Have a slightly strange question about the English language

[Dragonstone]

I have a kind-of-weird question about English. .-.

I was taught Oxford English/ the Queen’s English, when learning the English language. I am attending an American grad school this fall.. Will I be expected to use American English for my coursework? I know there isn’t a huge difference between the two, but there are so many little things and nuances that set them apart.

Might sound like a silly or obvious question to some people, but  I’ve never lived in an English-speaking country before, so I really have no clue. Will I be expected to use American spellings, vocabulary, style etc. in my US coursework? Will I be corrected if I use Oxford English?

Would really appreciate any help or tips!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2016 by Dragonstone

[Oshawott]

I'm going to assume yes, at least based on my field. I'm in psychology and despite having gone to a Canadian school, I was advised to write using American English (usually it doesn't matter as long as one is consistent) because we use APA as our writing/citation guidelines.

[TakeruK]

For coursework, my field does not use a standard writing style, so students here can use any form of English they want. I never lost points or got corrected for using Canadian English and when I grade my students' work, I don't dock points for this either, as long as they are consistent.

For academic work, like Oshawott says, I follow the style of the journal I'm writing for. If I was writing an article for, say, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, that journal uses UK English rules and I follow that. If I write for The Astrophysical Journal, it is published by the American Astronomical Society and thus I write in American English. 

Note: Unlike a lot of other fields, it seems like Astronomy does not have one standard style (e.g. like MLA, APA, Chicago etc.). Instead, it seems like every journal has their own style, which draws upon existing styles (APA and Chicago mostly, I think) and then add modifications for field specific things (such as dates of telescope observations, names of stars etc.). 

[KLamb8]

It probably would depend on your professors. I would send them an email or ask them what they expect from you when you start your program. 

[plugandsocket]

Was looking through old threads and am reviving this one to say I second all of the above re: coursework and academic writing. To anyone reading this with the same question, I'd say that it probably won't be as big of a deal as you think in everyday normal conversation. UK people in our program blend in just fine, even if we do like to tease them about the occasional phrase here and there 

[Psyche007]

(I'm bored and indulging in necromancy.)

I'm a UK national living in the US. 

I've attended two different universities here and about to enter my third. Not once, at any time, have I EVER had a professor correct my British English to American English. 

As long as you follow the university style guide for papers, you shouldn't have a problem. I've encountered many anglophile professors, anyway!

[AP]

Yes, American English. For me the transition was hard, and even I bled British grammar into my dissertation. But my advisors knew that and were patient.