While British English is the official variant used at Aalto, the university uses a mix of UK and US conventions in practice. A goal is to avoid using language that might cause comprehension difficulties for being ‘too British’ or ‘too American’, as the target readers may be familiar with only one variety.* As a university operating in a Finnish and European context, Aalto also needs to take into consideration the terminology and language used in relevant Finnish and European legislation, which may differ from US/UK usage. The goal is to always clarify any terms that may be unclear to an international audience.
The contrasts are more than a matter of using S or Z spellings (as in organisation vs. organization). Many key education terms are different. For instance:
- 'course’: Is this a kurssi, a class typically taught in one subject and lasting no more than one term? Or is it an entire programme of studies leading to a degree? We use the first definition at Aalto, even though it is the American definition.
- 'tuition': Is this teaching, or a fee students pay to receive teaching? In the US, it has come to mean the latter. At Aalto, we say ‘tuition fee’ for clarity, even if ‘fee’ sounds unnecessary to an American.
- 'thesis': Is this the final work of a master’s or a doctoral student? Traditionally, Aalto (and Finland in general) has used ‘thesis’ only for opinnäyte at the master’s and bachelor’s level, and ‘dissertation’ only for the doctoral level, despite British usage being the opposite. We recommend that ‘doctoral dissertation’ be used to prevent confusion.
- 'marks': ‘Grades’ in the US and the equivalent Aalto tends to use for arvosanat.
A Brit might say ‘to sit an exam’ and ‘to study at university’, whereas an American would say ‘to take an exam’ and ‘to study at a university’ (or ‘at the university’, or ‘at Brown University’, for example). An American may never have heard of a ‘school-leaving certificate’ or ‘sixth form’, while ‘high-school diploma’ and ‘senior high school’ would no doubt be familiar. Finland’s education ministry recommends using ‘upper secondary school’, and this is used in most administrative texts. If you think the target readers may be confused due to a strong UK–US difference, it may be good to include both the UK and the US term, putting one in parentheses.
Some words are almost diametric opposites. In the US, a ‘school-leaver’ sounds like someone who left school without graduating, AKA a ‘dropout’, whilst in Britain it refers namely to a student who did graduate. If you are a British prime minister, you may have studied at a posh ‘public school’, like Eton College, while in the US a ‘public school’ is often an inner-city institution for students who cannot afford a ‘private school’ education.
These are just a few examples. The main point is to be aware that such differences exist and that you should try to tailor your writing to the context and to the intended readership. When writing texts for Aalto usage, please consult the Uniterms termbank for preferred terminology and our online Style Guide for our Aalto house-style recommendations.
Tip of the Month will be on holiday (US=vacation) for the summer. We will continue with our monthly instalments (US=installments) in the autumn (US=fall).
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*There are many other English dialects, of course, such as Indian English and Kenyan English, not to mention Canadian and Australian, but as US is a large dialect and UK is both large and European, we are only focussing on them.