# Are an American accent and a British accent noticeably different to non-English speakers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611 "2011-11-02T12:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/21 "2011-11-02T21:20:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 2 hours and 47 minutes from **AK84** declaring the question impossible to answer, to **Pitchmeister** answering it. Not bad. I thought he was nit-picking the OP’s use of “non-English speaker” vs. “non-native English speaker”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/22 "2011-11-02T21:30:37Z")
> [@These are my own pants](#): > > I think though that there’s a danger between drawing an equivalance between the varitey of American English dialects/accents and the variety of British English dialects accents. The variety of British English dialect/accents has had far longer to evolve and indeed msot of the differences come from differences that existed centuries before American English started to evolve. From what I understand American English is generally regarded as more homogenous than British English. I dunno. If you take a Texan and a New Yorker, they sound as different as a Yorkshireman and a Liverpudlian. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/23 "2011-11-02T21:35:22Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > There isn’t just one American accent, either. FWIW, a good-sized part of Phil Hartman’s SNL audition was his impression of someone doing an impression of Jack Benny and John Wayne and Jack Nicholson – which was, of course, perfectly accurate despite the guy speaking fluent German throughout. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/24 "2011-11-02T21:50:49Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I dunno. If you take a Texan and a New Yorker, they sound as different as a Yorkshireman and a Liverpudlian. IMO. I’m not sure if that’s necessarily true, butl Liverpool is only about 50 miles from Yorkshire (at it’s nearest point in the West Ridings). Also from what I understand New York and Texas dialects are pretty much at the different ends of the spectrum under the usual catergorization of Amerin English dialects, whereas in the usual classification of English dialects Scouse and Yorskhire dialects are regarded as relatviely close. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/25 "2011-11-02T22:44:28Z")
> [@aesop](#): > > In my experience the answer is generally no. I work with hundreds of people who speak English as their second language. Whenever this subject comes up, the consensus is that they can’t tell the difference among the various shades of English (British vs. American vs. Australian vs. etc.). It was surprising to me at first, but not any more. It’s pretty much the default. That being the case, I think there must be dialects/accents of English that non-English speakers would find difficult to recognise as English at all, for example, [Northumberland](http://youtu.be/Bnl4pxfYhN8?t=53s), [Aberdeen](http://youtu.be/paoXKU2uW7k?t=58s), or [Cornish](http://youtu.be/jW23Zd4X_DI?t=53s)? ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/26 "2011-11-02T23:16:16Z")
I think it depends on how well you know a language and its different accents. In English I can definately hear the difference between British and Amarican. I probably also would be able to identify Irish, Scottish, Liverpudlian, Cockney, Welsh (love the Welsh accent) from this side of the pond and ‘Southern’, New Yorkish, Bostonish and sometimes Canadian (Manitoba stands out) from the Wetern Hemisphere. Mostly because of movies and TV though. I have the same in most other foreign languages I speak (German and a few others), but strangely enough not in French… ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/27 "2011-11-03T03:45:01Z")
This discussion is very interesting and all, but 90% of the responses don’t address the OP who asked if native German/French/Spanish speakers could distinguish Brits and Americans _when they are speaking German/French/Spanish_. Although, to be fair, this could prove difficult if you can’t even tell them apart when they’re speaking English. ---
**Author:** ![aesop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@aesop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aesop)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/28 "2011-11-03T04:12:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That being the case, I think there must be dialects/accents of English that non-English speakers would find difficult to recognise as English at all, for example, [Northumberland](http://youtu.be/Bnl4pxfYhN8?t=53s), [Aberdeen](http://youtu.be/paoXKU2uW7k?t=58s), or [Cornish](http://youtu.be/jW23Zd4X_DI?t=53s)? Even non-British native English speakers would struggle with those I think. And you can safely add [Glaswegian](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWRIHS8xag) to that list. I lived in Glasgow for a while. It was three weeks before I understood a word anyone was saying. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/29 "2011-11-03T04:30:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 2 hours and 47 minutes from **AK84** declaring the question impossible to answer, to **Pitchmeister** answering it. Not bad. Of course, the guy named Chronos would post this. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/30 "2011-11-03T04:44:55Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > This discussion is very interesting and all, but 90% of the responses don’t address the OP who asked if native German/French/Spanish speakers could distinguish Brits and Americans _when they are speaking German/French/Spanish_. Although, to be fair, this could prove difficult if you can’t even tell them apart when they’re speaking English. I’m open to being corrected, of course, but I don’t believe that the OP intended the question to be interpreted this way. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/31 "2011-11-03T04:51:29Z")
> [@aesop](#): > > Even non-British native English speakers would struggle with those I think. And you can safely add [Glaswegian](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWRIHS8xag) to that list. I lived in Glasgow for a while. It was three weeks before I understood a word anyone was saying. State ay you. Sakes man! Guy’s a muppet. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/32 "2011-11-03T04:51:32Z")
My husband is from Switzerland and is a native speaker of Schwyzerdütsch. I am very used to it, and so I can tell when someone is speaking English, if their native language is Deutsch or Schwyzerdütsch. It just takes a trained ear. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/33 "2011-11-03T05:06:35Z")
This might have some distant bearing on the subject. Right out of college, I went along on a group tour of Europe set up by a professor from the University of Illinois. As a group tour, we flew on a charter flight to London, then got taken around the Continent by bus. Parisian bus driver, and one our group was a student from Montreal. They spoke to each other in French, naturally, and I at least couldn’t understand any of it. Anyhow, there is just no mistaking the difference in French spoken by a Quebecois and a Parisian. That Canadian accent came through very clearly. As part of the tour, they took us to a nightclub show in Paris. Pretty dancers, of course, and a comedian doing his routine - in French, of course - and it wasn’t hard to figure out which one of the groups in the audience he was making fun of. Us, of course. Particularly when part of the routine consisted of looking at us while speaking French with a very American accent. Mid-west ‘standard’ American, as I recall, no special attempt to make fun of Texas or New York. Otherwise no big deal, because making fun of people is what comedians are supposed to do. Whatever it was he said. ---
**Author:** ![aesop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f8ce5/32.png) [@aesop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aesop)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/34 "2011-11-03T05:15:11Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > State ay you. Sakes man! Guy’s a muppet. Numpty. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/35 "2011-11-03T05:18:54Z")
> [@aesop](#): > > Numpty. 😛 Rocket 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/36 "2011-11-03T07:07:43Z")
> [@aesop](#): > > Even non-British native English speakers would struggle with those I think. And you can safely add [Glaswegian](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWRIHS8xag) to that list. I lived in Glasgow for a while. It was three weeks before I understood a word anyone was saying. Well, to be fair, they are tricky even for people from other parts of Britain, which is the point I’m driving at about the diversity of accents that comprise ‘British English’ (granted, some of it is dialect not accent), and the difficulty of saying very much in a general sense about the collection. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/37 "2011-11-03T07:13:37Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > I’m open to being corrected, of course, but I don’t believe that the OP intended the question to be interpreted this way. Nor did I, but on re-reading, I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/38 "2011-11-03T08:36:10Z")
In Spanish, I’d say there’s differences but frankly most of the traits are common whether the person speaking is from Auckland, Glasgow or Philadelphia. Often, any regional differences they bring over from English are overlaid by those of their own Spanish - same as we are taught and try to speak either “American Newscaster” or “Received Pronunciation” (and often end up with “Spanish dishwasher in Dublin”), Anglos speaking Spanish will usually have been taught Mexican, Argentinian or Castillian. Any specific things a person does which are not part of the general “anglo speaking Spanish” accent nor of their Spanish dialect, we attribute to the person specifically. Take into account that your average SFL-with-ESL also doesn’t know enough about English dialects to be able to tell whether someone is from Brooklyn, from Manchester or from Florida based on how they talk - we’re much more knowledgeable about the two spelling varieties (which impinge directly on our ESL grades) than about which accents exist in English outside of language tapes. There’s a few notable exceptions to the “I can tell whether someone’s first language is English, French, Italian… but not from where”: the kind of people who speak English like they have a burning potato in their mouth don’t drop it when switching to Spanish, and we know that one happens to be an American accent. ETA: most Americans appear to recognize my own aksent not as “Spanish accent” but as “where the heck is she from accent”, because it’s not given by the varieties of Spanish they’re used to encountering (which will vary by US location), but by one that’s very close to Castillian. In the rudest cases, I’ve had to show my passport because the person in question refused to believe my accent could be “from Spain”. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/39 "2011-11-03T15:40:48Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Nor did I, but on re-reading, I’m not sure. Hmm, yes, I see what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611/40 "2011-11-03T15:49:21Z")
I’ll just throw in a question here because it doesn’t seem worth its own thread. Cinemax just produced a series called _Strike Back_, in which they cast an Australian actor as an American soldier, and an American actor as an English soldier. I would have expected the opposite, everything else being equal (which it probably wasn’t). But to my ear, an Australian accent is a lot closer to an English accent than an American one. Am I imagining this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-an-american-accent-and-a-british-accent-noticeably-different-to-non-english-speakers/601611.md?page=3)