The Secret to Understand ALL English Speakers

Oh great! I can practice my English  with a native speaker from South Africa!

Hi I’m Andrea! Howzit Andrea! I'm Cassé! 

Erm… I’m doing great, thanks. How about you? I can't complain. 

Did she say “I- con- com-plane?” Erm… I’m sorry, but I didn’t quite  

get that? Could you say it again, please?

If you can in any way relate to this experience,  today’s lesson was created just for you! When we  

hear someone speak, we already have an idea of  how we think their English is supposed to sound. 

Today, we’ll take a look  at some of the main reasons  

you may struggle to understand certain native  speakers and what you can do to improve this.

Before we get started, I’d like to remind you  that each week we create lessons like this,  

to help learners like you get comfortable using  English with confidence, anywhere and anytime!  

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English is spoken by approximately  1.4 billion people around the world  

and most of these are non-native speakers.

Let’s start with the question: What  even is a native English speaker? 

Well, defining this is complicated, but  usually a ‘native English speaker’ is  

anyone who speaks English from early  childhood, as their first language.

Even English natives from one particular country  find it hard to understand other English natives,  

let alone foreigners speaking  English as a second language.

In various countries, the accent  of native English speakers  

might sound different to what you might hear in  Hollywood movies or even your favourite YouTubers.

For example, let’s listen to Richard from  Ghana, where English is the official language:

But how, like I mean, like with  your-- with your family things,  

like this is... How many people  there actually speak English?  

So um... Pretty much everybody that  went to school can speak English um... 

Do you learn English at school? Yeah you learn English. English is the main,  

you know, it's used in teaching in Ghana. Okay, so all of your school  

life you were always learning in English? Yeah, it was everything in English. 

Okay, cool. And so when do you  speak the... what's it called, Ga? 

Yeah, so I speak Ga with, you  know, when I come home. Okay. 

At home, it's... We grew up in with speaking Ga. Okay.

Did you understand everything Richard said?

Well, Here’s why you might have  found it a little challenging:

When a person lives in a country where there is  more than one dominant language, it is common  

for them to use some of the rules or sounds  of the other language when speaking English.  

For example, if they have trouble pronouncing some  of the sounds, they may replace them with similar  

sounds that occur in their first language. So  when you’re listening to this person speak,  

you may have a difficult time understanding  them because it sounds wrong, or 'foreign'  

compared to English speakers from countries  where English is the only dominant language.

If you’d like to practice listening to  different accents, you’ll definitely  

love our RealLife English App, where you can  listen and talk with English speakers from  

all over the world at the touch of a button.  The best part is that it’s absolutely free! 

So just click up here or the link  down in the description box below  

to download it now. Or visit the  Google play or Apple App Store.

You might be asking, “But what about people from  countries where English is the dominant language?”

Well, let’s take a quick listen to the  accents of a few of our Beyond Borders  

guests who are native speakers. See if  you can guess where they’re all from:

Where by exposing yourself to a much richer, a  diverse range of accents and and English speakers,  

your opportunity to interact, engage with, connect  with people you know all around the world is so  

much greater than-- than by restricting  yourself to just one, prioritizing one.

I was just thinking also the the flip side of  that is, you know, talking so much and not really  

realizing your mistakes. And people  sometimes go that extra distance  

of not even appreciating their  mistakes and therefore never really  

progress with it. So I feel like, yeah  there's definitely a balance between  

being self-aware, like we might be a bit shy,  but we also probably learn from our mistakes.

If you put yourself in a vulnerable spot and you  are resigned to the understanding that you will  

fail. You will fail! If you are  resigned to that understanding,  

then you don't have to worry about sounding  perfect. All you have to worry about is  

"Did i try today?" That's  it. That's your only worry.

Did you guess them all correctly?  But more importantly, were you able  

to understand all of them clearly? If you  did, great! If not, the reasons could be:

Certain native speakers are more difficult to  understand simply because of where they live or  

the historical background of the region,  and what social groups they belong to.  

People who live in close contact  often share a way of speaking,  

or accent, which will differ from  the way groups in other places speak.

For example, you may notice  that someone has a Texas accent,  

particularly if you don’t spend much  time with people from that region.  

You notice it because it's different from the  English accent that you’re used to hearing.

This third reason you might not  understand a native speaker is:

Native English speakers sound different depending  on factors such as their age and life experiences.  

For example, you might have noticed that  older generations speak very differently  

compared with younger people in terms of the pitch  of their voice and the speed at which they speak.  

Also, the way someone sounds can  also be influenced by whether or not  

that person travels a lot,  the industry they work in  

and whether they spend large amounts of time  speaking to people from other countries.

As you can see there are many reasons why certain  accents are harder to understand than others.

Are you interested in learning more about  different English accents around the world?  

Please let us know down in the comments and  we might just create a lesson on it soon.

Now, let’s look at some of the things you can  do to better understand different accents.

First, it is important to let go of the  false belief that accents from the US  

and UK are better than any other English accent.

Embrace the fact that English is a  global language and that people from  

various countries use it for work,  study or building relationships.

Think about it like this: The more  accents you become familiar with,  

the more opportunities and connections  you will have in the future.

This means watching and listening to as many  different English accents as possible, especially  

the ones that are harder to understand. There are  tons of free audio and video materials online.  

Try listening to short audio tracks or videos and  focus on the rhythm and intonation of the speaker.

You could also do this while watching  films and series with diverse  

cast members who speak English with different  accents. There are plenty of them, such as: 

Lost. Slumdog Millionaire.  Blood Diamond. Pitch Perfect.

The more you do this, the better you will  understand speakers with that accent.

Try to remind yourself that there is  no need to rush your learning process.  

Don’t feel embarrassed or impatient if  you can't understand someone’s accent.  

In fact, being impatient will only  cause you to feel more frustrated.  

So if you’re speaking with someone and you  struggle to understand them, politely ask  

the speaker to slow down or repeat themselves. Or  if you’re in a meeting, write things down so that  

you can follow what is being said. Be patient  with yourself as well as with the other person.

Trust me, it will get easier  over time and you’ll be amazed  

at how much more you’ll be able to understand.

So today we looked at 3 of the main reasons  some native accents are harder to understand.  

We also shared 3 tips you can use  to improve your understanding.

Do you remember what they were?

Well, here’s a quick reminder :

Thanks so much for joining our lesson  today. If you enjoyed it as much as I did,  

please like and share this video with  anyone who might benefit from learning  

English with us. But before you  go, check out this next video: