What is the best term to describe a "native English speaker who is an American"?

When applying for English teaching jobs, I want to describe myself as a "native speaker of English who has an American accent" since most companies in Europe want native speakers to teach English courses and they usually have a preference for one accent or another (American, British, Australian, etc.).

What is the best term for this, e.g. "I am a...":

  • American native speaker of English (good?)
  • American English native speaker (good?)
  • native speaker of American English (best?)
  • native American English speaker ("native American" could be confused with being an American Indian)

"American English native speaker" actually sounds a bit odd to me, though I am not a native speaker of American English myself.

I would go with "native speaker of American English", as I have just done. If you read nohat's full disclosure, he seems to agree.

Edit: I see that you have edited your question, so you seem to agree yourself now that "native speaker of American English" is the way to go.

One more thing: I read "American native speaker of English" as "someone who is a native speaker of English and lives in the US". That could easily apply to a native Scot who moved to the States.


It sounds to me that you are "an American, with English as a mother language".

You could therefore say that you "have American English as your mother language" or you could say that your "mother language is American English".

Freely substitute "mother" with "native" and substitute "language" with "tongue". Therefore, all the following are valid:

  • "an American, with English as a native language"
  • "have American English as your native language"
  • "native language is American English"
  • "an American, with English as a native tongue"
  • "have American English as your native tongue"
  • "native tongue is American English"
  • "an American, with English as a mother language"
  • "have American English as your mother language"
  • "mother language is American English"
  • "an American, with English as a mother tongue"
  • "have American English as your mother tongue"
  • "mother tongue is American English"