Hooray I speak good English!

[natalie_ca]

Originally Posted by sarahp

I'd said Australian to her a few times, talking about my university. I don't have a particularly strong accent. I think she just had no idea

I remember that news clip that you uploaded. Your accent isn't very strong at all. And I do agree that you speak "very good English"

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by theimp98

i get support calls from people in england, and sometimes there accent is so thick, i have no idea what they said.

I had to call my area manager once,(who is from london)
told her i need a english to american Translation. lol
i forgot which accent she said the guy had, but it was really hard for her to understand also.

my mom, grandmother & i went to london in 1980. we wanted to find a really nice place for an afternoon cream tea, so i asked a clerk in a bookstore for a recommendation... he told me to go down a few blocks, turn left, etc... full directions, no problem understanding him [sounded like the monty python guys, imo.] we left the bookstore, & my mom asked, "did you understand that?" i said yes, he said, "etc...". she hadn't gotten a word of it!
she said, "but i understand the people on Benny Hill! & Are You Being Served!" i told her that it'd be better training for her ear to watch Monty Python!

 

[theimp98]

back when i first joined here, i had to ask,
what a fag was.

i had been there a few times before, but when someone asked me for a fag, i had no idea what he ment. lol i just said err no.

 

[kiwideus]

Originally Posted by theimp98

back when i first joined here, i had to ask,
what a fag was.

i had been there a few times before, but when someone asked me for a fag, i had no idea what he ment. lol i just said err no.

Heehee I used to say to my brother in law "stop sucking the fags" every time he went out for a cigarette

His biological mother is English so he got it every time.

 

[fwan]

There was only one time i came across to an Australian family at the airport and I didn't understand one word they said, until i imitated their accent to FH at home and he said... no wonder... They are from Perth!

I giggle so much when i'm around English people here and they tell me i speak really good English for a German..

 

[jellybella]

Did we learn nothing from Crocodile Dundee?

I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she thought she heard "Austrian"

 

[gemlady]

There are folks in the US who can't speak good English. Lots of them live in my area.

 

[zissou'smom]

Originally Posted by fwan

There was only one time i came across to an Australian family at the airport and I didn't understand one word they said, until i imitated their accent to FH at home and he said... no wonder... They are from Perth!

I giggle so much when i'm around English people here and they tell me i speak really good English for a German..

Aw, one of my best friends and her family when I was little were from Perth and then moved back there. I could always understand them and my mom couldn't sometimes. I remember not realizing they spoke any different than anybody else until later.

 

[coolcat]

Originally Posted by sarahp

"Wow, you speak really good English"

I was giggling for the rest of the day.

Oh sarah you been mischief with that lady!..

..

Originally Posted by butzie

We said "Te awamutta". He asked why ever did we go there (farm stay) and if we were there we could very well distinguish a Kiwi accent.

Kiwi Accent!,,...

...interesting definition!....

Originally Posted by JellyBella

Did we learn nothing from Crocodile Dundee?

I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she thought she heard "Austrian"

this make me laught so loud!

 

[carolpetunia]

Originally Posted by gemlady

There are folks in the US who can't speak good English. Lots of them live in my area.

Oh gosh, mine too!

I always think of that wonderful number from "My Fair Lady," when 'enry 'iggins sang:

...Why can't the English learn to set a good example
To people whose English is painful to your ears?
The Scots and the Irish leave you close to tears,
And there even are places where English completely disappears!
Why, in America they haven't used it for years...

 

[sweets]

I'll bet you $20 she was a California Blonde! Not to disparage blonde women out there. But California blondes are known to be a bit ditzy!

 

[sarahp]

Originally Posted by Sweets

I'll bet you $20 she was a California Blonde! Not to disparage blonde women out there. But California blondes are known to be a bit ditzy!

She was actually Asian-American.

 

[goldenkitty45]

If I listen really close, I can now tell the accent of an Englishman from an Australian man. But you have to listen

Reminds me of the time I got to talk to a Chinese guy who was living in Perth. I'm used to Chinese/Orientals with their accents here, but to put an Australian accent and a Chinese guy together was sooooo funny.

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by sarahp

She was actually Asian-American.

but she probably had a blonde soul...

 

[yosemite]

I am a softie for the South African accent - it has a lovely softness to it that gets to me.

 

[pushylady]

Sometimes you just gotta laugh.
When I was back in NZ in Feb/March, I got asked where in the States I was from! Ummm, I'm from NZ....
Hey Sarah, say "feesh and cheeps" for us!

 

[wickedkitten]

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

If I listen really close, I can now tell the accent of an Englishman from an Australian man. But you have to listen

An Englishman from which part of England though

 

[catkiki]

Originally Posted by Sweets

I'll bet you $20 she was a California Blonde! Not to disparage blonde women out there. But California blondes are known to be a bit ditzy!

Good thing I am not blonde or I would take offense to this! But I know blondes in EVERY state tend to be ditzy.

Anyhow, where I work I have to deal with people speaking in different accents all the time. One time, one person was speaking so fast, I couldn't understand a word she said. I think it was a middle eastern accent, but I don't remember. I asked her to slow down, she took a deep breath and started speaking ever faster!!! I never did know what she wanted! She finally hung up in frustration, but at least I tried. If she had only slowed down.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

We have an older patient at work who is English and I love talking to him!!!! He's very friendly and between the accents and saying words like jolly good, right-o, etc, he's a hoot!

My step-grandparents are from Puerto Rico, but my step-grandmother has some Mongolian in her, so she's a little different skin tone and has more Asian eyes. Her English is OK, but not the greatest. One time she was at the doctor's office and my step-grandpa started to tell her in Spanish what the doctor had said, and the doctor interrupted him and said he could talk directly to her and started talking to her in I believe it was Chinese! Poor man!

I think I'm used to hearing accents now though. Between my step-grandparents, my pastor (who is from New Zealand) and knowing other people from places like St Thomas and Nigeria, hearing accents has become just a norm now.

 

[cococat]

That is great

I recently learned that in England fries are called chips,
Chips are called crisps,
and cookies are biscuits