How well do you understand regional accents of English ?

[Mikey]

Just wondering how well do you understand regional accents of English ?
I'm not just talking to USA American's either.
This question is for everyone.

What got me thinking about this .....
Last night I rented David Tennant's movie "Secret Smile" ....
Tennent used his real voice which is a Scottish accent.
I could not believe how many words slipped by me because I could not catch what he said.

I'm a big fan of a lot of British TV shows spoken in England's English.
I sometimes have trouble catching a few words... mostly when it's spoken too fast.

I think the worst for me is Australian English.
Australian English seems to be diverting the most from American English.

Canadian English is (of course) the easiest for me to understand.

What's your take on this ?

[BlackKnight]

" Fid fidishn'a voosh da voo" .

[cjefferys]

Yeah, that "pikey" accent was the most incomprehensible one I ever heard. I wonder if it was accurate?

Scottish is tricky. I remember when I first saw Trainspotting, I could barely understand parts of the dialogue. But after seeing it a couple times, and reading the book, which is written in the actual dialect (not a quick, breezy read!), I got used to it and can understand it much better now. I think with any dialect or accent, the more you are exposed to it, the more you can understand it.

[SUP-Ronin]

I have trouble with New Zealand English and Australian. I bloody love those accents but when they get going I lose it. Also Cockney is a tough one for me.

I was trying to figure out what Pitt says in that movie so I turned on the subtitles. It is absolutely freakin hilarious. At one point it gives up and just inserts ?????????'s

I nearly choked on my drink laughing.

[jessica]

That's what subtitles are for!!

[jwyblejr]

The problem with subtitles is they have trouble keeping up. Heck,they have problems keeping up with just plain American English.

[ScottA]

My daughter and wife really love "House" with Hugh Laurie. They couldn't believe it when they heard him speak without his American accent.

[Bo8a_Fett]

If you really want to see an example of hard to understand English dialect that is 100% real , then check out Rab C Nesbitt a sitcom set in Scotland...even English viewers had to resort to subtitles for this un

[Hector]

I have trouble understanding Ebonics.

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

If you really want to see an example of hard to understand English dialect that is 100% real , then check out Rab C Nesbitt a sitcom set in Scotland...even English viewers had to resort to subtitles for this un

You beat me to it Roger, I was gonna raise Rab. Rab C Nesbitt Scottish GLASWEGIAN Comedy

Scottish is tough. . . the accent changes significantly from one town to the next. . .and the area where I lived, the accent was horrendously thick . . . some towns I worked in, in Scotland. . . took me nearly a week to tune in enough to understand what they were saying. . . then the next town over. . .would have to spend anther week to tune into THEIR highly idiosyncratic variations!

I have met with Cat/Slippery Lil Suckers. . . and she didn't seem to have an accent at all that I could tell Mikey!

When I lived in the UK. . .no one picked me as an Aussie. . . people would ask if I was Irish. . .American. . .English?????? Bizarre!!!

We have become very Americanised here. . .as 90 % or more of our TV, Music, Movies/media are all American. . . and the old Aussie Dialects/coloquialisms are all but disappearing. We are blending to an hormogenous brand of English these days to some extent I thought!

[Mikey]

The thing with me for understanding an Aussie Accent (as an American) ... Aussies seem to have have an English accent, but they speak very fast (compared to the English)

I think that's why a lot of words slip by me.

I'm used to hearing American fast talk (me being from the Jersey-NY metro area) ... actually i've been told by friends who are not from this area I "fast talk" as well.
I never noticed it.

But NY metro fast talk and Aussie fast talk are 2 different ball games.

Have you ever seen the movie My Cousin Vinnie with Joe Pesci ?
I talk kind of like Pesci in that movie mixed with a generic American TV newscaster accent.

[Hector]

Aussies and English blokes sound nothing alike.

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

Funnily enough Hector. . .folks from Adelaide I think sound a bit more Brittish than the rest of the Country. . . and in Scotland folks would occasionally ask if we were English??

[Bo8a_Fett]

One of my friends has lived here for 20 years ...he's from (or was from) New Zealand, but was born in Newcastle?? So he's British (dual passport) and was brought up in New Zealand.....to me he sounds New Zealand but to his family who still live in New Zealand he sounds English...bizarre

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

Oh yeah. . .my Mum-in-law is Scottish came over in her 20's - to everyone here she sounds scottish. . . in her home town she sounds so Aussie. . . which I completely understand having lived over there, and can see she definately sonds Scottish but how washed out it is / blended.