Being british I have a hard time understanding american accents....?

Question

Anyone else have this problem? I find it really funny, because I've heard that Americans don't think they have accents, but their is no country that doesn't. Actually, I would consider Americans as having one of the thicker accents. I've visited all over the country, and I really do love it, so please don't take any offense to this. It's just that everywhere I go I find it hard to understand all of their different dialects. I have to ask them to repeat themselves, and even though they are very polite about it, I feel bad that I have to make them keep repeating. Anyone have any advice?

Answer 1

In America there are alot of different accents, Northern, Southern, Midwest and West they all sound a little different.

I go to New Orleans sometimes and can't understand a word some of them say to me.

Answer 2

I come from Canada, and I agree, that Americans have accents, and you can sometimes tell where in the States they are from by the dialect and accent that they have. Some areas have a really heavy accent that can be almost impossible to decipher, and some are absolutely no problem at all. I have been dealing with a lot of people speaking heavily-accented English lately, and the main thing is to ask them to speak slowly, because when they speak too fast, they do not pronunciate words as well as they should. And if you can't understand a word that is dialect, then ask them to explain it. Tourism is a fairly large sector of American economy, especially in certain areas, so they should be willing to help if they want to have the business. And hey, to be honest, I find it difficult to understand some British accents and dialects. So, it is somewhat difficult for everyone. But hey, in English-speaking Canada, the accents are not so defined, and I don't think there is too much dialect English in Canada, except maybe a few words, such as eh?, toque (a type of hat) and a few other things. But, I think the main thing is to ask people to speak slowly and to explain something, not just repeat it if you don't understand what they are saying. Have fun in your travels, and be patient, and also dont take offense if people ask you to repeat what you have said, or if people are offended at you asking them to repeat/explain something. I think it should just be common courtesy, but not everyone agrees.

Answer 3

Don't worry about it. I'm an American, and I've had the same problem. Wherever you go in this country you'll find somebody whose accent you can't understand. Just ask them to repeat themselves. Even we Americans have to do that. By the way, I just love British accents and how polite you people are. You're a joy!

Answer 4

I have a terrible time understanding all accents including British ones. That is why I don't choose professors that are foreigners. When I watch a film with British accents, I turn the subtitles on. The exception is when American actors do the British accents, then I understand them. Either it is psychological or they just do really bad British accents.

Answer 5

It is funny. The United States and Britain--two countries separated by a common language. I'm an American from the U.S. and I'm not at all offended. The only advice I can offer is when you ask people to repeat things, turn on the lovely Brit accent and likely we'll butcher whatever we're saying again... just to listen to your cool accent!

Answer 6

"Being British..." the irony is that people in the Mid-West states have a more authentic "British" accent than you do! One of the curiosities of spoken language and localized pronounciation is that they tend to evolve & change over time, EXCEPT when a large group of people relocate, at which point that evolution stops. The Britons who fled the king and settled in the American Mid-West handed down teir accent pretty much unchanged to those that live there now, whereas the folks in Britain (and those who moved around in America) continued evolving their accents and language.

And as an ex-Pat Briton living in the US, I can tell you I have less trouble understanding people here that are separated by 3500 miles than I do understanding Geordies, Scouse & Scots!

Answer 7

Being me I have a hard time understanding any accents! Seriously, I really struggle with any dialect whether its American Australian or British and it can be embarrassing especially on the phone but people are very understanding if you explain to them.

Answer 8

There are lots of reasons for misunderstanding what Americans say. Much of what they might say, may be couched in the form of slang words which are unfamiliar to us here in UK. In UK, we do have one advantage over the Americans, in that English is our native language but it may not be the case with many Americans who's native tongue might be Spanish, French or German.

The other thing about Americans, especially those from the Midwest, is that they are still speaking English as she was spoke in c1800s - they have not changed, they don't get new wave folk coming in, unlike say New York.

The other advantage we have in UK is that we get to see lots of American soaps, plays and movies on TV - whereas Americans hardly ever see anything which is actually English. I have heard that when one English play was shown on TV in New York, it had subtitles. Do they actually speak English in New York? Probably not, judging by Jon Stewart.

The fastest growing language in the USA right now is a cross between Spanish and English called SPANGLISH.
Meanwhile here in London, the fastest new add on words are Urdu-Cockney - blimey mate.

My favourite American accent ever, was that of the late Golda Mayer - Prime minister of Israel, who had the most wonderful Bronx accent, similar in style to Mr Gershwin, pronounced Goyshwin.

Answer 9

Been to the States working many times in the past and hardly ever had a problem understanding them thanks to a lifetime of watching Hollywood films.
BUT, theses days, I find it very hard to understand a lot of the films shown on TV , because the Actors speak too fast and mumble their lines. New York actresses are the worst!
In the UK where it was usual for almost every actor to have some theatre training they spoke well. But heaven preserve us from that awful 'plummy' RADA School diction.....gone now, Thank God.

Answer 10

Well I know I have a really bad Texas drawl. There is no deigning it. Sometimes it is just hard to understand another dialect, we had friends from Ireland and at first I had a really hard time understanding them and they had a hard time understanding us, but in time we where able to work threw the slang's in our languages and even though they still had there accent and I mine, we understood each other better. Good Luck to You.