What is a dialect?
A dialect is a form of language spoken in a particular area.
Which type of English dialect are you learning – British or American or another kind?
Do you know which you are learning?
Let’s see if you understand the following passage. Maybe it will help you ti find out.
The man told the bobby that he saw the solicitor arrive in his car and park it just behind the lorry. He almost missed the bloke because he had popped into the loo. That was the first time he had seen the solicitor for a fortnight. When he got out of the car he took a torch out of the boot. He then went around to open the bonnet, because smoke was coming out, and used the torch to look inside. The solicitor closed the bonnet after a few minutes and entered a block of flats. The man followed him in, but when he saw him enter the lift, decided to take the stairs. The man got off on the third floor. A tot, who was completely starkers, came running into the hall, but his mother called him back into their flat.
Did you understand all of that? If not, may be you are learning American English. An American wouldn’t understand everything written in this paragraph, and would have to go to an American-British/British-American dictionary to help translate the passage into American English.
