Which English?

[EngliPatrick]

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I've been teaching English here in Japan for the last 5 years. The average life of a foreign English teacher over here is 1-3. English teachers come from all around the world to teach here...they come, then they go. This produces a steady flow of teachers with different accents and lexicons.

I was wondering, without getting into a my-English-is-better-than-your-English, if anyone was keen on discussing the benefits and disadvantages of the different Englishes.

Here in Japan, I've been told time and time again by various Japanese that British English is easier to understand and speak. One example of this is British "aahhh" sound for the letter A, whereas, American and Australian English has a more of a nasal sound. The crazy thing is that the textbooks follow strict American English rules. This makes no sense to me if Englishes different slightly based upon the country.

If English is to become the unofficial official universal language, how do we as English teachers decide which country's English to teach?

[engteacher]

I'd say teach the English of your country and use the knowledge of others (Englishes) to highlight significant differences. As you suggest, one isn't better than the other.