys, standing by a car:

"Mate, I'd like to put my junk in your boot."


I teach that such things are prohibited by the Bible, but it's okay in Australia.

doughnuts vs donuts

I remember one of my first days of work, I had some parents to observe. After the lesson, one mother accused me of not being able to spell. I finally figured out that being Canadian, I may speak and pronounce 'mercan, but I spell British.  i.e. I wrote "colour" rather than "color".

Now, every time I'm in a new class/school or have an outsider, I always stress the various pronunceations and spellings. Some kids may have had a British FT while others may have had one from NA. Or the differences could be from their Chinese teachers too