Which English accents is easier for foreigners?

[Serrrgio]

Hi, I have a question,

¿Do you think that students find easier one or another foreign accent according to the similarities between their mother tongue and the target language in a phoneticl level? For example, could Scottish English be easier for Italians, South African accent easier for Spaniards and Canadian accent easier for Chinese?

[Wanda Kaishin]

On 10/28/2017 at 3:32 AM, Serrrgio said:

Hi, I have a question,

¿Do you think that students find easier one or another foreign accent according to the similarities between their mother tongue and the target language in a phoneticl level? For example, could Scottish English be easier for Italians, South African accent easier for Spaniards and Canadian accent easier for Chinese?

What do you mean by "in a phonetic level"? I ask because then you go on to imply Scottish English is more similar to Italian than other forms of English, South African English is more similar to Spanish and Canadian English is more similar to Chinese. This doesn't click to me, but I'm interested in your explanation. 

[Serrrgio]

Hi! Yes, that's what I mean. Of course, all cases are examples, no idea how Canadian English sounds, for example! But the idea is that maybe there are some sounds in an especific variety of English (os Spanish, or Chinese, it doesn't matter) which make this variety easier to understand to foreigners who use that sounds in theis mother tongue. Did I explained myself properly?

[Wanda Kaishin]

Yes, you explained yourself correctly, I just wasn't sure what that term meant. As for the topic, here's an example. Northern Chinese speakers (Harbin, Beijing ,etc) pronounce the r similar to how it's pronounced in US and Canadian English, so they have an easier time imitating those accents than the British accent. But I don't know if it's easier to understand for this reason. I also don't know if it makes a big difference or a small difference. 

Are those other examples made up, or have you read something that supports those similarities? It's somewhat interesting to me.

[ginepro_z]

A mí creo que los dialectos más fáciles serían los del oeste del Río Mississippi o tal vez los cercanos a Londres. Creo que esos son los más estándares entre todas las variaciones del inglés. Sobre todo el hecho que el inglés tiene tantas variaciones en la pronunciación es el desafío verdadero por ellos que quieren aprenderlo dado que por lo mayor los idiomas europeas (y de otras partes en general) son totalmente o casi totalmente fonéticas. Yo que tú no me preocuparía de como sea mi acento. Es más importante que aprendas la gramática irregular o la multitud de vocabulario que tendrás que superar si quieres hablar con fluidez. ¡Buena suerte!

[Serrrgio]

On 5/11/2017 at 3:32 PM, Wanda Kaishin said:

Yes, you explained yourself correctly, I just wasn't sure what that term meant. As for the topic, here's an example. Northern Chinese speakers (Harbin, Beijing ,etc) pronounce the r similar to how it's pronounced in US and Canadian English, so they have an easier time imitating those accents than the British accent. But I don't know if it's easier to understand for this reason. I also don't know if it makes a big difference or a small difference. 

Are those other examples made up, or have you read something that supports those similarities? It's somewhat interesting to me.

Exactly!

Nope, never readed about that, just came to my mind listening similar phonetics between Greek and Spanish; and all greeks I know have a wonderful pronunciation of Spanish...