What is the toughest accent to learn/understand

[meaty]

From your experience.

 

[pryncess527]

I have a lot of experience working with international students from all over the globe, and for me personally Indian accents are the most challenging to understand. I've gotten a lot better at reading lips, it really helps!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I would agree with pryncess527. In my experience it was also middle eastern. It was a language barrier as well as a custom barrier. Also asian usually chinese. I worked in the insurance industry so we heard many different kinds and honestly sometimes the hard accents weren't foreign ones (New England area/Texas drawl..if they were really thick it made your brain have to slow down to try and understand).

Sometimes it was the spanish that got hard. And I don't mean because they spoke spanish with a thick accent in day to day talk usually a person would speak great english but when I would ask their name they would say it with flair so to speak (which isn't a bad thing just made it difficult to understand). A common one was Maria..it could take several times trying to understand the person's name (something we were supposed to find out and call them by when conversating).

I should clarify and say that when I was at that job it was over the phone I so wish I could have been in person at times..maybe I could have tried learning reading lips!

 

[Kim&Chris]

Because I studied Spanish in High School, I can still understand someone with a significant accent.

I work with a gentleman from Vietnam, and I still have a lot of difficulty understanding him. Most of my replies begin with "I'm sorry, but....". Makes me feel so bad.

 

[L&Lfan]

For the life of me, I don't understand any of the folks who operate our local Chinese restaurants. I do a lot of nodding and smiling when I pick up my
order. Thank goodness it's usually one of their kids who takes the phone in orders.

Also, I agree with Indian and Pakistani accents. I do a lot of smiling and nodding at my 7-11 also.

I usually have no problem with European accents once I get used to their style and cadence. Same with American regional accents.

 

[bcla]

Vietnamese to some degree. There are certain syllables in their language that just don't match English very well. As far as Indian accents go, it's a whole gamut since that could mean one of dozens of languages. I have little problem understanding most Indian immigrants to the US who are familiar with American English. What can get difficult is dealing with someone in a call center who may try their hardest to mimic an American accent, but still continues to use Indian English idioms that sound awkward.

 

[pryncess527]

Let me also add Scottish -- I was in school with a Scottish exchange student years ago and I had the hardest time with her particular accent. It surprised me that I had so much trouble with an accent that was rooted in the same language I speek

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

What can get difficult is dealing with someone in a call center who may try their hardest to mimic an American accent, but still continues to use Indian English idioms that sound awkward.

I hate to say it but it's usually pretty apparent when you are speaking to someone overseas. It was a bit difficult when years ago we were speaking with U-verse over the phone.

English is hard really we have contractions and slang and all sorts of stuff so I get it

Even in chat it is: "I do understand you for that." "I really appreciate that you give me the chance to help you out with this. " Please do not worry. I'll definitely help you." Really on both sides we're all just trying to do our best to understand each other.

 

[yoopermom]

The priest at my dad's church arrived this summer from India. He told them the first Sunday that he speaks "British Indian English". After two weeks, he was matched up with a speech pathologist (is that the right title, forgive me if not) from the parish, because the Midwesterners in the pews absolutely could not understand 9 out of 10 words that he said. He's very charming, kind, and intelligent, but I would swear that he's not speaking English.

OTOH, we have had many priests in our own parish from the various African countries and, although heavily accented, are fairly easily understood.

Terri

 

[princesspiglet]

I work for an international corporation. My direct boss is Scottish and the two other VP's I support are Indian and Cajun. It took me a very long time to understand anything they were saying!

I also work with a lot of people from China and Japan and they are the hardest for me to understand. I usually ask them to just send me an email instead of calling as I have more time to decipher it. I always laugh as every email they send to me begins with: "Advance to thank the assistance from you."

 

[bcla]

I work for an international corporation. My direct boss is Scottish and the two other VP's I support are Indian and Cajun. It took me a very long time to understand anything they were saying!

I also work with a lot of people from China and Japan and they are the hardest for me to understand. I usually ask them to just send me an email instead of calling as I have more time to decipher it. I always laugh as every email they send to me begins with: "Advance to thank the assistance from you."

A lot of languages don't use prepositions. I've found the result is that many use phrases like "explain me" or they add unnecessary prepositions.

I work in an industry heavy with Indians, and I've found that they adapt rather quickly to American English. I'm guessing it's because English in some form was required for learning. Now I've known some people from China who have lived in the US for 40 years, and they still can't master prepositions, add unnecessary words, or get plural words wrong.

 

[littlejimmy]

even though I realize its not pc to say, its jive. as in the movie airplane, when mrs cleaver uttered the now famous line..."Oh, stewardess! I speak jive."

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Scottish - North of Dundee, especially.

 

[MataHari22]

As far as accents go, I have Italian relatives, as well as Spanish speaking, those are usually no problem. I grew up in NYC, so I am used to all kinds of accents from all over the world. Traveled to England, Belgium, The Netherlands and Scotland, and the hardest accent for me to understand by a mile, was when we got to Glasgow, Scotland. Wow. I felt like a total idiot trying to understand people when they spoke to me. Holy cow. The worst, was when we were trying to get directions to a Chinese restaurant from the concierge at our hotel. We must have had that man repeat himself 20 times. I wanted to crawl in a hole, dying of embarrassment.

 

[JBeaty0507]

I would like to say that anyone who has learned English as a second language is amazing in my books. I still have problems with it sometimes and I have an MBA and I am from the US! However, I will say that a Vietnamese accent does give me a really hard time. The lady who does my nails is from Vietnam and I love hearing about her family and her kids, but I feel like a total idiot when I have to ask her to repeat herself several times!!!

I will say that my favorite English miscommunication experience to watch was when we took a group of about 50 people from Tennessee to NYC. We had a person with us with a very "backwoods" Southern accent and the New Yorkers would just stare at him like, "I think you're speaking English, but I can't be sure"

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So my "learned something new today" is....Scottish accents=hard to understand.

I honestly haven't been face to face nor over the phone with a person with a Scottish accent so I wouldn't have that kind of experience. My experience is limited to entertainment actors/actresses/singers

 

[summermom2]

For me the hardest accents for me to understand are Asian and Indian accents.

 

[NotUrsula]

So my "learned something new today" is....Scottish accents=hard to understand.

I honestly haven't been face to face nor over the phone with a person with a Scottish accent so I wouldn't have that kind of experience. My experience is limited to entertainment actors/actresses/singers

Which essentially means that you've never heard a northern Scots' accent. Entertainers will invariably tone the accent down when performing. (I get a kick out of hearing Glaswegian entertainers during interviews; their "natural" voices sound totally different.) Once I was on a plane coming back to the States from Manchester, and we had 2 window-side seats plus the center aisle across the way, with DS in the window seat in his carseat. DH & I were switching round taking turns sleeping. There was a very nice elderly Glaswegian lady in the second center seat who was VERY chatty. When we got off the plane DH asked me what language she was speaking. I nearly lost it right there in the Immigration line. "That was English, you goof!"

If you've ever heard Liam Neeson interviewed, then you've heard my Dad's accent. Their home towns are about 20 miles apart. Neeson, of course, mostly uses a pretty standard BBC accent when acting, but in interviews, he's pure Ulster.

I don't have any trouble with East Asian accents, but rural China is something else again. Their English language accents tend to vary throughout the conversation, because they are accustomed to a language that uses tones to change meanings, so they will sometimes attempt to do the same thing in English.

 

[BadPinkTink]

For me personally I dont have a problem with accents, yes even Scottish, lol. I lived in Edinburgh for about 3 years as well as London and Germany and met and worked with people from all over Europe both native English speakers and non native English speakers.

I would say though that regional Irish accents are as troublesome to understand as Scottish regional accents. My sisters husband who is from England has a real hard time understanding some of our family who are from south Ireland. They have very thick regional accents and speak very fast and I know my sisters husband just nods and smiles alot of the time during family get togethers

 

[Gumbo4x4]

For me personally I dont have a problem with accents, yes even Scottish, lol. I lived in Edinburgh for about 3 years as well as London and Germany and met and worked with people from all over Europe both native English speakers and non native English speakers.

I would say though that regional Irish accents are as troublesome to understand as Scottish regional accents. My sisters husband who is from England has a real hard time understanding some of our family who are from south Ireland. They have very thick regional accents and speak very fast and I know my sisters husband just nods and smiles alot of the time during family get togethers

We didn't have any trouble in Edinburgh, but the further North we got - oh boy! And my grandfather was a Scottish immigrant, so I grew up hearing it.