Hello, everyone, and welcome back to English with Lucy. Today, we are going to be talking
about the big topic of accents, in particular, the accents that you guys
find to be most difficult to understand. Now, when it comes to accents, you can't just say,
"This one's easy, and this one is difficult." It doesn't work like that. It all depends on where
you're from and what you're used to, what you're used to hearing. I speak English with a modern
received pronunciation accent, and lots of people tell me that they find it very clear and easy,
but that probably is because my accent is an accent that's commonly taught in schools. You
might hear it in films and TV shows quite a lot. One of the most important things that you can do
if you want to improve your comprehension and improve your English listening skills
is to familiarise yourself with as many accents as possible. And this is such a fun task.
As a starting point, I thought it would be really fun to identify some of the accents that learners
of English commonly find hard to understand so that you can focus on familiarising yourself with
them even more. In order to do this, I created a survey. This is just for fun, it's not scientific,
but I think it gives quite a good indication. I took 10 celebrities who speak 10 of my favourite
accents and I took little clips of them speaking. I then asked my students on my email list to
tell me, on a scale of zero to 10, how easy they found it to understand that little bit of speech.
I averaged the scores, I've put them in order, and I'm really, really excited to show you the
results. To make this even more interesting, I will play each clip twice, once without subtitles
and again with subtitles so that you can test your own understanding of each accent clip.
Obviously, there will be many variables, the speed at which the person is speaking,
the setting in which they're speaking, whether it's formal or informal, but hopefully,
it will give you a good idea. As always, there is a PDF that goes with today's lesson.
It's got all of the information that I share today, plus links to the full clips and some extra
bits as well. If you'd like to download that, just click on the link in the description box,
you enter your name and your email address, you sign up to my mailing list, and then immediately
the PDF will arrive in your inbox. And then every week after that, you will automatically receive
my lesson PDFs. You'll also receive all of my news, updates, and offers, and the opportunity
to participate in any future surveys. You don't want to miss out on that important research.
Now, a lot of the clips that I'm going to show you come from TV shows, mainly British TV shows.
I always recommend watching TV shows and movies in English as a language learning tool. But one
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let's get started with the video. So we have 10 accents and the person who's ranked number 10,
IE, the easiest to understand according to my students is Queen Elizabeth the Second, of course.
It helps a lot that she speaks very, very slowly, and this was a
formal broadcast. Let's have a listen. King James may not have anticipated
quite how important sport and games were to become in promoting harmony and common interests.
But from the scriptures in the Bible which bears his name, we know that nothing is more
satisfying than the feeling of belonging to a group who are dedicated to helping each other.
And now, let's listen one more time with subtitles on screen
so you can check how much of it you understand. King James may not have anticipated quite how
important sport and games were to become in promoting harmony and common interests.
But from the scriptures in the Bible which bears his name, we know that nothing is more
satisfying than the feeling of belonging to a group who are dedicated to helping each other.
So the queen speaks the Queen's English. She speaks with a received pronunciation accent on the
very top posh end of received pronunciation. Now, this is an accent that is traditionally regarded
as the standard for British English, but things are changing. Originally, this accent
was called public school pronunciation. And public school actually means private school.
So an independent school in the UK. State school is education paid for by the government. Public or
private school you pay for yourself. So this is an accent that was traditionally learned.
And it's quite interesting because it doesn't have a specific geographical location. It was
originally spoken in public schools all across the British Isles. It was kind of a sign of class.
A couple of decades ago, the majority of what you would hear on the radio and on
the television would be received pronunciation. But now that is not the case, and rightly so.
Let's move on to number nine. And this is a very attractive, to me, celebrity. It is
Jason Statham speaking in his gorgeous Cockney accent. I know a lot of you are huge fans of
the Cockney accent. Let's have a listen. And you have to accept that. At the end of the
day, we shouldn't be moaning because we're hired actors. You come in, you get paid,
shut your mouth, do you work, and go home. It should be a little bit of that,
but sometimes you want to try and get involved and you try and collaborate and get things done.
Can we just have a moment of appreciation for men rocking bald heads.
Absolutely loved them. Right, let's listen again with subtitles and see how much you understood.
And you have to accept that. At the end of the day, we shouldn't be moaning because we're
hired actors. You come in, you get paid, shut your mouth, do you work, and go home.
It should be a little bit of that, but sometimes you want to try and get involved and you try
and collaborate and get things done. Okay, adore this accent. It originates from
the East End of London. Supposedly, you were only a true Cockney if you were born within earshot of
Bow Bells. Within earshot means within listening distance, within hearing distance. And Bow Bells
are the bells in a church, a historic East London church. Now the East End of London is changing.
And a lot of the people who were born there or who grew up there are moving further out to Essex.
So it was very interesting to me to see that number eight was the Essex accent. So let's play
a clip of that. We have a celebrity called Gemma Collins, who I personally adore. She is so sassy,
so entertaining. If I ever feel sad, I look at her top moments on YouTube because, oh,
what character, she's just completely herself. I have become one of the biggest reality stars
in Britain. I am a global icon. It's weird, but that's the GC.
That is the GC. And that's what I do. I make great
TV. I provide you with entertainment. And I kind of explain it to people, it's like Paul O'Grady
and Lily Savage. It's how I make my money. She's so confident, isn't she? I loved the guy,
Eamonn Holmes' face as she was praising herself. Brilliant. Let's listen again with subtitles.
I have become one of the biggest reality stars in Britain. I am a global icon. It's weird,
but that's the GC. That is the GC.
And that's what I do. I make great TV. I provide you with entertainment. And I kind
of explain it to people, it's like Paul O'Grady and Lily Savage. It's how I make my money.
Okay. So the Essex accent is found in and around Essex. A lot of people from the East End,
originally Cockney, did move to Essex or are continuing to move to Essex. It is like a
mixture of the Estuary accent and the Cockney accent. It's become incredibly popular over
the past decade due to a TV show called The Only Way Is Essex. It's a reality TV show that follows
young people in Essex, very glamorous people. And Gemma was one of them and her career has just
exploded. Okay. Moving on to number seven, we're going to another country. We're not in
England anymore. We are in Wales and it is the Cardiff accent as spoken by Charlotte Church,
who is an opera singer. Well, I suppose in terms of
the film Under Milk Wood is such an incredible play. Dylan Thomas' writing is so unusual.
Yeah. And I'm quite a newbie to acting. I've done bits and bobs in the past.
Very interesting there. Can you hear her say unusual? Where I'd say unusual. So it's almost
like she's adding in an extra syllable there. And she also said incredible with
an R sound I struggle to do. It's like a rolling R sound. I love listening to the
Welsh accents. They're very melodious to me. Let's listen again with subtitles.
Well, I suppose in terms of the film Under Milk Wood is such an incredible
play. Dylan Thomas' writing is so unusual. Yeah. And I'm quite a newbie to acting.
I've done bits and bobs in the past. If you are interested in learning a little
bit more about the Welsh accents, then I highly recommend a comedy called Gavin and Stacey.
Actually goes quite well with this video because it shows an Essex family and a Welsh family
joining because the son and the daughter are getting married. Hilarious, some fabulous
Welsh accents in there. Let's move on to number six. It's the Yorkshire accent as
spoken by Louis Tomlinson from One Direction. Basically, me name is Louis, but I didn't love
it when I was younger. Once I was old enough, I don't know why, I just didn't really love it. So
I got known as Louis, all me friends from home call me Louis. And then I get there... Is this
close enough? Sorry. And then I get there on me first day at the X-Factor with Simon
and all the judges, and he called me Louie. So for me, one of the most distinctive things
about his accent is that he says me instead of my. "Me name," instead of, "My name."
That's really distinctive to me where I'd say, "Love," he says, "Love." "I didn't love it,"
but for me it's, "I didn't love it." I find this accent very warm. Love. Yeah, it's just lovely,
isn't it? Let's listen again, but with subtitles so you can see how much you understood.
Basically, right, me name is Louis. But I didn't love it when I were younger. Once I
was old enough, I don't know why, I just didn't really love it. So I got known as Louis. All me
friends from home call me Louis. And then I get there... Is it close enough. Sorry. And then I get
there on me first day at the X-Factor with Simon and all the judges, and he called me Louie.
Did you also hear him not pronounce the H in home? He said, "Home." I would say,
"Home." From home from home. I'm not sure if that's quite right. From home. I need a bit of
help with my Yorkshire accent. Another thing I noticed, he said, "I were," instead of, "I was."
"When I were younger." "When I was younger," is what I'd say. That's part of his dialect.
Okay. Number five. So this is sort of mid range in difficulty for you. It's the Brummie accent,
which is the accent from Birmingham. And we have Adrian Chiles speaking it.
So anyway... Actually, when they're trying to get me to come on here, they give a list of all the
brilliant people you've had on in the past. That has the opposite effect on me. I said,
"We get Richard E. Grant and stuff. Why would anybody be interested?" So, anyway, that's my,
I suppose, that's my tip of humble- You were just the best I could get.
Many a true word said. So Adrian doesn't actually
have the strongest Brummie accent that I've ever heard,
but if you find him hard to understand, he is speaking quite quickly here. So if you're
managing to understand him, you're doing a really good job. Let's listen again with subtitles.
So anyway... Actually, when they're trying to get me to come on here, they give a list of all the
brilliant people you've had on in the past. That has the opposite effect on me. I said,
"We get Richard E. Grant and stuff. Why would anybody be interested?" So, anyway, that's my,
I suppose, that's my tip of humble- You were just the best I could get.
Many a true word said. Also, how awesome is that sign
language interpreter. She was really conveying the comedy quite well. Now, as lovely as this accent
may sound to you, this is actually one of the British accents that faces the most discrimination
within the country. There is another one that I'll talk about as well. When people run opinion polls,
it often comes up as one of the most disfavored. Very interestingly, when they run similar opinion
polls to overseas visitors, so non-native English speakers, the Brummie accent seems to do quite
well. They find it very melodious. This implies that it does badly in polls because of prejudice,
rather than a genuine dislike of the sound of it. I'd be interested to know your thoughts and
to know if there are any accents in your country that you think are kind of unfairly regarded. I
know that living in Spain, I learned Spanish with an Andalusian accent. And I have definitely been
on the receiving end of criticism. Some of it I take as well-meaning. A lot
of it comes from people from other countries who were saying, "Ah, this sort of accent's
ugly. You should learn my accent." But it can be quite hurtful to be honest because that's
the accent I speak with now. Let's move onto the next one. You've rated this as number four.
And I know I shouldn't have favourites, but I think I can. This is my favourite. I absolutely
love the way this accent sounds. And I love the person who has this accent.
It is the Nadine Coyle from Girls Aloud. It's just a blessing on the ears. It really is. She speaks
with a Derry accent. Have a lesson of this. I enjoy cooking, baking, and stuff. Working
with flour and making sweet things. I'm not so used to more savoury chopping.
When you just zone out, you put your music on and you just chop. Just chop loads of stuff.
Does anyone else want to just chop and cook with flour with her? It's just lovely. See if you can
notice that where I would say flour, she says something more like flyer. And she also says
making instead of making, as I would say it. Chopping, chopping, really, really distinct
differences. Let's listen again with subtitles. I enjoy cooking, baking, and stuff. Working with
flour and making sweet things. I'm not so used to more savoury chopping. When you just zone out,
you put your music on and you just chop. Just chop loads of stuff.
Lovely. Truly lovely. Love it. Let's move on to number three. We have another Girls Aloud member.
So you voted these two quite high up on the difficulty scale. Cheryl speaks with a Geordie
accent, which you'll find in the city of Newcastle and the surrounding areas. Let's have a listen.
We did three hours the night before. So there's a girl out there called Charm who I used when I did
my own solo tour. I just absolutely adore her. I love working with her. And we did
three hours with those girls and those girls were sick. So I was just watching them the
whole time like, "I want to do like her." She's so softly spoken and she speaks really,
really gently. Let's listen again with subtitles and then
I've got something to say about this accent. We did three hours the night before. So there's
a girl out there called Charm who I used when I did my own solo tour.
I just absolutely adore her. I love working with her. And we did three hours with those girls and
those girls were sick. So I was just watching them the whole time like, "I want to do like her."
Did you hear her use the word sick? I think I've mentioned it in a video recently. It's
a slang word for cool. I remember finding it very confusing as a child because I thought it
meant bad, but that's sick is that's really cool. Okay. So I wanted to talk a bit more
about accent discrimination here because Cheryl, I remember she was in the news quite a lot. I'd
say around 10 years ago, she was a judge on the X Factor a singing talent competition in the UK.
And she was invited over to the US to be a judge on the US version. And then she was quickly
fired from it, supposedly. And apparently it was due to the producers being worried that her accent
would be difficult to understand. Now, I don't know if this was just to generate publicity,
but it sounded pretty harsh. I remember feeling really bad for her at the time.
I feel that even if her accent was kind of new to viewers of the X Factor in the US,
they would have gotten used to it quite quickly. So I don't know if I agree with that decision,
but I imagine that it was just for publicity. Maybe this was all decided before. Right, let's
move on to number two. Number two is a comedian that I am very fond of. His called Frankie Boyle.
He tells the most outrageous jokes. He really pushes the boundaries and oversteps them quite
frequently, but he speaks with a Glaswegian accent from Glasgow in Scotland. Let's have a listen.
My cousins, when I was growing up in Ireland, their dad was a fisherman on a trawler in Ireland.
And he would go away for two weeks at a time. And I remember thinking that's the worst thing
you could possibly imagine, is that your dad's going to just disappear for two weeks. And now,
two months would be quite standard on a tour. Very, very distinctive tour.
I'm not even going to try to mimic it. This for me is one of the hardest
accents for me to mimic. One thing I find quite distinctive is that where I would say is they say
as, or instead of kind for me, they say kind. Let's have a listen again
with subtitles. See how much you picked up. My cousins when I was growing up in Ireland, their
dad was a fisherman on a trawler in Ireland. And he would go away for two weeks at a time. And I
remember thinking that's the worst thing you could possibly imagine, is that your dad's
going to just disappear for two weeks. And now, two months would be quite standard on a tour.
And the last accent, the accent that you voted as hardest to understand. In all fairness,
I don't think I gave you the easiest clip. He's speaking very quickly, but his name's John
Bishop and he speaks with a Scouse accent. And there's been a lot of press recently
of people who speak with a Scouse accent coming out and talking about the discrimination they
faced. Let's have a listen to the comedian, John Bishop, speaking with his Scouse accent. Have
a listen to those distinctive features. See, I've wrote about them in the programme
called Generation Z. Because I have given them a full title.
Because I'm old enough to call things by the full title, rather than yourself who's gone Gen Z
Yeah. That's also the only clip with music in the background as well. So I'll bear that in mind for
next time to make sure it's as fair as possible. However, it is a very distinctive accent. When he
says, but I, he almost says barra. It's very hard for me to reproduce. He almost rolls his R sounds.
Another thing I notice is when they say things like school or cool, they tend to say it school
or cool. Almost adding in an extra syllable. See, I've wrote about them in the programme
called Generation Z. Because I have given them a full title.
Because I'm old enough to call things by the full title, rather than yourself who's gone Gen Z.
Right. That is the end of today's video. Those were the 10 accents that you helped me rank from
easiest to understand to hardest to understand. I really enjoyed making this video. I love looking
at the ins and outs of lots of accents. I'd love to make another video like this. So tell me if you
enjoyed it and if you'd like more. Don't forget to download the free PDF that goes with this
video. It's got links to all of the full clips so that you can explore more of the accents that you
like. Just click on the link in the description box, enter your name and your email address,
and you sign up to my mailing list. You'll receive PDFs every week, along with my news,
course information, and updates. Don't forget to check out NordVPN at nordvpn.com/lucy.
You can take advantage of their amazing offer. You can connect with me on all of my social
media. I've got my Instagram and my website, englishwithlucy.co.uk, where I have a really cool
pronunciation tool where you can click on phoneme and hear pronounced those phonemes and words that
contain those phonemes. It's very fun. E, word, no. I've also got my personal channel
where I document my life here in the English countryside. There are some big changes going on,
so it could be interesting to watch. All of the videos are fully subtitled,
so you can use them for listening practise and to improve your vocabulary. [inaudible
00:24:11].I will see you soon for another lesson.