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      TeachingEnglish
      Which is correct, My birthday is on Aug. 23 or My birthday is Aug. 23
      Submitted by chochosan on 23 August, 2011 - 02:12

      Dear teachers,

       

      I am a mother of a 5-year-old kindergartener. Her kindergarten outsources English teachers and she brings  a CD and some learning materials from the kindergarten every month.

      We listhen to the CD together at home so that she can get used to new words or expressions.

       

      However, I sometimes find some mistakes or something I am not sure is correct.

      For example, the course book gives some examples using the verb "feel" and there a sentence goes like , " I feel laugh." I think it should be " I feel like laughing."

       

      And the CD says, "My birthday is on Aug. 23," but I think even though a lot of people use this expression,

      the preposition "on" comes before a specific date when some event actually takes place on that date, so in this case just saying "My birthday is Aug.23" is more correct, or at least, more standard.

       

      What do you think? Am I wrong or over-conscious? If Im right, do I have to apeal to the teachers? Or just ignore it because my daughter is still young and she does not pay much attention to details?  

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      Heath's picture
      Heath
      Regional variation
      Submitted on 24 October, 2011 - 03:35

      Perhaps it is a regional difference.

      I come from Australia, and I would always say either "My birthday is on the twenty-third of August" (most likely) or "My birthday is on August the twenty-third"

      But I have heard speakers from the US, who would say "My birthday is August twenty-third". 

       

      Some other differences you might come across (but there are many, many more):

      on/at the weekend

      • UK - "We went out at the weekend"
      • US/Aus - "We went out on the weekend"

      hundred / hundred and

      • UK/Aus/some US - "one hundred and fifty two"
      • other US - "ond hundred fifty two"
      rubik101's picture
      rubik101
      Happy Birthday!
      Submitted on 15 November, 2011 - 07:25

      I agree that 'on the 23rd' is OK for general use. As pointed out, the US/UK versions of many phrases are very different.  In UK we have a shower, in the US they take a shower. The Google entry for English differences in UK and US runs to many pages.

      The other sentence you mention is a cause for concern though. I feel laugh is either very poor editing or because the authour is not a native English speaker. Either way, you want to watch the content carefully and if many more mistakes are found, then a suggestion to the teachers might be appropriate.