Understanding the accent

[explorelang]

Hi,

I am working in UK but I am not a native of this country. I am having a difficulty in understanding the accent of people. Particularly on phone and if somebody talks very fast. It will be appreciative if I get some suggestions on this.

Thanking You

[hobbes]

A few ideas.

Ask them to speak more slowly or repeat it. It can be embarrising, but is effective.

Personally, as a native english speaker, I have found that if I 'listen' in the accent of a caller I can understand better.
I have a lot of Chinese, Indian & English (I'm Scottish!) customers calling me, if I mimic their accent in my head whilst listening I can often hear more clearly as the tonal qualities of regional or foreign accents can be understood more clearly & 'converted' into understood language, not just a bunch of sounds! It's worth a try! (Same way I learnt to listen to a foreign language & begin to separate the sound into individual words & piece together the important parts of a conversation - Dutch was fun!)

[explorelang]

Hi Hobbes,

Thank you very much for your reply. This trick sounds good, I shall try it and let you know whether it works.

Any more tricks?

Many Thanks and Kind Regards

[Steven D]

Originally Posted by explorelang

Hi,

I am working in UK but I am not a native of this country. I am having a difficulty in understanding the accent of people. Particularly on phone and if somebody talks very fast. It will be appreciative if I get some suggestions on this.

Thanking You

You can practice listening on the internet. You can download MP3s at some sites.


http://www.elllo.org/months/england.htm

http://www.elllo.org/study/england/english_2004.htm

http://www.elllo.org/study/england/english_2005.htm

http://www.elllo.org/months/ireland.htm

http://www.elllo.org/study/ireland/english_2004.htm

http://www.elllo.org/study/ireland/english_2005.htm

http://www.elllo.org/study/english_2004.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/...nourtime.shtml

[explorelang]

Hi Steven,

Thanks a lot.