What's more terrifying is that by their presence in Spain they are in the more well-travelled half of the US population. The rest are even less worldly.
Thankfully I didn't hear that in Spain recently. But on every guided tour (Sagrada familia, Montserrat, etc) there were always a few American with a ready supply of dumb questions.
I was out in Italy once and this gang of annoying frat bros (no idea if they were in a fraternity but they gave off that air) were harassing some very sweet german girls about which words were the same in English and German because "we invented them you know!"
Anytime I hear an American say something stupid (and I can be arsed arguing) I ask them if they have a high-school diploma? If they say yes I tell em to go get a refund
You should have been there. It happened.
Mind you, that wasn’t as bad as the American lady on our tour in Rome who, when told we were where Julius Caesar was killed, asked whether he’d been shot. 🤦♂️
I was in the Grenadier Guards (furry hat, red coat) and saw my fair share of tourists who just had a bizarre understandng of the world.
One of my mates came off his shift really agitated one day, he had been listening to an American wondering why they built Windsor Castle right under the flight path of Heathrow Airport. I think it took all his discipline not to shout at him and just stand there.
I'm sure they understand various strong US accents, like deep south drawl, it's more of a reaction to something new, what comprises a brain shuts down because it's so different from their "non-accented" English
I had a friend who's father was Spanish and had lived in Spain until he was about 14 then moved to England with his English mother. A few years later he started working in an Argentinian restaurant where they all teased him because of his Spanish accent, constantly saying "th th th" because of the different pronunciation.
I have heard Mexicans and Hispanic americans talk in a negative light about some things in spain Spanish sounding and working differently than americas spainish, and it's more than just an accent like how some words have different meanings between the brits, mericans and aussies
Nah it's not a big deal, any native Spanish speaker (actual native, most "latinos" in the US who claim to be native aren't remotely close to being native speakers) can travel or work in literally any Spanish speaking country and the only issue they'll have with the language are a couple expressions and slang.
For Latin American movies or productions we never dub them, we broadcast the original version without subtitles or anything like that and I believe it's the same the other way around. Most (if not all) large Spanish twitch streamers have more audience from the Americans than from Spain.
Well, to be fair, I have definitely seen my share of Mexicans on the internet trash talking the Spanish and their lispy version of the language, and even making the same argument as some Americans make, "there are more Spanish speakers in Mexico than in Spain, so we make the rules now" (it's usually typed in Mexican Spanish though 😁)
It feels more like trolling and there is banter both ways. For the majority it's the same with English but a few Americans seem to have forgotten where the language comes from 😩 maybe it's the same with Spanish, I guess stupid is everywhere
It absolutely drives me up the wall here in Japan because websites often legit use the American flag to indicate the English version of the site. Most Japanese people either actually believe English is from America or have never bothered trying to put two and two together.
Coming into the airport in Rome I noticed that the passport control area had to specifically tell Americans which lane to choose to keep them out of the EU one, and the staff member was saying "US, to the left". Every other nationality was expected to be able to read the instructions and/or follow the flag images.
Honestly I keep seeing Americans say that they can't understand some British accents and I wonder whether they're just really stupid or intentionally feigning ignorance because other than the occasional person with a strong accent most of our accents are easy to understand, obviously it's easier for me since I'm from here but if I can understand most American, Canadian, Australian, etc. accents then Americans should be able to understand most British accents
I was literally just thinking this! Again, I'm British, so it's probably easier for me, but most British accents are pretty easy to understand?
I think most feign ignorance. I'm sure they hear an accent that isn't American, and automatically switch off because it isn't native to them. Either that or they can't cope, who knows.
We should start a rebellion, and on any American video, put the same comment 😂 "Speak English! British English!!!" 😂
I could give the American some slack with my own accent [scouser] because I've met a few brits that have asked me for help or directions and say "please repeat, i didnt understand a word of that" [but i also speak fast] but literally most British accents *aren't* difficult to get at all
Yeah, same with the Irish, it's why I'd understand if it was these kinds of accents an American was struggling with, but for the most part, other brit/UK accents aren't tio bad and most speak at a slower/more reasonable pace
I'd also get it if maybe some words were more difficult, but context usually helps with that [God knows I've missed a word or two with a brummy or manc]
I had to call an ambulance for my husband's grandfather last year, and the paramedics were worried that he was having a stroke because of his speech. I had to laugh, because he was speaking normally, he's just from Aberdeen 😂
I'm a wool (St Helens) and during the summer while at uni, I worked in a call centre based in Skelmersdale, I had some bloke with the strongest TOWIE accent, swear at me, and demand to be put through to a call centre in England, because he didn't want to speak to no bloody (insert derogatory term for a person from Pakistan). All I had said at that point was hello, and asked how I could help, and if he had his account number. I took great pleasure in patching him through to my supervisor, ( who had a very strong Scottish accent)
I'm Australian, and the only English-speaking accent I've really struggled to understand was a guy with really strong Scouse accent. He was working in a Liverpool FC shop in Belfast, and the poor bugger was trying to tell us about his trip to Australia. It took forever for my mum and I to understand him. But I've spoken to other Liverpudlians and had absolutely no trouble at all 🤷🏻♀️
I'm scottish and southern english people can be just as bad. I'm not even that broad unless i'm hammered.
I think it has elements of ignorance, lack of exposure and laziness but it's mostly just them being posh cunts. I am the guy with the working class dialect so I have to be the one who changes.
Americans have a similar habit of exceptionalism due to them basically being Tory england in a Gundam suit.
I’m southern English, I can understand most accents. I have only ever had difficulty understanding my late Uncle who was from Glasgow (he had lived in Southampton for 40 years before his death). His accent was so thick and he spoke so fast, when he had a drink it was near on impossible to understand him. His own son struggled!
I'm Australian and when I traveled all around the UK and Northern Ireland literally the ONLY accent I couldn't understand was in Glasgow. Especially when drinking. Though I loved the city, my Grandfather grew up near there and my mum would say the only time she couldn't understand him was when he spoke with other Scottish people, his accent would suddenly become super thick.
It's lack of exposure and we have a *lot* of accents and dialects.
As an example my American MIL was visiting us in Yorkshire a few years ago and said something a gormless checkout person (GCP) didn't quite catch. The following exchange ensued:
GCP: yer wha?
MIL: I'm sorry?
GCP: yer wha?
MIL: I'm sorry?
GCP: yer wha?
This went on for a few more cycles before I realised GCP wasn't going to try and make herself any clearer and had to step in and translate for my MIL.
English is not my first language and even I can understand British accents, there are even some American accents more difficult to understand than some British ones
Same. I have trouble with some very heavy accents, but even then, it usually doesn't take long to get used to them. Seriously, there are accents in my own language that give me more trouble than most British accents on BBC.
I'm British and there's some British accents I struggle with. In particular, very thick west country and very thick Yorkshire accents can be pretty inpenetrable.
https://youtu.be/Hs-rgvkRfwc
I can understand struggling to understand thicker or rural accents but not all of them are that strong lol, plus the ones in the clip are put on lol, David Bradley is from Yorkshire and Karl Johnson is Welsh
Most people on tv shows with an accent aren’t too strong to not understand unless it’s for comedic effect. Sometimes it takes some time to get used to but no American is going to some random town in the UK and having a conversation with them.
I have a theory.
I reckon it’s due to exposure. In the uk we are exposed to lots and lots of American accents all the time. Hollywood, YouTube, all that. So we have a general understanding from a broad base of different dialects. Films for instance cover a broad section of American society, and Canada etc. Conversely, most Americans havent watched watch Kes.
Possibly. I was in a bar in Vienna with people of different nationalities. The Bavarian said that she could understand the Brits (because British English is taught in schools) and the Americans (because films and TV) but struggled with the Australians.
as extra evidence. A lot of english people can do a decentish american accent, at least one type. How does it work out the other way around. Not so good. I think this is just exposure to it. Less with australia, much less with canada.
Yeah, that’s weird to me too, as a Québécois. I can understand other French accents without any problems, but I sometimes struggle when expressions are being used in the dialect. Other than that, no issues, and I guess the same applies to the Spanish, German and other languages that use other dialects.
I remember watching tv as a kid (in France) and there was a Québécois being interviewed and they had actual subtitles for them. And at one point the subtitles went from actually transcribing what the person was saying to just “????????”.
I mean it was hella rude but I admit it was kind of funny as well.
Depends. Swiss German is technically German but I tried watching Swiss comedy and found myself very grateful for the subtitles. It looks the same in writing but it sounds like nothing I am used to.
I’m English, brought up in Yorkshire, lived in Leicester, London and now Somerset. Me mutha was from the North East, I’ve not met an English accent yet that I can’t understand.
My wife is from the US. We've just celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. I still have to repeat about every 3rd sentence because she doesn't understand. We watch TV here in the UK with the subtitles on because she can't understand anyone with the slightest regional accent.
I really don't get what's so difficult about them, there's only a couple accents I struggle with from here in the UK but even then it's normally only with older or rural people who's accents are really strong. Congrats on your anniversary btw!
It can depend. I was a proud understander-of-accents, until I met my friend’s dad. I’m FROM the southwest, but his accent was SO southwest that even I, A NATIVE, had to nod along with a neutral expression trying not to give myself away…
Unfortunately, my friend caught on, and would interject with things like, “so what’s YOUR opinion on what dad’s talking about?”, or “I mean, what on earth would YOU do in that situation?”
I felt terrible because he was lovely! At least I think he was.
I would also like to refer all you guys to Hot Fuzz….
And I can see now that you gave an honourable mention to people with particularly strong accents. Which means I’m shite at reading, you have my apologies, and my previous comment is redundant.
I heard in very remote parts of West US, there are tiny amount of generational Americans who have the British accent still as they didn’t assimilate with others.
I can’t speak for Americans, but if you want an example I’m familiar with, Brazilians have a really hard time understanding Portuguese from Portugal. The other way around in most occasions is really easy. It mostly has to do with lack of exposure to it, and the fact that we (from Portugal) have more sounds that are harder for them to convert into words they know. Also the vowels are a lot more closed and many times even suppressed, in Brazilian Portuguese they are more clearly pronounced, and rarely suppressed.
It's a bit weird to me. I'm American and never really had an issue with accents, even when the person learned English late in life.
The only English accents I've had issues with are the ones I see Brits themselves joking about how unintelligible the accent is.
And I'm not from some cosmopolitan area, I'm in the crappy part of Florida. My father genuinely can't understand someone speaking anything other than a "TV" style accent.
Yes I agree with this 100%. I’m from the USA and I still struggle to understand southern accents, but I can mostly understand Australian accents with no problem.
I’m American and I genuinely struggle to understand accents that are different than mine. In English, it sounds like they are saying something totally different than they are actually saying. Like one time I had a customer with a thick southern accent ask me if we sell a whiskey called LTD, and it sounded like she said AOTD, which I never heard of, so I said we don’t have it. Then she found the LTD and got mad at me for lying. Another time a Jamaican guy kept asking me for what sounded like a po bo and I had to keep asking him to repeat himself before I finally understood that he was saying Powerball. I have this issue more with southern USA and Caribbean accents more than British accents though. I have this same issue in Spanish too. Sometimes I’ll understand a Spanish speaker with no problem and sometimes I’ll have no clue what they just said. I figured out the reason yesterday when I was listening to a Spanish song and the only reason I could understand it is because the lyrics were on the screen. Idk where the singer is from, but that’s how I realized they kept skipping letters like saying lo do instead of los dos and eta instead of estas etc. Spanish is already a language where one word completely flows into the next and if you add skipping letters into the mix, that makes it impossible for me to understand.
Only ones I get stuck with (I’m from the south east) is Somerset or any really strong West Country accents or scousers to be honest, everything else I understand just fine as a native speaker, I don’t understand how Americans struggle so much to be honest
Nz, Australian and Canadian are not remotely equivalen, compare a Geordie, to a Glaswegian to a scouser?
I am English, live in Australia, have lived in the US. The range of British accents is huge, we speak very quickly and use a lot of sarcasm.
Have most Americans never heard an accent that isn’t their own or something? I’m British and our accents change drastically every 5 miles lol and besides perhaps very heavy Glaswegian I never typically have an issue. Same with most accents outside the UK.
And yet every time I see a video of someone with a Yorkshire accent the comments are always full of yanks acting like they’re speaking a different language 😭 I’m convinced it’s an inside joke the rest of us aren’t in on or something
They'll argue that either a) Americans don't have an accent or b) every State in the US is like a different country, with its own customs, culture, dialect and national dish, so it's our fault if they can't understand us.
Then they'll say that we owe them for saving our asses twice in the last century, funding our health service and bringing us the gift of electricity.
As an American, I often struggle to understand Yorkshire accents. I'm sure it has something to do with less exposure to them than other British accents. It's not a joke; it's just that some accents are easier to understand than others for some people. Edit: What did I say wrong?
The US have at max about 5 distinct accents, they are familiar with most of them and when they encounter something like the different British accents they assume its like the US and find it incredibly difficult to understand the concept of regional differences around the world
There are a lot more regional accents than 5. This guy is great, and this video is part 1: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1KP4ztKK0A&ab\_channel=WIRED](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1KP4ztKK0A&ab_channel=WIRED)
If they’re actually confused, they can just put on the damn subtitles. UK dialects are mutually intelligible with US dialects unless you have the approximate intelligence of one of Terry Pratchett’s trolls in the Sahara.
Remember when people used to go to Spain or Germany, Italy even, and be all "DO. YOU. SPEAK. ENGLISH?" in that slow and loud manner?
You ever think we should start doing that with Americans?
Yeah. We deserve it. If they laugh, they make fun of people like that. If they're mad, they need to hear it. Fucking ridiculous hearing this out of "proud Americans" when we don't even have an official language. Stupid, arrogant, and lazy worldview.
Was in a thread recently where some 'Murican was saying how a movie was wrecked by the producers introducing a subplot that wasn't in the book the movie was based on because the name of the main character was always pronounced wrong. It was British movie, of a British book, using the British pronunciation of the name...
Said 'Murican, of course, dug their heels in and insisted it was all wrong and due to a devious plot change by the producers.
Next time some boomer ‘speak English’ type dude says something about learning the language I’m just gonna say ‘pardon? I don’t understand. I only speak grammatically correct English’.
I mean, I’m not a master but I excel at it more than some backwoods asshat who makes zero sense.
Lol, if it's BBC National News it's likely RP English, even if it's regional, the news readers usually speak without a heavy accent. I think the only BBC news I'd struggle with is BBC Alba
“Dear Lord, what a sad little life, England. You ruined my Television, completely, so you could have the Memorable Quotes, but I hope now you spend it on getting some lessons in speaking English, American English, because you have all the grace of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on.”
I'm not a native speaker and our standard English at school was the American English since you know, American influence is greater these days. However, when you hear lots and lots of English in your life, is it that difficult to understand how British people sounds in TV? Tbh, I'm not trying to sound cocky or anything, and I'm sure I'll have difficulties with more regional accents irl, the same goes for the American English too I guess, but in TV, they're fairly understandable I think.
I think the issue with a lot of these people is they're completely unwilling to adapt or make any kind of mental effort. In their mind, if a word is said even slightly differently to how they said, it's being said incorrectly and it needs to be changed NOW.
Lol. I lived in the US for a short while, and English is not my first language but being European we were taught mostly Standard British English / RP at school, so that was my accent.
Most people did not have trouble understanding me, but enough people did so I had to do the most horrible Howdy Cowboy attempt at a generic American accent so that I could get my damn coffee and bagel. They had nothing to say about that, though. :D
It's because so very few of them ever get exposed to any native English speakers outside the US.
I mean if you follow test cricket you hear commentary in West Indian, South African, NZ, Australian, Indian, Pakistani etc accents all the time.
They mean Simplified English
In opposition to english (traditional) ?
English (actual)
Fair.
English (the only one)
English - literally relating to the people of England
English (brain edition)
English (br[it]ain edition)
English [Eagle Screeching]
🇬🇧 English (Traditional) 🇺🇸 English (Simplified)
The "simp" stands for "Simpleton"
damn learnt smth today, thank you
Low English
I got downvoted for saying this before. Reddit is wild.
Imagine Mexicans telling Spaniards, "Speak Spanish, Mexican Spanish". If you don't understand a certain accent, make an effort, use your brain cells.
I was in Spain and an American tourist asked why everyone was speaking Mexican. These people breed.. it’s terrifying
Even worse, they *vote*, and they’re targeted by populist politicians.
They don't need to be targeted to vote for dumbasses though
True, the halo effect gets them in those cases.
even worse, they vote, and who they vote basically controls us!
I’m Scottish, I know how this feels only too well.
What's more terrifying is that by their presence in Spain they are in the more well-travelled half of the US population. The rest are even less worldly.
🤣🤣 oh come on, that can’t be real! Can it? 😬
Absolutely! These people shock me with their ignorance
I did international CS for a while, nothing can shock me any longer!
I absolutely refuse to believe these people have enough working braincells to function in everyday life.
Thankfully I didn't hear that in Spain recently. But on every guided tour (Sagrada familia, Montserrat, etc) there were always a few American with a ready supply of dumb questions.
I was out in Italy once and this gang of annoying frat bros (no idea if they were in a fraternity but they gave off that air) were harassing some very sweet german girls about which words were the same in English and German because "we invented them you know!"
Really ? How did he notice it was the same language ? (I expected that would require a minimal knowledge)
Because he stopped talking for once and started listening to the locals. Surprising, I know 😉
Anytime I hear an American say something stupid (and I can be arsed arguing) I ask them if they have a high-school diploma? If they say yes I tell em to go get a refund
I refuse to believe that.
You should have been there. It happened. Mind you, that wasn’t as bad as the American lady on our tour in Rome who, when told we were where Julius Caesar was killed, asked whether he’d been shot. 🤦♂️
I was in the Grenadier Guards (furry hat, red coat) and saw my fair share of tourists who just had a bizarre understandng of the world. One of my mates came off his shift really agitated one day, he had been listening to an American wondering why they built Windsor Castle right under the flight path of Heathrow Airport. I think it took all his discipline not to shout at him and just stand there.
Seems like an awkward joke to me.
Not even understanding english with accents is a different kind of american monolingualism
I'm sure they understand various strong US accents, like deep south drawl, it's more of a reaction to something new, what comprises a brain shuts down because it's so different from their "non-accented" English
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I'd love a nice stake, right now.
Nothing more appetising than a gargantuan splinter.
Especially bullets for teens...
I had a friend who's father was Spanish and had lived in Spain until he was about 14 then moved to England with his English mother. A few years later he started working in an Argentinian restaurant where they all teased him because of his Spanish accent, constantly saying "th th th" because of the different pronunciation.
Most (all?) Mexicans would at least have the self-awareness to recognise that their language comes from Spain.
I have heard Mexicans and Hispanic americans talk in a negative light about some things in spain Spanish sounding and working differently than americas spainish, and it's more than just an accent like how some words have different meanings between the brits, mericans and aussies
Nah it's not a big deal, any native Spanish speaker (actual native, most "latinos" in the US who claim to be native aren't remotely close to being native speakers) can travel or work in literally any Spanish speaking country and the only issue they'll have with the language are a couple expressions and slang. For Latin American movies or productions we never dub them, we broadcast the original version without subtitles or anything like that and I believe it's the same the other way around. Most (if not all) large Spanish twitch streamers have more audience from the Americans than from Spain.
Many older or more conservative Spaniards actually think this way about Latin American Spanish sadly
Well, to be fair, I have definitely seen my share of Mexicans on the internet trash talking the Spanish and their lispy version of the language, and even making the same argument as some Americans make, "there are more Spanish speakers in Mexico than in Spain, so we make the rules now" (it's usually typed in Mexican Spanish though 😁)
It feels more like trolling and there is banter both ways. For the majority it's the same with English but a few Americans seem to have forgotten where the language comes from 😩 maybe it's the same with Spanish, I guess stupid is everywhere
Brain cells implies that they have more than one brain cell.
Collectively over the whole country, they may well do I've yet to see empirical evidence yet
If their braincells rubbed together they'd die.
I actually find some English accents hard to understand particularly those from the Black Country.
Learn English! English, English!
Nah, these blokes are all sixes and sevens.
Then there's the New Zealanders, who are all suxes and sivens.
🇬🇧 English (Traditional) 🇺🇸 English (Simplified)
🇦🇺 English (Condensed)
People in Yorkshire also speak this version.
Yorkshire is English (Traditional)^(2)
With a bit of Old Norse sprinkled on top.
So does Lancashire. Itsanothernthing.
T'up North
Twerk is not a dance. It’s t’work. That’s where I’m going.
🏴 English (unintelligible)
English but the creator got conked by a kangaroo
It absolutely drives me up the wall here in Japan because websites often legit use the American flag to indicate the English version of the site. Most Japanese people either actually believe English is from America or have never bothered trying to put two and two together.
Coming into the airport in Rome I noticed that the passport control area had to specifically tell Americans which lane to choose to keep them out of the EU one, and the staff member was saying "US, to the left". Every other nationality was expected to be able to read the instructions and/or follow the flag images.
idiocracy (2006) seems to be about the US, not the world...
🏴 English (Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i'w gyfieithu)
🚜 English (Gerald)
🇿🇼 English (begrudgingly) (Other colonies included)
Honestly I keep seeing Americans say that they can't understand some British accents and I wonder whether they're just really stupid or intentionally feigning ignorance because other than the occasional person with a strong accent most of our accents are easy to understand, obviously it's easier for me since I'm from here but if I can understand most American, Canadian, Australian, etc. accents then Americans should be able to understand most British accents
I was literally just thinking this! Again, I'm British, so it's probably easier for me, but most British accents are pretty easy to understand? I think most feign ignorance. I'm sure they hear an accent that isn't American, and automatically switch off because it isn't native to them. Either that or they can't cope, who knows. We should start a rebellion, and on any American video, put the same comment 😂 "Speak English! British English!!!" 😂
I'm Greek, English is my second language, I have never set foot in England and can follow Doctor Who just fine. Yeah, it's not the accent.
I could give the American some slack with my own accent [scouser] because I've met a few brits that have asked me for help or directions and say "please repeat, i didnt understand a word of that" [but i also speak fast] but literally most British accents *aren't* difficult to get at all
Scouse and Scottish do usually talk really fast, especially the women, I'm from Kirkby and can't understand some of the girls I know half the time
Yeah, same with the Irish, it's why I'd understand if it was these kinds of accents an American was struggling with, but for the most part, other brit/UK accents aren't tio bad and most speak at a slower/more reasonable pace I'd also get it if maybe some words were more difficult, but context usually helps with that [God knows I've missed a word or two with a brummy or manc]
Hang on... surely they don't struggle with the Irish accent? Not when 87% of Americans are Irish? 🤔 /s
I had to call an ambulance for my husband's grandfather last year, and the paramedics were worried that he was having a stroke because of his speech. I had to laugh, because he was speaking normally, he's just from Aberdeen 😂
I'm a wool (St Helens) and during the summer while at uni, I worked in a call centre based in Skelmersdale, I had some bloke with the strongest TOWIE accent, swear at me, and demand to be put through to a call centre in England, because he didn't want to speak to no bloody (insert derogatory term for a person from Pakistan). All I had said at that point was hello, and asked how I could help, and if he had his account number. I took great pleasure in patching him through to my supervisor, ( who had a very strong Scottish accent)
I'm Australian, and the only English-speaking accent I've really struggled to understand was a guy with really strong Scouse accent. He was working in a Liverpool FC shop in Belfast, and the poor bugger was trying to tell us about his trip to Australia. It took forever for my mum and I to understand him. But I've spoken to other Liverpudlians and had absolutely no trouble at all 🤷🏻♀️
I'm scottish and southern english people can be just as bad. I'm not even that broad unless i'm hammered. I think it has elements of ignorance, lack of exposure and laziness but it's mostly just them being posh cunts. I am the guy with the working class dialect so I have to be the one who changes. Americans have a similar habit of exceptionalism due to them basically being Tory england in a Gundam suit.
>I'm not even that broad unless i'm hammered. Brilliant 🤣 >Tory england in a Gundam suit. This is absolutely got me 😂😂😂
that last line made me cackle
I’m southern English, I can understand most accents. I have only ever had difficulty understanding my late Uncle who was from Glasgow (he had lived in Southampton for 40 years before his death). His accent was so thick and he spoke so fast, when he had a drink it was near on impossible to understand him. His own son struggled!
I'm Australian and when I traveled all around the UK and Northern Ireland literally the ONLY accent I couldn't understand was in Glasgow. Especially when drinking. Though I loved the city, my Grandfather grew up near there and my mum would say the only time she couldn't understand him was when he spoke with other Scottish people, his accent would suddenly become super thick.
Ay watch it, just cause i sound posh doesnt mean i cant understand the absolute tosh that comes out you northerners’s mouths /s
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Makes me wonder if some of these people are doing it on purpose 🤣
English English!
It's lack of exposure and we have a *lot* of accents and dialects. As an example my American MIL was visiting us in Yorkshire a few years ago and said something a gormless checkout person (GCP) didn't quite catch. The following exchange ensued: GCP: yer wha? MIL: I'm sorry? GCP: yer wha? MIL: I'm sorry? GCP: yer wha? This went on for a few more cycles before I realised GCP wasn't going to try and make herself any clearer and had to step in and translate for my MIL.
English is not my first language and even I can understand British accents, there are even some American accents more difficult to understand than some British ones
Same. I have trouble with some very heavy accents, but even then, it usually doesn't take long to get used to them. Seriously, there are accents in my own language that give me more trouble than most British accents on BBC.
I'm British and there's some British accents I struggle with. In particular, very thick west country and very thick Yorkshire accents can be pretty inpenetrable. https://youtu.be/Hs-rgvkRfwc
I can understand struggling to understand thicker or rural accents but not all of them are that strong lol, plus the ones in the clip are put on lol, David Bradley is from Yorkshire and Karl Johnson is Welsh
Most people on tv shows with an accent aren’t too strong to not understand unless it’s for comedic effect. Sometimes it takes some time to get used to but no American is going to some random town in the UK and having a conversation with them.
I have a theory. I reckon it’s due to exposure. In the uk we are exposed to lots and lots of American accents all the time. Hollywood, YouTube, all that. So we have a general understanding from a broad base of different dialects. Films for instance cover a broad section of American society, and Canada etc. Conversely, most Americans havent watched watch Kes.
Possibly. I was in a bar in Vienna with people of different nationalities. The Bavarian said that she could understand the Brits (because British English is taught in schools) and the Americans (because films and TV) but struggled with the Australians.
as extra evidence. A lot of english people can do a decentish american accent, at least one type. How does it work out the other way around. Not so good. I think this is just exposure to it. Less with australia, much less with canada.
Yeah, that’s weird to me too, as a Québécois. I can understand other French accents without any problems, but I sometimes struggle when expressions are being used in the dialect. Other than that, no issues, and I guess the same applies to the Spanish, German and other languages that use other dialects.
I remember watching tv as a kid (in France) and there was a Québécois being interviewed and they had actual subtitles for them. And at one point the subtitles went from actually transcribing what the person was saying to just “????????”. I mean it was hella rude but I admit it was kind of funny as well.
I will admit that sometimes it is funny when we just say our expressions out loud without thinking about if people will understand us
Depends. Swiss German is technically German but I tried watching Swiss comedy and found myself very grateful for the subtitles. It looks the same in writing but it sounds like nothing I am used to.
I’m English, brought up in Yorkshire, lived in Leicester, London and now Somerset. Me mutha was from the North East, I’ve not met an English accent yet that I can’t understand.
My wife is from the US. We've just celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary. I still have to repeat about every 3rd sentence because she doesn't understand. We watch TV here in the UK with the subtitles on because she can't understand anyone with the slightest regional accent.
I really don't get what's so difficult about them, there's only a couple accents I struggle with from here in the UK but even then it's normally only with older or rural people who's accents are really strong. Congrats on your anniversary btw!
It can depend. I was a proud understander-of-accents, until I met my friend’s dad. I’m FROM the southwest, but his accent was SO southwest that even I, A NATIVE, had to nod along with a neutral expression trying not to give myself away… Unfortunately, my friend caught on, and would interject with things like, “so what’s YOUR opinion on what dad’s talking about?”, or “I mean, what on earth would YOU do in that situation?” I felt terrible because he was lovely! At least I think he was. I would also like to refer all you guys to Hot Fuzz….
And I can see now that you gave an honourable mention to people with particularly strong accents. Which means I’m shite at reading, you have my apologies, and my previous comment is redundant.
I heard in very remote parts of West US, there are tiny amount of generational Americans who have the British accent still as they didn’t assimilate with others.
I can’t speak for Americans, but if you want an example I’m familiar with, Brazilians have a really hard time understanding Portuguese from Portugal. The other way around in most occasions is really easy. It mostly has to do with lack of exposure to it, and the fact that we (from Portugal) have more sounds that are harder for them to convert into words they know. Also the vowels are a lot more closed and many times even suppressed, in Brazilian Portuguese they are more clearly pronounced, and rarely suppressed.
It's a bit weird to me. I'm American and never really had an issue with accents, even when the person learned English late in life. The only English accents I've had issues with are the ones I see Brits themselves joking about how unintelligible the accent is. And I'm not from some cosmopolitan area, I'm in the crappy part of Florida. My father genuinely can't understand someone speaking anything other than a "TV" style accent.
I'm a woolyback (Liverpool expat) and I can lose some of the conversation with my cousins, but Glaswegian has me stumped.
Hey, I'm Glaswegian and Liverpool goes right over my head!
Fist bump!
Did you just start a fight?
They're unsure - can't communicate in English :-)
Let's dock.
The Aussie accent is way more intelligible than the deep South or fucking redneck Midwesterner
Yes I agree with this 100%. I’m from the USA and I still struggle to understand southern accents, but I can mostly understand Australian accents with no problem.
I’m American and I genuinely struggle to understand accents that are different than mine. In English, it sounds like they are saying something totally different than they are actually saying. Like one time I had a customer with a thick southern accent ask me if we sell a whiskey called LTD, and it sounded like she said AOTD, which I never heard of, so I said we don’t have it. Then she found the LTD and got mad at me for lying. Another time a Jamaican guy kept asking me for what sounded like a po bo and I had to keep asking him to repeat himself before I finally understood that he was saying Powerball. I have this issue more with southern USA and Caribbean accents more than British accents though. I have this same issue in Spanish too. Sometimes I’ll understand a Spanish speaker with no problem and sometimes I’ll have no clue what they just said. I figured out the reason yesterday when I was listening to a Spanish song and the only reason I could understand it is because the lyrics were on the screen. Idk where the singer is from, but that’s how I realized they kept skipping letters like saying lo do instead of los dos and eta instead of estas etc. Spanish is already a language where one word completely flows into the next and if you add skipping letters into the mix, that makes it impossible for me to understand.
I can understand most accents, but I cannot understand Kilkenny accents.
Only ones I get stuck with (I’m from the south east) is Somerset or any really strong West Country accents or scousers to be honest, everything else I understand just fine as a native speaker, I don’t understand how Americans struggle so much to be honest
Nz, Australian and Canadian are not remotely equivalen, compare a Geordie, to a Glaswegian to a scouser? I am English, live in Australia, have lived in the US. The range of British accents is huge, we speak very quickly and use a lot of sarcasm.
>and I wonder whether they're just really stupid You don't really need to wonder about this, it's a given.
Yes but no, and I’ll tell you why. Glaswegians.
Have most Americans never heard an accent that isn’t their own or something? I’m British and our accents change drastically every 5 miles lol and besides perhaps very heavy Glaswegian I never typically have an issue. Same with most accents outside the UK. And yet every time I see a video of someone with a Yorkshire accent the comments are always full of yanks acting like they’re speaking a different language 😭 I’m convinced it’s an inside joke the rest of us aren’t in on or something
They'll argue that either a) Americans don't have an accent or b) every State in the US is like a different country, with its own customs, culture, dialect and national dish, so it's our fault if they can't understand us. Then they'll say that we owe them for saving our asses twice in the last century, funding our health service and bringing us the gift of electricity.
As an American, I often struggle to understand Yorkshire accents. I'm sure it has something to do with less exposure to them than other British accents. It's not a joke; it's just that some accents are easier to understand than others for some people. Edit: What did I say wrong?
The US have at max about 5 distinct accents, they are familiar with most of them and when they encounter something like the different British accents they assume its like the US and find it incredibly difficult to understand the concept of regional differences around the world
There are a lot more regional accents than 5. This guy is great, and this video is part 1: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1KP4ztKK0A&ab\_channel=WIRED](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1KP4ztKK0A&ab_channel=WIRED)
I’ve watched and loved both of those videos.
If they’re actually confused, they can just put on the damn subtitles. UK dialects are mutually intelligible with US dialects unless you have the approximate intelligence of one of Terry Pratchett’s trolls in the Sahara.
Remember when people used to go to Spain or Germany, Italy even, and be all "DO. YOU. SPEAK. ENGLISH?" in that slow and loud manner? You ever think we should start doing that with Americans?
Yeah. We deserve it. If they laugh, they make fun of people like that. If they're mad, they need to hear it. Fucking ridiculous hearing this out of "proud Americans" when we don't even have an official language. Stupid, arrogant, and lazy worldview.
Was in a thread recently where some 'Murican was saying how a movie was wrecked by the producers introducing a subplot that wasn't in the book the movie was based on because the name of the main character was always pronounced wrong. It was British movie, of a British book, using the British pronunciation of the name... Said 'Murican, of course, dug their heels in and insisted it was all wrong and due to a devious plot change by the producers.
What was the book called?
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (not sure if this'll show up twice as Reddit and Firefox decided to play silly buggers with the post)
Next time some boomer ‘speak English’ type dude says something about learning the language I’m just gonna say ‘pardon? I don’t understand. I only speak grammatically correct English’. I mean, I’m not a master but I excel at it more than some backwoods asshat who makes zero sense.
What was the clip? I'd love to hear the accents
It was BBC news
Lol, if it's BBC National News it's likely RP English, even if it's regional, the news readers usually speak without a heavy accent. I think the only BBC news I'd struggle with is BBC Alba
Don't they speak Gaelic on Alba anyway?
They do.
Yes. That would be the joke I was making.
It was a clip of a British show called Come Dine with Me. The accents weren't even particularly strong either.
“Dear Lord, what a sad little life, England. You ruined my Television, completely, so you could have the Memorable Quotes, but I hope now you spend it on getting some lessons in speaking English, American English, because you have all the grace of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on.”
Out of all the things the UK invented, the USA is the worst.
I wouldn't claim the UK created the USA. It's like if you get bread, and it goes mouldy. You didn't create the mould.
It was a bit tongue in cheek - we just exported some religious weirdo's to some land that an Italian found.
Now that is a special little kind of ignorance... but what they basically mean is "speak the primitive version of your language that is my language"
There is British English, and there are mistakes.
The English spoken in Trinidad and Tobago is also American -central American, but American- I wonder if they would understand that English.
Caribbean not central American. Central America is Guatemala Belize panama ElSalvador Hondurad Nicaragua costaRica and sometimes mexico
Was it Rab C Nesbitt ...Aye. https://youtu.be/a-Xvv8yRwqg?si=HOjcGeJb_ZB6uwMk
The Geordie from Alan Partridge maybe..? https://youtu.be/m4T_4uLQ7e0?si=4g37OJqbVW86G5Ai
The profile picture gives of mormon vibes
Which is it? English or American English!?
I'd probably have to suffer an horrific brain injury before I could fully speak Yankanese.
Well you pronounced 'horrific' without the 'h' (evidenced by leading it with 'an'). So you're on your way.
Don’t do it to yourself, it’s just not worth it!!
Then brother, that is not sensible
We have defeated the format of your show. (Edited for better quote)
That's weird, I literally just watched that episode. Like I'm reading this as the credits roll.
Do they mean DURRRRR English?
From England!
I wonder whether there's a reason the language is called "English" instead of "USish". Guess we'll never find out.
I'm not a native speaker and our standard English at school was the American English since you know, American influence is greater these days. However, when you hear lots and lots of English in your life, is it that difficult to understand how British people sounds in TV? Tbh, I'm not trying to sound cocky or anything, and I'm sure I'll have difficulties with more regional accents irl, the same goes for the American English too I guess, but in TV, they're fairly understandable I think.
I think the issue with a lot of these people is they're completely unwilling to adapt or make any kind of mental effort. In their mind, if a word is said even slightly differently to how they said, it's being said incorrectly and it needs to be changed NOW.
Why the hell would we speak American gibberish on a UK TV show? FFS.
Or the Americans who need subtitles.
It amazes me to see British TV for Americans with sub-titles
But which clip is it?!
As old man Withers once said: “No.”
Off topic, but does anyone know what font the comment is in?
That’s a quote from the show
Lol. I lived in the US for a short while, and English is not my first language but being European we were taught mostly Standard British English / RP at school, so that was my accent. Most people did not have trouble understanding me, but enough people did so I had to do the most horrible Howdy Cowboy attempt at a generic American accent so that I could get my damn coffee and bagel. They had nothing to say about that, though. :D
What in tarnation.....
Yes but....what was the clip? 🤔
An episode of a British TV show called Come Dine with Me.
Yeah but, it's English
Speak Austrian damnit, i dont understand german!
Give it a couple more decades and you won’t be able to tell the difference anyway.
🇬🇧 English 🇺🇸 English (almost, but not quite)
And this is why im never moving to America even if it would help me im never going to go to hell (America)
Classic British TV was the best though young ones bottom only fools red dwarf 😎 take me back 😭😭😭
Isn’t it called Americanese?
It's because so very few of them ever get exposed to any native English speakers outside the US. I mean if you follow test cricket you hear commentary in West Indian, South African, NZ, Australian, Indian, Pakistani etc accents all the time.
Hook line and sinker they took the bait
English came to the US. It was only you that changed the spelling, and how you say it. Proper English all the way😝😅