Are native English speakers better at understanding English than non-native speakers?

Answer 1

Native English speakers tend to have a better grasp of certain things. They have a sense of which synonym is better to use, however, English speakers who also understand at least one other language tend to be more aware of grammar rules that are not commonly taught any longer.

Answer 2

Not always, non native speakers do often study a language in a different way than native speakers, and some come to a better understanding of the language.
Also, many native speakers never meet people from outside their small area, who all speak with the same accent, and often all speak the language of the same social class.
People who learned the language because they like it, or because they travel a lot, will often learn words and expressions from many areas and social classes.

Answer 3

I became much better at understanding my own language when I started studying others. It's possible that an ardent non-native student might get a superior grasp of English than many native speakers who take it for granted.

Answer 4

I think yea ..that's right .but let's say a native speaker of a dialect is the best one that could understand it .
For example a British person is the best one that understands the British accent & the same with the American accent ..Americans would be the best to understand it & so on ...
Not a must that a native speaker "I mean a British" is always the best one to understand any other dialect.
Hope it helps.

Answer 5

It was really easy for me to learn English. but I was brought up bilingual and when I began to learn English I already knew 2 languages.Since German was one of the languages I knew, english seemed like a dream to me.... After learning english I began with Arabic, and everyday I thank God that English is the international language and not Arabic! First it sounded really fast to me when a native english speaker spoke, but after a while a got used to it, now it sounds very natural and normal to me! Slangs are a little bit hard to keep up with ,but whenever I come across a new slang I can usually tell what it means, or what the slang is about...

Answer 6

Well, I think in general, yes. Native speakers always seem to have a better grasp of their own language than someone who learns it later on.

Answer 7

Yes of course they are, as well as you speak and of course at the same time understand your own native languages better than non-natives. Perhaps foreign people don´t understand your language at all or if they speak it they (or I) will never understand it like you.(sorry, are you serious?) Anyway have a great summer wherever you are.

Answer 8

Yes they do.
But, when someone studies English, they study a lot of grammar and pronunciation, so, sometimes, a non-native can speak a better, more correct English than natives, who already have vices and slang integrated in their vocabulary.
But, overall, of course they understand it better.

Answer 9

Of course they are! They don't need to worry about grammar rules, etc (the educated ones) - the received language is usually 100% comprehensible.

The same would apply to any language.

Answer 10

I think they are... they should be better