Question to British people: How do you feel if an American speaks to you?

Question

Is this a difficult accent you can hardly understand? Or are there any words you don't really understand? Can you assing to the US if someone speaks to you like that?

@star: I meant: Assing to (Sorry, I got this word from an Oxford Dictionary ;-)

Sorry for my bad English. But I am an Italian. I am living in Germany. :-)

Oh, I am so sorry. Again the same mistake: I meant ASSIGNT to .
Mi dispiace molto! I like UK!

It's just a question of a foreigner. Because I want to learn more about English. Thank you so much!

Answer 1

We have more words that Americans don't understand and it makes it all the more fun to talk with them . You can pick up on most words just by the sentence they are used in. Southerners probably have the strongest American accent but nothing that cannot be understood.

Answer 2

Well, I'm American but my best friend here is English and she'd be glad to help you. We converse daily and hardly ever have trouble talking to each other.

There are certain words like 'chips and fries', 'crisps and chips', 'trainers and sneakers', 'gherkins and pickles', 'trousers and pants' that confuse me. However I find no difference in speaking to an American than an English person. After a while you begin to get used to the American terms and understand them, like words of a different language that you can eventually recognize. I find that it is very, very easy to understand American accents, because they are so loud and up front about what they are saying. I find after a day with an American my accent sounds almost like theirs!

Answer 3

By and large, American English is sufficiently close to the Queen's English to be roughly understandable. There are exceptions, such as "potato chips" (order these in the U.K. and you'll get what you would call "French Fries"). However "***"" is a noun, not a verb, and cannot therefore have a participle. "Assing" therefore is a meaningless word.

Answer 4

I'm English and I never have any trouble understanding any of the different American accents although I can't usually place them geographically.
And yes, several things have different names on either side of the Atlantic but I don't have trouble with that either, I like to say that I speak fluent American.

Answer 5

The American accent is usually easy to understand. Some of their words are different to ours but it is 90% the same.

Answer 6

Can you assing to the US if someone speaks to you like that?

Sorry, I really don't understand that sentence. Until I read that I was thinking there's not much difference between us

Answer 7

haha I think that was a typo.. I think he meant to say "assign" - relate to it.. I find it okay, just some songs though, sometimes I find it hard to hear what the lyrics are coz the accent can be so strong.. but fine in general

Answer 8

i feel just the same as if anyone else speaks to me... am lucky tho, cos i lived there for 3 years so i understand the accent, and all the random words that we dont use in england...

Answer 9

I have no trouble understanding an American in general, however there are some differences in object names and pronunciation, nothing too major though.

Answer 10

My first thoughts are "boyo as ee ah accent or wot?" After that things are cool. Unless he/she is a jackass like that bloke over in the Liverpool area I got stuck with Tuesday morning.