Are there any Brits who can't understand American?

Guest   Thu May 29, 2008 3:04 am GMT
Are there any Brits who find American accents hard to understand? If there were less exposure to it in the media, do you think it would be harder?
Dawie   Thu May 29, 2008 9:04 am GMT
I would say that it would be harder for an American to understand a British accent than the other way around, particularly some of the northern English dialects which even some southern English people find difficult to understand. Scottish accents particularly are difficult for Americans.

American accents are very easy for British people to understand without any problems. There may be some vocabulary differences and cultural references that may be different.
Matt the northern English   Thu May 29, 2008 3:44 pm GMT
I can understand American accents fine.

On the other hand, Americans have trouble understanding me.
Pub Lunch   Thu May 29, 2008 4:18 pm GMT
I watched the film Shooting Aces recently and I can honestly say that I had to put on the ole subtitles as I just couldn't understand half of what was being said.

I think it was, in large, the slang that was being used but some of the accents in that film left me baffled.
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu May 29, 2008 8:25 pm GMT
Here in Edinburgh (and Scotland generally) we are used to hearing American tourists (how can anyone possibly fail to hear them!! :-) ) so we are used to their accents, and of course there are plenty of American films on TV and I don't think there is a single person in the UK above creche age who are not familiar with it.

Some American film/program dialogues are easier to understand than others, it really depends on the type of film and the setting. The ones that cause problems are usually those set in the remoter American backwoods where the local regional accents predominate.

Amazingly I found the two gay cowboys in "Brokeback Mountain" difficult to understand at times as they seemed to mumble sweet nothings either into their cans of baked beans or into each other's earholes - I have the DVD and I still have to listen up quite intently at times.

And one of the actors wasn't even American (poor old Heath Ledger) - he had an Australian version of an American cowboy accent I reckon - it seemed pukka to me, but I've never been with c.5,000 of wild and woolly Wyoming so what would I know anyway.

No, not many Brits have problems with interpreting Americanspeak as a rule as practically all the Americans we see (and hear!!!) over here all seem to speak EXACTLY the same! They really do. They could come from the same place in America for all we know. Anyway, when watching any American film on TV we always have the option of switching on the subtitles facility. :-) Have you ever watched those on a live pogram? They can be really hilarious trying to transpose live, up to the second, speech into written captions at the bottom of the screen.
Damian   Thu May 29, 2008 8:27 pm GMT
**I don't think there is a single person in the UK above creche age who are not familiar with it.***

oops! :-( Just testing you.....
Guest   Thu May 29, 2008 8:45 pm GMT
Most Americans do speak pretty similar, but there are some accents that are hard to understand.
Skippy   Thu May 29, 2008 10:49 pm GMT
Americans have far less exposure to the accents of the British Isles.
wintereis   Fri May 30, 2008 6:36 pm GMT
I think that most Americans have a significant exposure to most British accents. After all, there are many famous British actors and most of the time we can understand them. I think the problem with understanding comes with the use of slang. I really don't have a hard time understanding Sean Connery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FgMLROTqJ0 or Liam Neeson, Charlotte Church, or anyone in the Harry Potter films for that matter. There are occasional films that I have to pay more attention to in order to understand. "Breakfast on Pluto" is a good example or "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". But I can still understand them.

And Damian, are you trying to take a swing at me with that "backwoods. Wyoming, gay cowboy comment"? You always assume too much. I was raised in South Dakota for one thing. So my accent sounds like the former Senate Majority leader, Tom Daschle’s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEejqOrG_Ik

For another thing, most people in Wyoming do not talk like the people in "Broke Back Mountain". Dana Perino, the current White House Press Secretary was born in Wyoming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VaQPv-Dcis

As was the famous American Abstract Expressionist, Jackson Pollack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrVE-WQBcYQ

As was the current Vice President of the United States, Dick (Head) Cheney: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csKkdKlLUTc



On the other hand, there are a few people that speak as they do in "Broke Back Mountain". This pattern of speech tends to be spoken by those in the extreme rural areas. It seems to be a derivative of accents from the South Eastern United States. I imagine it is retained because of the isolation most Ranchers must maintain.
Travis   Fri May 30, 2008 8:00 pm GMT
>>I think that most Americans have a significant exposure to most British accents. After all, there are many famous British actors and most of the time we can understand them. I think the problem with understanding comes with the use of slang. I really don't have a hard time understanding Sean Connery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FgMLROTqJ0 or Liam Neeson, Charlotte Church, or anyone in the Harry Potter films for that matter. There are occasional films that I have to pay more attention to in order to understand. "Breakfast on Pluto" is a good example or "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". But I can still understand them.<<

Yes, but the only real languages varieties in the UK that the average American is likely to ever hear are RP, Scottish Standard English (think Sean Connery and Tony Blair), maybe some Estuary, and maybe some very stereotypical and dated Cockney (think Pygmalion or My Fair Lady...). I seriously doubt that many Americans have ever heard more rural English English dialects, to say the very least...
Travis   Fri May 30, 2008 8:06 pm GMT
>>I seriously doubt that many Americans have ever heard more rural English English dialects, to say the very least...<<

And just for the record, to at least myself, I can barely call many more extreme rural English English dialects "English" in the first place. (Think things like West Country and Northumbrian dialects.) I would seriously favor their being categorized as separate Anglic languages alongside English and Scots, all things considered, I have to say.
Skippy   Fri May 30, 2008 8:21 pm GMT
If you want to hear the West Country accent you should watch "Hot Fuzz." That movie was hilarious...
Bill in Los Angeles   Fri May 30, 2008 10:27 pm GMT
Heath Ledger did a great job in Brokeback. Not only did he get the accent right, he nailed the cadence, the mumbling, etc.

My girlfriend is from Iran and she has trouble understanding some films when the actor is using a strong New York accent. I don't know if you have "The Sopranos" in the UK, but since there's a significant amount of NY-Italian mafia slang, coupled with the NY accents it's challenging for some. I have to rewind sometimes.
Barmy in Missouri   Sat May 31, 2008 7:12 pm GMT
>>the current Vice President of the United States, Dick (Head) Cheney<<

Couldn't stop laughing at this.


I personally have trouble with several of the New England accents, especially the many New York varieties and the Boston. Also, the New Orleans and the inner-city Los Angeles, which seems to be almost entirely slang.

I think as far as British actors in American films are concerned, we Americans are generally pretty spoiled by the likes of Alan Rickman (*swoon*), Emma Thompson and Julie Andrews. In other words, we as a population are pretty clueless when it comes to the manner in which REAL Brits speak.
Wintereis   Sun Jun 01, 2008 5:14 pm GMT
Actually, now that I think about it. . . I have heard some English accents I can't understand for the life of me. Patsy's friends in "Absolutely Fabulous" are nearly impossible to understand. See the episode where Edina goes into the hospital for surgery on her toe and Patsy gets plastic surgery.