Thread: spoken BrE vs spoken AmE

Does it happen sometimes that Britons don't understand American speech (and maybe vice versa) or find it hard to understand at least? I'm curious because I think I understand spoken British English much better than American one.

P.S. Please correct my mistakes and/or way of phrasing if my message doesn't sound natural. Thanks!

Probably if you are listening to heavy dialectal speech each group would have problems with the other, but for normal radio-commentary type speech, no problem. Maybe a word here and there. I have occasion here in the US to hear British speech on the radio and have no trouble with it.

>I understand spoken British English much better than American one.

We don't use "one" here, I think it's a pronoun and has to refer to a noun.* You have to either leave it out ("much better than American") or repeat the missing word ("much better than American English").

*As in
I like this British car better than that American one.
Even here I would repeat "car" probably. (See how wishy-washy I can be in my use of language? =:^) )

Originally Posted by Оля

Does it happen that sometimes the Britons don't understand the American speech (and maybe vice versa) or at least find it hard to understand? I'm curious because I think I understand the spoken British English much better than the American one.

P.S. Please correct my mistakes and/or the way I write the phrases if my message doesn't sound natural. Thanks!

Was my try successfull?

OK, Olya, here's one for you. I stumbled on it while looking for Блажен муж on youtube. British English, some dialect, not RP as I understand it. I can follow her, but every so often I fall a little behind, and I even did totally miss some words. Can you understand her? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Tj3EmT2bQ

Оля, ты же, кажется мне, видела такой вот клип?
Британские акценты. Очень здорово.

Yes, I thought "one" was superfluous... Is the rest OK? What about Leof's corrections?
What is "wishy-washy"?

Can you understand her? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Tj3EmT2bQ

My vocabulary is too poor in order I could understand her well. But I hear some strange accent, indeed. I can make out some short phrases and separate words.

Оля, ты же, кажется мне, видела такой вот клип?

Лёва, какой вот?

Господи! Дурья я башка! Ссылку не прикрепил!
Вот, пожалуйте:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH_kOjsXakM

>Does it happen sometimes that Britons don't understand American speech
should be:
Does it happen that Britons sometimes don't understand American speech
But both sound really stilted, like out of a 19th century novel, and we would usually say or write:
Do Britons sometimes not understand....
Is it true that sometimes Britons do not understand...

Also, in the US we would use "the British" or "the English" or "English people" instead of "Britons".

Спасибо, chaika.

Лёва, здесь к слову "speech" не нужно "the" (это точно).
Насчет "at least" в конце предложения мне самой интересно, но что-то никто не хочет нам ответить.

OFFTOP
Обожаю чайкину аватару.
Только мне почему-то с первого взгляда всегда кажется, что он в буденовке.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Обожаю чайкину аватару.

Моя лучше.

(А между прочим, мне ее нарисовал один... друг :P )

У Чайки на аватаре Томми Ли Джонс в будёновке - теперь это очевидно. А он продолжает отрицать, что он это он, а не тот в будёновке.

OK, I'll answer about "at least." It is ok there, but probably a little more usual earlier in the clause: ... Britons don't understand American speech (and maybe vice versa) or at least find it hard to understand?

But either way, no problem there.

Originally Posted by Оля

(А между прочим, мне ее нарисовал один... друг :P )

Надеюсь, не cам Алан?
И да, твоя аватарка мне тоже нравится. Креативненько.