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In many movies and TV shows I see from the UK I really have to concentrate to understand what is being said in order to follow the conversation. This is only true in shows made in the last 20 years or so. Sometimes it even helps to put on the closed caption option. Older , classic British movies are much easier for me to understand.
Do British people have the same difficulty understanding American accents in recent movies or TV shows?
No, but we probably get more of your films and telly than vise versa. I have noticed in black and white films the American accent is often closer to British. Maybe there was an American version of Received Pronunciation more common on film? RP has died out and you are more likely to hear regional accents now.
I heard one critic say we only make three types of film these days; cockney gangster, it's grim oop north, and country house with an actor with the surname Grant. A slight exaggeration, but the first two types you are likely to hear southern actors putting it on, and very few talk like in the third type of film.
A large proportion of what children/teenagers watch on TV is American so we pick the accent and the vocabulary up quite subliminally, so I've never not understood American accents on TV, except for the occasional Jerry Springer or Ricki Lake guest. What somebody said above about the accents in older films: American accents did seem clearer then, though whether that was just because of voice training or something, I don't know. Saying that, I've heard that some cinemas in the 30s had to put subtitles on the films because people weren't used to American voices. Over here before the 60s, an actor (or almost any professional) would not go that far in life with a working-class or strong regional accent, so they had elocution lessons. Now upper-class accents have lost their prestige and so even newsreaders don't think so much about diction and so don't sound as clear.
Kate Hepburn typifies that older American accent that was once so prevalent in older pictures: "Hello mothaw, dad, the calla lilies ah in bloom."
I've grown accustomed to more Northern accents via programs such as The Royle Family and Shameless, but the Scots remain mostly unintelligible to me. I do pretty good with the Welsh, but Geordie can give me fits.
Come to think of it, some of those people on Shameless make me want to reach for the CC button when they get into their excited, rapid-fire talk.
Actually, I have a friend here in England who said she struggled to understand my American accent at first. This surprised me because I have a pretty generic American accent, it's not like I'm southern or have a heavy NYC accent or anything. I asked her "Aren't you used to American accents from TV and stuff?" She said apart from "Friends" she doesn't really watch American TV, she's not a huge movie goer, doesn't live in a touristy area and has never been the US. So she hasn't had a huge amount of exposure to American accents. I think she's probably in the minority. I do get a lot of people asking me to repeat myself but I think that's because they're not expecting an accent so it kind of throws them at first.
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Even the standard British accents? I can understand if you find it hard to understand Geordie or something, as even I do. Indeed, I find American easier to understand than most regional accents but the only ones I seem to have a bit of trouble with are strong Scottish, some strong northern accents including Geordie and very broad Yorkshire, Lancashire. Also the way some of the young Londoners (especially blacks, not sounding racist) speak - that Dizzy Rascal way of talking - is hard to understand sometimes especially because it's so fast. For me though it's often the speed that gets to me (some of them speak incredibly fast) more than the pronunciation.
im scottish and can only understand the north east coast accent. if i speak to someone from glasgow or the west, we may as well be chinese and portuguese lol
im scottish and can only understand the north east coast accent. if i speak to someone from glasgow or the west, we may as well be chinese and portuguese lol
Whether it is the UK, US, CA, AU or NZ there are strong regional accents within each country. I can usually spot the country but often not the region. I find it hard to understand some Scots. Some Brits don't pronounce the "T" at the end of a word but I can usually make out what they are saying. I don't know the UK region for that but hear it in UK movies.
Whether it is the UK, US, CA, AU or NZ there are strong regional accents within each country. I can usually spot the country but often not the region. I find it hard to understand some Scots. Some Brits don't pronounce the "T" at the end of a word but I can usually make out what they are saying. I don't know the UK region for that but hear it in UK movies.
well if i find it hard, and im scottish, i can only imagine how difficult it is for everyone else lol
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