English (USA), English (Australian), English (UK)
I have my books edited in St Louis by a lady called Sara Ann. I do this because nearly everything in the USA is vastly less expensive than in Australia. For instance the median price of a house in our largest city, Sydney, just went through a million dollars. Along with New York and Paris, this makes it one of three most expensive cities in the world.
Sara Ann struggled with English (Australian) on the first book that she edited for me. She even asked if I’d like to write a disclaimer saying I hadn’t used proper English (i.e. English (USA)). It made me smile, and I wondered what the English might feel about how their language is being used in other countries.
The language difference was made clear to me by US author, John Fioravanti after I’d reviewed his feel good biography (see below). I said that as I was reading A Personal Journey I found myself barracking for him. John was horrified that I would say such a thing. He told me that it was a derogatory term and means to shout and abuse. The Australian meaning is to cheer and support your team, and that is why I used it. I did, of course, remove the reference after I heard from John.
My main market place is the USA, so I’ve altered my Word settings to English (United States) but there are simple words that are a real struggle. We say, “The clothes fitted him like a glove,” but ‘fitted’ is not a word used in the US. We say, “He spat on the ground,” but I understand ‘spat’ is also a word not used in the US. There are many more instances but it is so foreign for me to say, “The clothes fit him like a glove,” or “He spit on the ground.” Fit and spit are present tense words here but in the US they seem to be both present and past tense.
On a lighter note, I highly recommend John Fioravanti’s biography and here follows my review:
I normally read business/finance related books or suspense thrillers.
I bought A Personal Journey to the Heart of Teaching because I wanted to check out John Fioravanti’s writing style. The first two pages told me that he is a superb author, and this book is beautifully constructed.
The bonus for me was John’s wonderful story and how he shares both his demons and accomplishments with readers. It is a terrific, uplifting story, and if you don’t feel good after reading this book, you’re hard to please.
Late in the book there is a second bonus being a heartfelt poem composed by one of John’s students for him. I was not only impressed by the poem’s sentiments but by the student’s skills. Needless to say, it is a great poem.
My only problem with this book is its title which I think limits the number of readers. You don’t need to be a teacher, parent, grandparent or student to get a buzz out of this book. It is a wonderful feel good story that anyone looking for a good read should buy.
It was very easy to give A Personal Journey to the Heart of Teaching five stars.
http://www.amazon.com.au/A-Personal-Journey-Heart-Teaching-ebook/dp/B00K9UXW2E
