Diary - I've been practising the IELTS speaking recently

[Maybo]

This is an entry from my diary. Please check it and correct any mistakes.

I've been practising the IELTS speaking recently, and this morning, it reminded me of an interesting thing that happened during university. We had different professors from different backgrounds; some were British, some American. Before meeting them, I expected them to use English according to what variety of English they spoke. For example, one of my professors said he grew up in England, and he spoke British English, so I would expect him to use British English in writing. The interesting part is that's not always the case because what I discovered in the university was that some British professors would use American English in writing while some American professors would use British English.

Once, an American professor sent us an email, and in the writing, he used "realised" but "traveled". This happened to some British professors too. I guess some American professors might think that Hong Kong used to be a British colony so it's more appropriate to use British English, whereas some British professors might think that Hong Kong people nowadays tend to use American English due to the globalisation of American English and culture.

Last year, during a speaking practice with a British teacher, I said "recreation" and I pronounced it as "red-creation". She looked a bit confused and said softly "ree-creation". She didn't correct me explicitly so I guess she might've thought it was another variety of English accents. This got me thinking. Are the IELTS examiners well versed in different varieties of English? If I used a phrase they have never heard of but it's actually correct in a particular variety, would they deduct my scores?

 

[Tarheel]

I've always pronounced it WRECK-reation. Also, I've never heard it pronounced differently. As for "redcreation", there no "d" in that word.

Maybe she did think that in Hong Kong you pronounce it that way. (Say: another variety of English.)

 

[jutfrank]

It's pronounced WRECK-reation in all varieities as far as I know, when the meaning is 'leisure'. The pronunciation REE-creation means 'create anew', a completetly different meaning.

Yes, IELTS examiners are expected to be aware of variety differences, by the way.

 

[emsr2d2]

I've been practising for the IELTS speaking exam recently, and this morning, it reminded me I was reminded of an interesting thing that happened during university. We had different professors from different backgrounds; some were British, some American. Before meeting them, I expected them to always use English according to what their specific variety variant of English. they spoke. For example, one of my professors said he grew up in England, and he spoke British English, so I would expected him to use British English in writing. The interesting part is that's not that that wasn't always the case. because what I discovered in the university was that some British professors would use American English in writing while some American professors would use British English.

Once, an American professor sent us an email , and in the writing, in which he used "realised" (BrE) but "traveled" (AmE). This happened to with some British professors too. I guess some American professors might think that because Hong Kong used to be a British colony so it's more appropriate to use British English, whereas some British professors might think that Hong Kong people nowadays tend to use American English due to the globalisation of American English and culture. (The last sentence is too long. Try to break it up somewhere.)

Last year, during a speaking practice with a British teacher, I said "recreation" and I pronounced it as "red-creation". She looked a bit confused and said softly "ree-creation". She didn't correct me explicitly so I guess she might've thought it was another variety variant of English accents. This got me thinking. Are the IELTS examiners well versed in different varieties variants of English? If I used a phrase they have never heard of but it's actually correct in a particular variety variant, would they deduct my scores points?

Note my corrections and comments above. Like Tarheel, I have no idea why you thought there was a "d" anywhere in the word.

 

[Maybo]

I’m sorry. I mixed up. I said REE-creation and the teacher said WRECK-reation. I was talking about facilities for leisure purposes at that time.

 

[Maybo]

I add “contrarily”:

I guess some American professors might think that because Hong Kong used to be a British colony it's more appropriate to use British English. Contrarily, British professors might think that Hong Kong people nowadays tend to use American English due to the globalisation of American English and culture.

 

[Tarheel]

@Maybo Try:

I guess some American professors think that because Hong Kong used to be a British colony it's more appropriate use British English. On the other hand, British professors might think....

I didn't want to use "might" in the first sentence, because there was already one qualifier (guess). Also, as you can see, I would use "On the other hand" in the second sentence.

 

[tedmc]

I add “contrarily”:

I guess some American professors might think that because Hong Kong used to be a British colony it's more appropriate to use British English. Contrarily, British professors might think that Hong Kong people nowadays tend to use American English due to the globalisation of American English and culture.

"On the contrary" is far more commonly used than "contrarily". See here.