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Japan flagtomo
Listening English with strong accents Assume that I am talking with two people Alice and Bob in English. Alice comes from, say Russia, and Bob comes from, say Italy. (There is no reason why I choose these two countries. Just I randomly chosen them.) I cannot understand what Alice and Bob are saying, since their accents are very strong. However, Alice and Bob seem to understand with each other, although their accents are different from with each other. I often come upon such a situation. Is there any reason why European people are good at understanding English with different kinds of strong accents? I think what they learn at schools is only British or American English. (It's unlikely that they are provided some special lectures for understanding, say German English....) How can I improve the ability of understanding English with strong accents?

Answers · 20

3
It's also a matter of exposure: many of my business English students don't communicate with native English speakers, but are used to speaking in English with other continental Europeans (eg. Germans who speak English). So they are used to the anomalies which might sound strange to my ears. Also, the idioms and grammatical forms are less complex when using a second language with other second-language speakers, with almost no slang. So they are effectively using only a functional English. I recall in Italy I was talking in Italian with many non-Italians (emigrants and students), and although their native accents were very heavy, I had no problem understanding them. Hope that helped a bit. :)
2
How can you improve the ability of understanding English with strong accents??? Well, it is easy... just talk with spanish people... "We jave a strrrronnnngjgjgjg acccennTTTT :D
1
Strong accents? And this question is asked by a Japanese? Haha! A good speaker will be able to understand the language regardless of the accent used. You just need more practice and more exposure. By the way, "German English"? Eh? Behave yourself!
1
Hi Tomo, I think that it's because Europeans travel a lot more between their countries either for business or holidays. Also they might throw in some French/German/ Russian/ Italian words as well , that are understood by both people. This is different to Japan since it's an island and there may not be as many chances to hear English spoken by different nationalities. Europeans also use their hands a lot more to explain things. Just ask English speakers to speak more slowly.
1
makes my ears bleed :P

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