Do English speaking people understand each other?

[CrOtALiTo]

Regional dialects in the UK can be very difficult to understand. Even for native speakers. I sometimes struggle to understand someone with a very broad Newcastle or Glaswegian accent for example.

I have the same trouble understanding some news spoken in English in TV shows, because when I'm very and very concentrate with the conversation, I can't reach their level in the language, already they use a lot of idioms known for me, inclusive only I acquire a headache hahahah trying to understand them.

Therefore I believe you in your last commentary.

Neither helping or it get you some kind to knowledge in the TV.
I have acquired some knowledge for other people.

[Chris]

For people who speak English as a native language I only have trouble with some from England. They speak fast and use words that make it sound like gibberish. Other than that I can understand most of them just fine.

For people who speak English as a second language I have trouble sometimes understanding them because of the pronunciation and use of words. I'll have to piece together what they have said in my head and it makes me miss the next word. Don't worry, I have to do this with one of my sons too lol.

[JPablo]

Interesting... I realize that in Spanish I actually never had any trouble understanding people from Perú, Argentina, México, Colombia, Spain (Madrid, Andalusia, Canary Islands), Venezuela, Nicaragua... (I am trying to remember all the different Spanish speaking people I've ever met... but surely I am forgetting some...)

Even though there are accent differences and usages, idioms and slang... it seems rather easy to understand each other in Spanish... :)

[vita32]

Interesting... I realize that in Spanish I actually never had any trouble understanding people from Perú, Argentina, México, Colombia, Spain (Madrid, Andalusia, Canary Islands), Venezuela, Nicaragua... (I am trying to remember all the different Spanish speaking people I've ever met... but surely I am forgetting some...)

Even though there are accent differences and usages, idioms and slang... it seems rather easy to understand each other in Spanish... :)

Hi Jpablo, would you please see if you can understand Spanish spoken in some provinces of the Philippines?

I don't speak this myself but I'm just curious how well this could be understood by Spanish speaking countries.

Caviteño Chavacano: "Quien no ta bira cara na su origen no de incarsa na
su destinacion."

Zamboanga Chavacano: "El quien no sabe vira na su origen, hay hendeh le puede llega na su destinacion"

Source of the above quotes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Philippines

Gracias y que tengas un buen dia.:)

[irmamar]

Caviteño Chavacano: "Quien no ta bira cara na su origen no de incarsa na
su destinacion."

Zamboanga Chavacano: "El quien no sabe vira na su origen, hay hendeh le puede llega na su destinacion"


I'm not JPablo, but I'll answer. ;)

I understand a few words, which are Spanish words, but not the others.

I guess bot of them mean, more or less: quien no conoce su origen, no encuentra su destino. Who doesn't know his origin, doesn't know his destination.

But I can be wrong. :thinking: :D

Let's wait JP. :)

[Dale]

it seems rather easy to understand each other in Spanish... :)

I haven't noticed it being all that easy yet... :whistling:

[JPablo]

Well, I concur with Irmamar (and I can be wrong too...) Of course, when we get into dialectal variations, that gets really difficult.

However, when these all different people from different countries that speak Spanish try to communicate to each other, it is actually very easy. Based on my experience. Of course, Dale, I am referring to people already fluent in Spanish.

And of course, if someone is trying to be cryptic in his speech, the difficulties mount by the minute...

My overall impression is that an Aussie and a Southerner and or a British, or a guy from India may have more trouble speaking to each other and understanding each other, than, let's say, an Argentinean and a Mexican and a Spaniard... or a Chileno and a Yucateco... just to mention people I have actually spoken to...

(I have also spoken to Australian people, and listened to them, as well as Californians, New Yorkers, Texans... you name it... And granted, English is not my mother tongue, and I have always communicated to understand and be understood, but it seems to me the phonetic differences in English are greater than the ones experienced in Spanish... That, of course, is my subjective viewpoint... maybe tinged by the fact that I am more or less familiar with the accents and the lexical/semantic and syntactic "quirks" you may say, of these different ways to speak Spanish...) :)

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Interesting... I realize that in Spanish I actually never had any trouble understanding people from Perú, Argentina, México, Colombia, Spain (Madrid, Andalusia, Canary Islands), Venezuela, Nicaragua... (I am trying to remember all the different Spanish speaking people I've ever met... but surely I am forgetting some...)

Even though there are accent differences and usages, idioms and slang... it seems rather easy to understand each other in Spanish... :)

I mostly agree with that, except when I meet some Cubans who speak so fast and with so many colloquialisms, that I can't follow half of what they say. But that has also happened with some Mexicans whose regional accents put me in trouble. :erm:
...A friend of mine thinks she looked too stupid when talking with a cab driver somewhere in Spain (Salamanca, I think), who spoke with "half-words" and a very strong accent. He was upset that she asked him so many times to say everything again. :D

[JPablo]

Yes, yes... that is true too...

"En todas partes cuecen habas/habichuelas/frijoles/porotos/judías... y en mi casa a calderadas" ;) :D

[pjt33]

My overall impression is that an Aussie and a Southerner and or a British, or a guy from India may have more trouble speaking to each other and understanding each other, than, let's say, an Argentinean and a Mexican and a Spaniard... or a Chileno and a Yucateco... just to mention people I have actually spoken to...
I haven't had problems understanding Australians, Sith Ifricans (native English-speakers or native Afrikaans speakers), Zimbabweans, Indians, Canadians, or various USians. But some Nigerians I have to ask to repeat almost every sentence.

[CrOtALiTo]

In my case I have troubles understanding American people because they use a lot idioms instead of the British people is easier understand, because they use perfectly the language and the grammar and also they speak slower.

[JPablo]

I haven't had problems understanding Australians, Sith Ifricans (native English-speakers or native Afrikaans speakers), Zimbabweans, Indians, Canadians, or various USians. But some Nigerians I have to ask to repeat almost every sentence.

Ah, good to know Pjt33.
With the Nigerians I also have some trouble understanding their "English" and their Spanish... actually not "have some trouble" but "had some trouble" as there has been many decades I have not talked to one...
But I had some friends 25 years ago or so who were from Lagos, and I don't know if it was the Yorùbá's phonetics or something...

[Jferstler]

A 10 year old from Maine could be talking to a 90 year old from texas and we would still under stand each other,

[JPablo]

That's good, Jferstler... it goes to show that when there is a will there is a way!

I am thinking about Dario Fo, talking in Italian... I think anybody can undersand him... as he talks with his whole body... ;) :D

[pierrre]

Differences in pronunciation or mispronunciations is one thing. When the same word is used with a different meaning or connotation is where the problem lies for me. A couple years ago an Argentinian lady was teaching a course here in Trinidad. She referred to the words spoken by someone in the comics section of the newspaper (the words written in the bubble) as 'el bocadillo'. I understood what she meant judging from the context in which the word was used. My Venezuela friend was confused. He seemed prepared to accept 'sandwich' and nothing else. Amused about the situation, I asked another Venezuelan friend and she too would not accept as correct the way the Argentine used the word. It was sandwich for her and nothing more.

[irmamar]

In Spanish "sándwich", with an accent. Although I'd never say "sándwich" for "bocadillo" (bubble). ;)

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

A "bocadillo", for a Mexican, is a small piece of food (like a canapé, a vol-au-vent, etc.). A "sándwich" is rather big for a "bocadillo".
And what Spaniards call a "bocadillo" is rather a "torta" for a Mexican. (Nothing to do with a cake, btw, which is how "torta" is understood in many other countries.)
...We can get to understand each other once differences are explained anyway. ;)

[pjt33]

A "bocadillo", for a Mexican, is a small piece of food (like a canapé, a vol-au-vent, etc.). A "sándwich" is rather big for a "bocadillo".
And what Spaniards call a "bocadillo" is rather a "torta" for a Mexican. (Nothing to do with a cake, btw, which is how "torta" is understood in many other countries.)
...We can get to understand each other once differences are explained anyway. ;)
And then there's the lonche, ¿no?

[dodgingflames]

I think due to my family and friends, I can easily understand people who speak with different accents. I have a Mexican fiance, who I am the only one that can understand him half the time, as well as Filipino ex-sister in law, southern accent aunt/cousins, northern friends(Boston and Rhode Island, which have very distinct accents), a Canadian ex, and of course, the tourists that make their way to Florida. So I have a very easy time understanding anyone speaking English to me. But I realize that's not the case often...I've had to tell my family and friends what Juan is saying multiple times, and when certain people are speaking to me in stores, my mom will ask me what they said after we left.

My only problem comes with certain regional words, such as words used in the UK but never heard in the States.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

And then there's the lonche, ¿no?

"Lonche" is a word used (almost) only in Guadalajara. Central Mexicans may not know what it is, if they haven't heard it used first. :)