Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ez2engage2]

I grew up in California and have/had co-workers from Australia and England. Why is it so hard to understand their accents? Especially British, since they have to constantly repeat themselves not only to me but to most other co-workers as well. It must be frustrating to them.

But they have no problems understanding 'NAmerican' English. It can't be just because of Hollywood movies right? They seems to talk faster than Australians.

Is it easier for Australians to listen to 'NAmerian' than British? Or it desn't matter?

I had easier time understand co-worker from Monoco office that spoke English with French accent.

[laogaiguk]

[ez2engage2]

Yeah, I thought it was just me so I tried to listen more carefully. I do understand most of the time but did notice even my co-workers saying to them 'what?' 'what was that?' I guess not constantly but every so often.

I'm sure I'll get used to it as I see them more regularly.
I need to visit England.

[Qinella]

There are several different accents in England, not just the London accent. When I visited ten years ago, I met some people from other regions whom I really could not understand. The people I was staying with (English folks) said not to worry, though, because they couldn't understand either! What region is that? I don't know. It's an accent that sounds very mumbly and gruff.

I do have a problem with Irish accents sometimes, though. I met an Irish woman a few weeks ago and felt like an ass because I was just smiling and pretending to understand what she said, kinda like when people speak Korean at me.

[Qinella]

[kermo]

I grew up with lots of British television, so I had no problem understanding the locals when I visited last summer. However, a bus driver from Glasgow had no idea what I meant when I asked him what the fare was, and started using pidgin English and hand-signals with me.

[Privateer]

My theory is that Americans speak English like foreigners who learned it at school and did well at it, so they follow the rules they know but it doesn't really come from the heart. With that Glasgow bus driver, see, English is all natural, hence his unfeigned reaction to the phony North American gibberish he was hearing.

Or it could be your co-workers are hard to understand because some of us from certain parts have a bad habit of mumbling...

[Boodleheimer]

my boyfriend is English, grew up in Wales, but speaks BBC/the Queen's English. once every blue moon (okay, probably a little more than that), we'll have problems with vocab -- i had no idea what a "tip" was. (as in, "by friday, this apartment is a tip") but i have no problem with his accent.

i was friends with a scouser and i couldn't understand 2 words from him. his girlfriend needed to translate half the time.

[Hyeon Een]

Most countries have a variety of different accents. An Aussia "ocker" speaks totally differently (and less intelligibly to most of us) than a regular bloke from Sydney. A strong New York accent can be almost unintelligible to a Korean used to a Hollywood accent. An Irish knacker sounds completely different to someone from Belfast or Dublin or Donegal. A person from the lowlands of Scotland could be speaking a different language as far as most people from London are concerned.

There is a certain myth that gets spread about that a North American accent is easy to understand. A lot are, but a lot of people from the South, or from Compton, or from the Bronx or from West Virginia are very hard to understand for anyone not used to their brogue. At the same time some English or British accents are also hard to understand. A lot of English accents are easy for a North American or Korean to comprehend, a lot aren't. Same with the US, or Aus, or NZ, or South Africa or Ireland.

Every English speaking country has an accent easily understandable to any other English speaking country. Every English speaking country also has at least half a dozen accents which are unintelligible to people not used to hearing them.

The OP might be deaf, or he might just have an accent he's not used to hearing. Perhaps he's from the South and his co-worker isn't just drawling enough. Perhaps the OP speaks in a lovely newsreader accent and his co-worker is from Newcastle(England) and is incomprehensible. Who knows.

The myth of all North American accents being 'Good English' needs to be corrected though. N. America has just as many crap accents as the rest of the English speaking world.

There are a few mutually intelligible accents in every English speaking country. We should accept them all equally. At the same time as ESL or EFL teachers we shouldn't encourage our students to speak with an accent that won't be mutually understood. This means that if you're a teacher from Glasgow, Compton, Newcastle, Jo-Berg, New Orleans or Cork you should look at a national TV news station for an indicator of how to talk with your students.

If you're just with your co-workers though.. educate them about your local accent and laugh at their impressions when they try to copy your slang.

[Qinella]

[Hyeon Een]

[Hyeon Een]

[Hyeon Een]

I think I went totally offtopic so I apologize. Sorry Qinella

Anyway, the OP should learn his co-workers accents, its a useful skill to be able to understand other native speakers English =) Having lived or worked with native speakers from almost every English speaking country I have no problem any more with Irish, Scottish, English etc. accents anymore. It makes me feel good when I can understand someone and someone from another English speaking country don't have an igloo what they're talking about.

[Qinella]

[Grimalkin]

Qinella wrote