How come English speakers are incomprehensible to others?

[vangrop]

I was not born in a country whose native language is English. At school we were taught classic English. Unfortunately here in Thailand I experienced that it is impossible to have a fluent conversation with a native English speaking individu. Is it their accent, their speedness, their dialect, their level of education, their idioms I would like to understand. On the contrary when conversating with any other European people I understand despite our sometimes ridicoulous accents. Can anyone explain

[ravip]

31 minutes ago, vangrop said:

I was not born in a country whose native language is English. At school we were taught classic English. Unfortunately here in Thailand I experienced that it is impossible to have a fluent conversation with a native English speaking individu. Is it their accent, their speedness, their dialect, their level of education, their idioms I would like to understand. On the contrary when conversating with any other European people I understand despite our sometimes ridicoulous accents. Can anyone explain

It could be any one or a combination of the reasons you listed above. Also, your 'experience' in using English also could be a reason.  IMHO

[Crossy]

OK, this thread seems to have got off to a bad start, three posts that contravene Aseannow Community Guidelines have been removed.

 

Let's lay off the assorted slurs shall we?

 

[spidermike007]

Are you referring to all English speakers, or just British? Some Brits have very strong accents. Most say Americans are fairly easy to understand. The accent, if they have one, is fairly flat.

[Hawaiian]

12 minutes ago, vangrop said:

I was not born in a country whose native language is English. At school we were taught classic English. Unfortunately here in Thailand I experienced that it is impossible to have a fluent conversation with a native English speaking individu. Is it their accent, their speedness, their dialect, their level of education, their idioms I would like to understand. On the contrary when conversating with any other European people I understand despite our sometimes ridicoulous accents. Can anyone explain

Not sure where you are coming from, and I am not referring to the country you were born in.  First of all, I have some fairly interesting conversations with my Thai-born girlfriend.  We have been together for many years and I have seen her English speaking skills improve greatly over the years, including an expanded vocabulary.

She only finished high school and never took English lessons.   Her parents only spoke Thai.  Her brother and his wife both earned their doctorates at USC and were also on the faculty there.

Today, he is prominent physician at a well known Bangkok hospital. He also does research on MRI brain scans.  His wife now teaches at a major Thai university.  She speaks impeccable English and I always look forward to talking with her.

My girl's niece attended English language school after graduating from business school.  Her English is also near perfect.  We are very close and talk about all sorts of subjects, especially about food since I have been giving her lessons in Japanese cooking and a few American dishes.  A few times she brought over a Thai Chinese guy who helped her set up her online business.  He is another excellent English speaker and quite an interesting person to talk to about politics, Thai and international.

My point is you have been talking to wrong people and maybe the right people don't want to talk to you.

[treetops]

4 minutes ago, Hawaiian said:

My point is you have been talking to wrong people and maybe the right people don't want to talk to you.

 

OP appears to be talking about native English speakers.  Everyone you refer to doesn't appear to fall into that category.

[Crossy]

As a British native speaker, I find I can understand most speakers of English as a second language provided the pronunciation is at reasonably close. I also have a fairly neutral accent myself so I am (mostly) understandable.

 

I will say that I've found in my travels that our friends from across The Pond do struggle with the multitude of accents found in the UK, let alone the various accents from Europe and around the world.

 

I've also found that, sometimes, two speakers of ESL of different nationalities struggle with mutual understanding.

 

As an example: - 

 

Some years ago, I was working on project in Bengaluru, India. As Chief Systems Engineer I had to attend assorted project meetings.

The main contractor was Samsung from Korea, my Indian colleagues were from various parts of India and not all of them were fluent in Hindi. The only common language was English which was also the “project language” so all documentation and meetings were in English.

One morning I was a bit late for a meeting having been delayed in traffic.

I walked into the meeting room into the middle of a rather heated discussion on some point in the Contract (it doesn’t matter exactly what it was).

After listening to this discussion for a few minutes I said “Gentlemen!!” in my best “get their attention” voice. Silence, followed by all eyes looking expectantly at me.

“Mr Kim (from Samsung) are you saying this “xxxx”” to which the response was “yes”.

“Mr Shankar (Indian colleague) are you saying this “yyyy”” to which the response was also “yes”.

Now, English being such a complex language actually meant that “xxxx” == “yyyy”, so these chaps had been arguing for a good 30 minutes and actually agreeing!! Having pointed this minor fact out (it took a good 10 minutes) everyone was relatively happy again.

This wasn’t the first time, and it doubtless won’t be the last time, I’ve had to translate English into English in order to promote mutual understanding!

Oh, the fun of international projects!

[pub2022]

How come english native speakers do not know how to properly use it's/its and there/their?

[Nick Carter icp]

2 minutes ago, pub2022 said:

How come english native speakers do not know how to properly use it's/its and there/their?

 

   They do generally know that , its just arduous making an apostrophe and so don't bother and sometimes there and their are used in the wrong place , just a mistake 

[Polar Bear]

Euro English is a separate dialect (or set of dialects, depending on how you want to break it down) to standard English. As it's primarily used as a lingua franca, it is typically spoken more slowly, the vocabulary and grammar are slightly simplified, and it's more concrete because idioms rarely translate well. Naturally, the parts that have been dropped in Euro English are the parts that learners find most difficult. If that's what you have primarily been exposed to, of course you will find British/American/Whatever English more difficult to understand, especially if the speaker has an accent or uses a local dialect. The solution is to practice listening to a wider variety of dialects.

Americans often struggle more with British accents compared to Brits who generally have fewer problems with American accents. That's partly down to there being a wider range of strong accents in the UK, but it's mostly because we are exposed to a lot more American English through TV and movies. When British accents do make it in American media they are usually received pronunciation and bear little resemblance to how most people actually talk. Brits flounder just as much when faced with a strong unfamiliar American accent. (And I once had a very confusing conversation with a Glaswegian Rasta. My Scottish friend had to translate because despite us both supposedly speaking English we didn't appear to have any language in common at all.)

Find movies where actors have local accents or watch/listen to local news from around the world. If you are serious about it, there are plenty of materials online for English learners who need to understand a broader range of dialects.

[Hawaiian]

9 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Are you referring to all English speakers, or just British? Some Brits have very strong accents. Most say Americans are fairly easy to understand. The accent, if they have one, is fairly flat.

I tend to agree with you.  Americans also have various regional dialects which can also make a difference.  People in Thailand have commented that my English is easy to understand.   I can converse in the local Hawaiian pidgin English, but have chosen not to.  So truthfully, I don't if I speak in any discernible dialect.

[bignok]

Aussies no accent. You should all copy Aussies.

[Hawaiian]

8 minutes ago, pub2022 said:

How come english native speakers do not know how to properly use it's/its and there/their?

You forgot you're and your.

[vangrop]

22 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Are you referring to all English speakers, or just British? Some Brits have very strong accents. Most say Americans are fairly easy to understand. The accent, if they have one, is fairly flat

Indeed I got your point Americans are more easy to understand, I am principally referring to British and Australians. 

[Hawaiian]

5 minutes ago, Polar Bear said:

Euro English is a separate dialect (or set of dialects, depending on how you want to break it down) to standard English. As it's primarily used as a lingua franca, it is typically spoken more slowly, the vocabulary and grammar are slightly simplified, and it's more concrete because idioms rarely translate well. Naturally, the parts that have been dropped in Euro English are the parts that learners find most difficult. If that's what you have primarily been exposed to, of course you will find British/American/Whatever English more difficult to understand, especially if the speaker has an accent or uses a local dialect. The solution is to practice listening to a wider variety of dialects.

Americans often struggle more with British accents compared to Brits who generally have fewer problems with American accents. That's partly down to there being a wider range of strong accents in the UK, but it's mostly because we are exposed to a lot more American English through TV and movies. When British accents do make it in American media they are usually received pronunciation and bear little resemblance to how most people actually talk. Brits flounder just as much when faced with a strong unfamiliar American accent. (And I once had a very confusing conversation with a Glaswegian Rasta. My Scottish friend had to translate because despite us both supposedly speaking English we didn't appear to have any language in common at all.)

Find movies where actors have local accents or watch/listen to local news from around the world. If you are serious about it, there are plenty of materials online for English learners who need to understand a broader range of dialects.

Funny that you mention that.  I have a friend from the UK that jokes around with me as to what English accent he was going to use for the day.  I though he was pretty good in his imitations.

[BigStar]

18 minutes ago, bignok said:

Aussies no accent. You should all copy Aussies.

 

Americans and Aussies seem to understand each other pretty well, except for the occasional idiom.

 

Among Brits, I once happened to meet an Oxford grad (in Pattaya) who spoke English. Very urbane, witty, conversant on all manner of topics, not just beer, birds, ball, and bashing.

Edited December 5, 2023 by BigStar

[Hawaiian]

19 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

OP appears to be talking about native English speakers.  Everyone you refer to doesn't appear to fall into that category.

Sorry, I missed that point.  The people I mentioned evidently were schooled by American native-speaker instructors.  I know my girl's niece was.

[Georgealbert]

Can I offer this as a training video.

 

 

[bignok]

4 minutes ago, Georgealbert said:

Can I offer this as a training video.

 

 

What a bogan

[worgeordie]

There's almost as much British bashing as Thai on ASEANNOW  , if you don't understand us

learn to live with it, as i am proud of my accent and would not change it for the World , learn

to be proud of who you are ,

 

regards Worgeordie

 

[bubblegum]

In most countries you learn the official language at school and talk your local dialect at home/friends/shops so when you meet somebody from out of town you can still have a normal conversation. The Brits don't seem to have that system and want us all to understand their particular lingo. Same when they need to speak another language, they just talk their talk only louder.

 

BTW. I really would like to know the difference and correct use of, sleeping and asleep.

Edited December 5, 2023 by bubblegum

[bignok]

1 minute ago, worgeordie said:

There's almost as much British bashing as Thai on ASEANNOW  , if you don't understand us

learn to live with it, as i am proud of my accent and would not change it for the World , learn

to be proud of who you are ,

 

regards Worgeordie

 

Why would you be proud of something you had nothing to do with? 

 

Be proud of being a kind person. 

 

 

[Georgealbert]

10 minutes ago, bignok said:

What a bogan

And you point is? 
 

Trying to be funny and failing!!

 

Or just posting nonesnse like most of the threads you start.

[Denim]

OP is talking to the wrong native English speakers .

 

 

try one like this 

 

 

25 minutes ago, vangrop said:

Indeed I got your point Americans are more easy to understand, I am principally referring to British and Australians. 

 

 

Probably easier than an Irishman .

 

 

[Danderman123]

when I was young, I moved from south Wales to the US. Evidently, no one could understand my speech, as I was required to undergo speech therapy. As a result, I have an artificial American accent that everyone understands, but no one knows what part of the US I am from.

 

[bignok]

2 minutes ago, Georgealbert said:

And you point is? 
 

Trying to be funny and failing!!

 

Or just posting nonesnse like most of the threads you start.

She is a massive bogan. That's my point.

[Doctor Tom]

I was born and raised in Yorkshire, UK.  Nobody understands us but Yorkshire folk and we don't give a Fxxx

[worgeordie]

3 minutes ago, bignok said:

Why would you be proud of something you had nothing to do with? 

 

Be proud of being a kind person. 

 

 

Well i suppose you must be proud of been the biggest troll on here .....

 

tie my kangaroo down sport ..... be proud of that

 

regards worgeordie

[bignok]

1 minute ago, worgeordie said:

Well i suppose you must be proud of been the biggest troll on here .....

 

tie my kangaroo down sport ..... be proud of that

 

regards worgeordie

Im proud not to be like you.

[vangrop]

17 minutes ago, bignok said:

What a bogan

QED bogan is a slang term used by Australians end New Zeelanders, how would other people understand that?