Last I checked, Germany was full of Germans speaking German who control the language… France has Frenchmen speaking French controlling that language. Why do we assume that England, full of Englishmen speaking english do not control the English language?
Let’s all realize that Americans to not speak English. We speak American English.
Absolutely! I think a lot of this could be cleared up if we referred to American vs English. Jaysen speaks American; I speak English. I had an American colleague in China who was an amusing companion when we first met, but after 10 years of listening to him telling my students that I couldn’t speak English, I got tired of it and began to avoid him.
Where I disagree is over “control” … one of the great things about English and American is we don’t have an Academy or equivalent laying down what is English and what isn’t. Here, the nearest thing we have is our left-wing political correctness people who think that by banning the use of certain expressions, they can change the way people think to the way they want them to think! McCarthyist to the core … which is probably the deepest insult one can give them!
Actually, Nom, you speak Aussie, equally as valid as English or American. The thing is, I’ve never yet met an Aussie who tells me or my students I can’t speak English; they just tell me I’m a bloody pom and we get on with things amicably.
Do you really want to tread that path? 
. Seriously… Do you?
