What do you think of the different accents of English?

[babyleans]

What do you think of the many accents of English? Do you have a particular accent you like? Have you ever tried to change your accent?

[Dora M]

I like all English accents, and in particular the ones that are prominent around northern England and Scotland. For me it was one thing to learn English at school, and then go to a country where English is the native language. It took me a while to understand and place all the different accents that I encountered. And then , when I moved to Australia, I was often told that my English is just too "neat".

I tried to comply by learning how to swear in every other sentence... (Just kidding)

[GeraldH]

Speaking of which...I'm wondering what English learners think of the Australian accent, since I am the proud owner of one myself! I get the feeling that there tends to be a stereotype in people's minds that I don't fit for whatever reason, which is why people first guess that I'm British. My theory is that it's because I'm from the city, and people expect to hear "bush" accents (think Crocodile Dundee).

[licklozay]

I love the different accents in English and I think that they make the language very exciting and very interesting. One thing I do have though is the challenge of understanding different dialects in different slings or parts of the culture within the English language. One of the most challenging accent for me to understand is the Scottish accent. The Scottish accent is a very deep and very rooted in the way they pronounce English words almost sounds like another language entirely and so for me that's one of the hardest accents to get but overall I find the various accents very interesting.

[sidney]

I noticed the differences in the accents of Americans, Australians, Scottish, and British people, and I think that the accent of British people are my favorite ones. They sound sexy and appealing. I have never tried changing my accent though because that would probably look unnatural and "trying hard".

[Trellum]

I like the British accent, but Ive been told there are different accents in Britain.  So I guess I like the queen's accent the most   I know a person who is from wales and wow!  I can barely understand what this person says, lol.  I don't like his accent at all!  I have a friend who is from London and his accent is so different; I can understand everything he says and is just beautiful.

I have met other people from the UK who had such a weird accent.  I think the worst accent for me would be the Scottish one, hehehe!  I can't understand a single word of what they say!

[PashaR]

I enjoy hearing English spoken with an "accent." I am from the USA, and there are several different accents in this country - southern, Boston, Texas, midwest, northern midwest to name a few. I LOVE the Irish and Scottish accents. I also like the British accent, although there are actually many. I once read that there are twelve different accents in London alone! I'm not crazy about the Australian accent, but I find the New Zealand accent very interesting. I also like the Jamaican accent.

[May102014]

I absolutely love the English accent. My friend can do a perfect English accent and I can't do it. I think it's because I try too hard, which is my problem sometimes. I enjoy listening to the cockney and posh-like accents in the UK. It's interesting because it clearly shows the class difference in social status but nevertheless the accent is always alluring to me.

[tuparientemateo]

As a native speaker, I also love the Scottish accent. It sounds so cool and different. It's interesting to hear from a non-native speaker's view how hard it is to hear and understand the different accents. So are the English (British) the easiest to understand and the Scottish the hardest?

[Sora]

The prominent differences that I can make out in accents are in the American, British, Scottish, Afro and Australian English. I think they make the language interesting. We get to learn a lot about the culture of the people speaking in a particular accent.

British English is by far my favorite. There is something really irresistibly attractive and sexy in the way they pronounce their words! I could keep listening to them talk! In my tweens I tried hard to imitate them but it never quite sounded right. Lol.

[Pesto]

I think the concept of accents in languages in general is such an interesting concept.  I think people often don't realize how accents can vary so much over even the tiniest bit of area.  I also am amazed at how a lot of people seem to have difficulty with understanding speakers of other accents but same languages.  Then again, I think receptiveness and openness play a huge role in this.

I would say that I prefer British English accents to those of other English dialects, but I can't say I am as familiar with the variety of accents as I would like to be.  What I mean is that Americans have a nasty habit of lumping most British English accents together, and are pretty ignorant of the differences in general--I've suffered a bit in this regard myself.

[Rosa]

I think that different accents in English can be uniquely beautiful/funny. We watch a lot Nigerian movies here and folks often times try to mimic the accent. There are also other accents that once you've heard them they sort of remain in your head, like Trinidadian and St Vincent.

[Schnitzel]

I really can't stand strong German accents when speaking english, which is kind of ironic since I am German myself. It's part of the reason why I practice pronounciation so much. It's really pleasant to listen to british english, scottish on the other hand is too hard to understand for me sometimes. Oh and there's also the russian accent which I actually really like. I think it sounds kind of cool in a way.

[tuparientemateo]

Thanks for the insight.

That's pretty cool to hear the views from English speakers as a second language. I think Pesto is right. Americans tend to just lump everybody that sounds like a British person all into one accent and kind of forgets about paying attention to how many accents there are in the world.

I've got respect for you guys. As a Spanish learner, I basically only have 3 kinds of accents to worry about, you all have atleast 5 from what I heard.  :grin:

[Cap2jitsu]

For me personally, I love scottish accents and also german speaking english accents. I think they're very unique. English accents are always quite beautiful as well.

[lei / Latifa]

I am not trying to sound mean or prejudice but I absolute hate accents other than "Michiganders" accent. I find it so annoying because I am not able to catch what they are saying. Other than that, I cringe when I hear people saying things different from me. I'm a little OCD about accents and how people say things.

[RicardoRodrigues]

I find the British accent particularly funny myself. I can understand American English much better than British though.

[SpringBreeze]

I love all English accents. But I especially like the British accent. The Scottish accent puzzles me and it's very strong. Sometimes, I feel like they are speaking an entirely different language. I like the way the French speak English. They can make English sound so sexy.

[Baburra]

I prefer some over others and I have my favorites, but I'll stay away from mentioning those that I don't like because I don't want to offend anyone who might be of those nationalities. My favorite ones are German and French accents because I find those very amusing and British accents are the best for me because they sound so regal.

[pcgamer]

I have gotten used to different American accents. They seems so normal to me. The Australian and British accents are kinda unique.

[Shearah]

I have a Northern Ireland (Ulster) accent of English.

[raytalks]

My most favorite accent is the Scottish accent, it sounds melodic, and it's the accent I have tried the most to imitate. I must say the accents from the UK, are interesting and at the same time difficult to understand. American accent is simple and easy to understand. Other accents that interest me are French, Spanish and Chinese because they bring a little flavor to the table.

[Determined2014]

What do you think of the many accents of English? Do you have a particular accent you like? Have you ever tried to change your accent?

I find them to be intresting,the British accent is great, the American accent is great too,I find the Austrilian accent kind of hard to understand, I do not know why I have a hard tiome understanding it, but I find all the English accents to be good, keeps your ears on guard.

[johnnear]

It's really great. Although not all English accents, some of them, especially some variations of the British accent are really hard to understand. My favorite would be the Welsh accent, most notably the Rhod Gilbert accent, I really love that accent. It has that pirate-y kind of sound to it, just full of energy.

[Jrh2]

I like how Britain has so many different accents across the regions but I think so many people that aren't from England think we all sound posh or like the queen and we don't. I like the Manchester accent and Irish but I don't like Wales or Scotland's as I find them annoying and I can't understand them half the time. I think we have many great accents in the UK though.