The international versions are necessary as the main point in picking up English is to communicate with the rest of the world; we’ve got to speak or write in a way that the others can understand.

The SL versions are also to be retained and used appropriately so that our speech doesn’t sound stilted and unnatural in this country. Without them, what we say will lack local flavour and might not even have the intended impact.

Similarly I found out that no one actually uses the word “dickey” anymore. When i gave a friend a lift from the gym, I told him he could leave his stuff in the “dickey” which made him look at me as though I was some weirdo before bursting into laughter. He obviously didn’t keep this episode to himself and was nicknamed “dickey” from there onwards. I swear I could’ve saved myself from embarrassment had my English teachers actually pointed out to me that these words were specific to our country and is not widely used by others.

I don’t refer to my “dickey” as “car boot” or “slippers” as “flip-flops” to show off my “status”, but because they are the words used here in the UK.