The world had more than 1 billion people learning English in 2000, according to the British Council. There is little doubt that today the tongue can be considered the international language of choice, a requisite for business, culture, and political exchanges across the globe.

It is said that the English language originated in 449 AD, with the arrival on the British Islands of Germanic tribes, the Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes, from what is now Denmark and Germany.
Prior to this arrival, the inhabitants of the British Isles are believed to have spoken ancient Celtic, a language whose contemporary variations still exist in places around Britain (Welsh being the most obvious example). After locals moved further north, English, the language spoken by the Angle tribe, started to spread across the south of Britain.

The years 1150 to 1500 mark what is now known as the ‘Middle English’ period. In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded from Normandy and brought with him French words that, over time, blended with the existing Germanic language. Around 10,000 French words entered the English language throughout the centuries after the Norman invasion.

Although Englisc had expanded in Britain, it was back then only spoken by the lower classes; as a result, a newer French-influenced version of the language took over as the language of the court, administration, and culture.

By around 1430, official documents once written in French started to appear in English. The English language was emerging around its London dialect, known as the Chancery Standard. It was by the mid-fifteenth century that the Chancery Standard started to be used for all official purposes — with the notable exception of the Church (which continued to use Latin).
Through the help of such persons as William Caxton (who introduced the printing press to England in the 1470s) and Richard Pryson (the first English-language publisher in the country) the language fully standardized to the Chancery Standard towards the end of the 15th century. This uniform language came to be accepted throughout England, with the first translation of the bible appearing in 1535 and marking the beginning of Modern English.

It the beginning of the 16th century, the British Empire started its process of expansion, reaching its height between the 18th and 20th centuries. By the 19th century, the British Empire was going through an era of significant change, which had a great impact on the language.
The Industrial Revolution made the English vocabulary vaster, introducing words to describe new technologies. The steam engine and the consequent invention of new means of transportation, materials, and techniques, necessitated words and ideas that had never been used before.
A larger vocabulary was introduced, rather than new grammar or spelling rules, allowing Late Modern English to differ only slightly from Early Modern English.

When English received more and more prestige among American speakers, especially in the eighteenth century, a call for a unified and separate language was voiced and received great anticipation. The eighteenth century was also an important one for politics because America finally got divorced from England and developed a national consciousness for identity. Identity politics and language as will be described were very much involved with each other and became one of the most important issues in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

"Two major changes have affected English accents in Britain over the past few decades. The attitude of people towards accents has altered in ways that were unpredictable thirty years ago; and some accents have changed their phonetic character very significantly over the same period."

Aside from spelling and vocabulary, there are certain grammar differences between British and American English. For instance, in American English, collective nouns are considered singular (e.g. The band is playing). In contrast, collective nouns can be either singular or plural in British English, although the plural form is most often used (e.g. The band are playing).

The British are also more likely to use formal speech, such as ‘shall’, whereas Americans favor the more informal ‘will’ or ‘should’.
Americans, however, continue to use ‘gotten’ as the past participle of ‘get’, which the British have long since dropped in favor of ‘got’.

British English is a very formal form of the English language. The UK practices formal speaking and dictation while the United States of America uses slang and informal English. Our spelling of the same words even differ from each other. In the United States of America, we spell words like color and favorite while the UK spells these same words colour and favourite. America likes to simplify the spelling of some of the traditionally spelled words.

While there may be certain differences between British and American English, the key takeaway is that the two have more similarities. Accidentally using one instead of the other will not automatically lead to miscommunication. Americans and Brits can usually communicate with each other without too much difficulty, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you are unable to memorize the nuances of both languages.