On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:45:05 +0000, Stephen wrote:

> On 19/01/2011 7:45 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
>>> No wonder we need sub-titles for American TV. ;-)
>>
>> Hehehehe, you know, I was quite amazed when, at a holiday party last
>> year, the hosts showed us a couple episodes of "Only Fools and Horses"
>> (Mark's from Ireland and has a heavy Irish accent most of the time) and
>> they gave us the caveat that the accents might be difficult to
>> understand, but we didn't need subtitles and understood most of the
>> cultural jokes as well as not having a problem with the accents. :-)
>>
>>
>  From what I can remember, the speech in "Only Fools and Horses" is
> pretty Standard English, English. A bit of a South London accent, I
> admit. 

Yeah, it's that South London accent that some over here have real 
difficulty with.  RP not so much, but the further from London you get 
(especially northward), the more difficulty some Americans have at 
understanding it.

Until you get to Glasgow, that is, at which point even people raised in 
Glasgow have trouble with the accent, that is. ;-)

> It’s not the American accent that is troublesome, it is the
> divergence from English grammar that makes American TV shows difficult
> to understand. Give it another 20 years and we will be speaking like you
> do now. ;-)

Oh, yes, I absolutely can see that - but that's because it's American 
grammar, not English grammar.  ;-)

At times, I'm sure native English speakers think Welsh is easier to 
understand. ;-)

>> I think they were slightly surprised that we didn't have any problems
>> at all understanding what was being said.  :-)
>>
> I'm not. But a t'ick Oirish voice can be hard on the ear. Listen to any
> Dubliners album. :-)

:-)

Mark used to teach technical courses here in the US, and I was always 
amazed to hear him teach, because his accent softened considerably in the 
classroom.  He also has a bit of a stutter, and that also vanishes when 
he's teaching material he's extremely familiar with.

There are definitions in Uxbridge English Dictionary that poke some light-
hearted fun at the "t'ick Oirish" accents that always make me laugh. :-)

Jim

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