Oh great! I can practice my English with a native speaker from South Africa!
Hi I’m Andrea! Howzit Andrea! I'm Cassé!
Erm… I’m doing great, thanks. How about you? I can't complain.
Did she say “I- con- com-plane?” Erm… I’m sorry, but I didn’t quite
get that? Could you say it again, please?
If you can in any way relate to this experience, today’s lesson was created just for you! When we
hear someone speak, we already have an idea of how we think their English is supposed to sound.
Today, we’ll take a look at some of the main reasons
you may struggle to understand certain native speakers and what you can do to improve this.
Before we get started, I’d like to remind you that each week we create lessons like this,
to help learners like you get comfortable using English with confidence, anywhere and anytime!
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English is spoken by approximately 1.4 billion people around the world
and most of these are non-native speakers.
Let’s start with the question: What even is a native English speaker?
Well, defining this is complicated, but usually a ‘native English speaker’ is
anyone who speaks English from early childhood, as their first language.
Even English natives from one particular country find it hard to understand other English natives,
let alone foreigners speaking English as a second language.
In various countries, the accent of native English speakers
might sound different to what you might hear in Hollywood movies or even your favourite YouTubers.
For example, let’s listen to Richard from Ghana, where English is the official language:
But how, like I mean, like with your-- with your family things,
like this is... How many people there actually speak English?
So um... Pretty much everybody that went to school can speak English um...
Do you learn English at school? Yeah you learn English. English is the main,
you know, it's used in teaching in Ghana. Okay, so all of your school
life you were always learning in English? Yeah, it was everything in English.
Okay, cool. And so when do you speak the... what's it called, Ga?
Yeah, so I speak Ga with, you know, when I come home. Okay.
At home, it's... We grew up in with speaking Ga. Okay.
Did you understand everything Richard said?
Well, Here’s why you might have found it a little challenging:
When a person lives in a country where there is more than one dominant language, it is common
for them to use some of the rules or sounds of the other language when speaking English.
For example, if they have trouble pronouncing some of the sounds, they may replace them with similar
sounds that occur in their first language. So when you’re listening to this person speak,
you may have a difficult time understanding them because it sounds wrong, or 'foreign'
compared to English speakers from countries where English is the only dominant language.
If you’d like to practice listening to different accents, you’ll definitely
love our RealLife English App, where you can listen and talk with English speakers from
all over the world at the touch of a button. The best part is that it’s absolutely free!
So just click up here or the link down in the description box below
to download it now. Or visit the Google play or Apple App Store.
You might be asking, “But what about people from countries where English is the dominant language?”
Well, let’s take a quick listen to the accents of a few of our Beyond Borders
guests who are native speakers. See if you can guess where they’re all from:
Where by exposing yourself to a much richer, a diverse range of accents and and English speakers,
your opportunity to interact, engage with, connect with people you know all around the world is so
much greater than-- than by restricting yourself to just one, prioritizing one.
I was just thinking also the the flip side of that is, you know, talking so much and not really
realizing your mistakes. And people sometimes go that extra distance
of not even appreciating their mistakes and therefore never really
progress with it. So I feel like, yeah there's definitely a balance between
being self-aware, like we might be a bit shy, but we also probably learn from our mistakes.
If you put yourself in a vulnerable spot and you are resigned to the understanding that you will
fail. You will fail! If you are resigned to that understanding,
then you don't have to worry about sounding perfect. All you have to worry about is
"Did i try today?" That's it. That's your only worry.
Did you guess them all correctly? But more importantly, were you able
to understand all of them clearly? If you did, great! If not, the reasons could be:
Certain native speakers are more difficult to understand simply because of where they live or
the historical background of the region, and what social groups they belong to.
People who live in close contact often share a way of speaking,
or accent, which will differ from the way groups in other places speak.
For example, you may notice that someone has a Texas accent,
particularly if you don’t spend much time with people from that region.
You notice it because it's different from the English accent that you’re used to hearing.
This third reason you might not understand a native speaker is:
Native English speakers sound different depending on factors such as their age and life experiences.
For example, you might have noticed that older generations speak very differently
compared with younger people in terms of the pitch of their voice and the speed at which they speak.
Also, the way someone sounds can also be influenced by whether or not
that person travels a lot, the industry they work in
and whether they spend large amounts of time speaking to people from other countries.
As you can see there are many reasons why certain accents are harder to understand than others.
Are you interested in learning more about different English accents around the world?
Please let us know down in the comments and we might just create a lesson on it soon.
Now, let’s look at some of the things you can do to better understand different accents.
First, it is important to let go of the false belief that accents from the US
and UK are better than any other English accent.
Embrace the fact that English is a global language and that people from
various countries use it for work, study or building relationships.
Think about it like this: The more accents you become familiar with,
the more opportunities and connections you will have in the future.
This means watching and listening to as many different English accents as possible, especially
the ones that are harder to understand. There are tons of free audio and video materials online.
Try listening to short audio tracks or videos and focus on the rhythm and intonation of the speaker.
You could also do this while watching films and series with diverse
cast members who speak English with different accents. There are plenty of them, such as:
Lost. Slumdog Millionaire. Blood Diamond. Pitch Perfect.
The more you do this, the better you will understand speakers with that accent.
Try to remind yourself that there is no need to rush your learning process.
Don’t feel embarrassed or impatient if you can't understand someone’s accent.
In fact, being impatient will only cause you to feel more frustrated.
So if you’re speaking with someone and you struggle to understand them, politely ask
the speaker to slow down or repeat themselves. Or if you’re in a meeting, write things down so that
you can follow what is being said. Be patient with yourself as well as with the other person.
Trust me, it will get easier over time and you’ll be amazed
at how much more you’ll be able to understand.
So today we looked at 3 of the main reasons some native accents are harder to understand.
We also shared 3 tips you can use to improve your understanding.
Do you remember what they were?
Well, here’s a quick reminder :
Thanks so much for joining our lesson today. If you enjoyed it as much as I did,
please like and share this video with anyone who might benefit from learning
English with us. But before you go, check out this next video: