andreap

Does anyone know what exactly international English is? Some days ago a client requested a translation into this variety. We looked it up in google and found it was a kind of neutral English. Then someone told me it had more to do with units of measurement. But I'm not sure how we are supposed to write some specific words that change in American and British English, for example, "favor" and "favour", "organize" and "organise", etc.

Flaco

I'm no expert on this but it is my understanding that international english is used more as a spoken language and minor variations in spelling such as you mentioned are easy to figure out. Slang words and local dialets are to be avoided as these can be very confusing. As in any language the point is to be understood when speaking and understand when listening.
When writing use the spelling of the country you are from so if there is any confusion in the word usage it is easier to find it's meaning.
There is and always will be a difference between American and English. Like the guy said, "I'am bilingual, I speak American and English". Just be glad you don't have to translate Scottish english! And Scotty on Star Trek doesn't count.

andreap

Thanks for your contribution, Flaco.
In my case, I had to use it in writing and the translation was for a non-English speaking country, so I chose American when in doubt. I guess that avoiding local expressions might be enough.

cwnmuiy

Are UK and US English interational Engish?

Flaco

English is a international language and both the UK and the US speak english so the answer to your question would be yes, however there are certain ways of wording that are different and can be confusing if you are not familiar with them.

mariacecilia

This might help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_English