How well do you understand regional accents of English ?

[fallensaviour]

I have never experienced a problem understanding any versions of the English language myself.There are extreme differences between Proper English English and American,Canadian,Aussie,New Zealand,Scottish...on and on but I can honestly say that when you get two or more Newfies together and they start talking I'm lost???
I remember buying the Mad Max DVD a few years back and it saying on the cover presented in both original Australian and English,I was like *** people really can't understand this movie???
So for me I guess I'm gonna have to say I have a problem understanding Newfie English.

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

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

I only have a very mild Aussie accent as a result of living abroad, I had to change my enunciation to be understood. That being said, my American girlfriend still laughs at the way I talk and has to sometimes remind me to slow down when I get a bit carried away.

I understand the majority of English accents because of, as David mentioned, the exposure to a wide range of English accents we get on tv here. We have a mainstream multicultural channel which broadcasts all kinds of English as well, and Australia is a very multicultural society.

[Mikey]

Here's a question about understanding accents ...

When I watch old British movies (like Hammer movies and most movies made before 1970-ish), I totally understand everything said.

When I watch newer British stuff, that's when sometimes I miss some words.

Did the older British movies make an effort to be American/Canadian friendly by speaking -- perhaps a hybrid of both ?

Or is the English/English language just ever-so-slightly changing in the last 40 years ?

[Bo8a_Fett]

Around the time that the Hammer films were made it was towards the end of the BBC having everybody working on there having a "BBC" accent. This was also the way classically trained actors in this country spoke....if you need an example watch Harry H Corbett in Steptoe and son and compare his voice in that and in an interview....very very BBC.
As actors are primarily(or used to be) trained for theater here rather than film or even TV the accents they used had to be very clear...this is not so much the case these days as breaking into TV acting is easier than Theater work.