i am confused

BoB   Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:42 pm GMT
some people says that American and British english are two different languages some other say they could understand about 98% of everything they say heeeeeelp! will an American and a British guy understand ich other ??
The Swede   Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:45 pm GMT
The answer is yes.
Sander   Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:46 pm GMT
The answer is yes (like swede said) and No,they arren't 2 different languages.
BoB   Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:15 pm GMT
but is it easier for an Australian too talk with a british person than an american? British and Australian english is closer to ich other than American and British?
Cro Magnon   Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:55 pm GMT
The Brits & Aussies sound funny, but I can usually understand them. It's still the same language.
Frances   Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:30 am GMT
Bob- As an Aussie, I think we find Americans and English equally understandable because we have media exposure from both countries here. I think it terms of actually pronunciation of words, there might be a few English accents that might be hard to understand.
Ren   Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:03 am GMT
Yes I do agree with Frances on that.... the media exposure from these two countries (UK and the US) forms somekind of bond that prevents/slows the outward direction of continuing development of a different English language...... the idea about American English becoming a new language on its own is possble but with Gobalisation I think the chances of it is decreasing....

Well what do you think?
Ren   Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:05 am GMT
*the same can be said of Australian, New Zealand, South African, etc.
Alexander McLeay   Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:31 am GMT
Personally, as an Australian, I think some regional British and American accents can be hard to understand if I don't have the opportunity to interrupt and request clarification. The standard forms of speech your likely to encounter in the media, though, are normally bread-and-butter.

In that regard, Australians are at an advantage, I'd guess, because the differences in pronunciation are incredibly minor—limited to the homophony between el and al in e.g. 'celery' and 'salary' or 'shell' and 'shall' by Victorians (like me!).
Liam   Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:11 pm GMT
As an Englishman, I can easily understand Americans, and Australians as well, but I must admit, over the centeries, U.S. English has trailed of a little, but still very easy to understand. Its places like the Caribbean you have to look out for, they have developed a very sophisticated dialect, mixed with their native tongue, so they have to speak really slowly for you to understand
Frank   Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:32 am GMT
<but I must admit, over the centeries, U.S. English has trailed of a little, but still very easy to understand>

Wow how old are you?
Mxsmanic   Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:24 am GMT
The vast majority of native English speakers the world over can understand each other very easily. Some specific regions have accents so strong and distinctive that it takes a bit of getting used to, but they represent only a very tiny fraction of the native English-speaking population.
El Revolucionario   Sat Jul 09, 2005 11:24 pm GMT
I'm American and I can understand a British person just fine.
Trawick   Mon Jul 11, 2005 4:35 pm GMT
I actually find some American accents (AAVE and some Texas dialects in particularly) as difficult to understand as even the most obscure UK accents.
Someone   Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:24 pm GMT
"over the centeries, U.S. English has trailed of a little"

I thought British English trailed off more.