2. Different Countries Have Different Kinds of Englishes
Voyages of people from England play an important part in spreading the English language. At present, English is frequently spoken as an official or common language in many countries, such as America, Singapore, Malaysia and some African countries. All based on British English, the English spoken in these countries can be well understood by native English speakers. But actually, these Englishes have been gradually changing in accents, spellings, and the usage of vocabulary.
Because of this fact, you can make use of the differences to tell which country the foreigners of your block are from. For example, if a boss fluently commands his driver, “Come up straight to my apartment by elevator and take some gas for my trucks and cabs”, instead of requesting, “Please come to my flat by lift and take some petrol for my lorries and taxis”, you can recognize his American identity, while the latter suggests that he is British.
英国人的航海在英语的传播中扮演了重要的角色。目前,英语在许多国家被作为官方语言或通用语言频繁地使用,例如美国、新加波、马来西亚和一些非洲的国家。这些国家的英语都以英式英语为基础,能很好地为以英语为本族语的人所理解。但是实际上,这些英语在口音、拼写、表达和词汇的使用方面都在逐渐变化。
因为这一情况的存在,你就可以利用这些英语之间的区别说出你们街区的外国人是哪个国家来的了。例如,如果有个老板流利地命令他的司机:“Come up straight to my apartment by elevator and take some gas for my trucks and cabs(直接搭电梯到我公寓上来拿卡车和出租车的汽油)”,而不是要求说,“Please come to my flat by lift and take some petrol for my lorries and taxis(请直接搭电梯到我公寓上来拿卡车和出租车的汽油)”,你就可以轻易地辨认出他的美国人身份,而后者却暗示着那是一位英国人。(请注意:听力录音里第二段两个“电梯”的单词跟原文不一致,原文是对的,录音弄错了,elevator才是美式说法而lift是英式说法。)