Is the standard midwestern American accent hard to understand for people in other English speaking countries?

[Jackisnotaname]

Americans will struggle with Scottish and English and Australian accents but do they struggle the other way around?

 

[Bongocat]

>Americans will struggle with Scottish and English and Australian accents

Do they? I've never noticed anybody having issues unless they were talking like a posh hoodrat

 

[Un Platano]

>Americans will struggle with Scottish and English and Australian accents

Do they? I've never noticed anybody having issues unless they were talking like a posh hoodrat

Americans can't understand the thicker Scottish accents. That's not unique to America though because nobody else understands them either.

 

[Bongocat]

Americans can't understand the thicker Scottish accents. That's not unique to America though because nobody else understands them either.

Yeah see when it gets to the point that they're talking Caucasian Ebonics I tend to shift the problem from "cultural barrier" to "fucking speak like a human" barrier

 

[SNU]

When I went to the USA people struggled with my accent but I could understand theirs. It's probably because most of the TV shows and movies that played here were from the US.

 

[Klaptrap]

Irish + Ebonics = Ironics

I'd assume it's a thickness of accent thing.

 

[80's Dad]

Not exactly what was asked, but when I was looking to teach English in Korea, the midwestern accent was the most preferred. It's pretty plain and easier to understand.

I usually understand other accents unless they are super thick, the person speaks too fast or too quiet, or if they use too many local slang words.

 

[Officer Jenny's Feet]

Who the fuck thinks midwest accent is standard? It's basically Canadian

 

[R00T]

Who the fuck thinks midwest accent is standard? It's basically Canadian

Midwest accent is the neutral accent and is typically denoted as Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and parts of Iowa and some others. The one your thinking of is the Minnesota/Wisconsin accent which is local and completely unique to those spots. Much like the Chicago. Tons of people looking to get in media like news or weather reporting do their schooling in the Michigan Ohio areas because it is the most bland accent in the US you could almost consider it a non accent. It helps them be understood regardless of where they end up working.

Nothing is more frustrating than traveling out of state and hearing some southern tell me “Y’all’s accent’s so thick.” No you’re just broken.

 

[Jackisnotaname]

Who the fuck thinks midwest accent is standard? It's basically Canadian

Nobody in Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio or Nebraska sounds Canadian.

 

[Dyn]

People outside America watch movies, you know.

 

[Tackleberry]

Midwest accent is the neutral accent and is typically denoted as Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and parts of Iowa and some others. The one your thinking of is the Minnesota/Wisconsin accent which is local and completely unique to those spots.

And even that is more to the north of both states, largely

 

[Officer Jenny's Feet]

There's no such thing as a "neutral" accent, because for an accent to exist it has to sound different than another regions accent.

So, sure. If you live in Alabama then the Alabama accent is "neutral" to you.

If you live in Ohio, the heroin accent is "neutral"

And if you live in Minnesota you pretend to know French

 

[Yaniv’s Hairy Balls]

It’s not accent for me, it’s dialect. I can understand the majority of thickly accented English but throw in regional dialect and I’m lost. I’m from Appalachia tho so it’s the same for other people with us. It’s a weird mixture of Dutch Irish, southern, and northern dialect.

“Aye you’re a gormy lass, aintcha? Now get up and hand me that poke and get gone!” In thick Appalachian accent sounds very foreign to most.

(Translation: yes you’re a messy/clumsy girl aren’t you? Now hand me that (brown paper bag/bag) and go on your way.)

 

[Snuckening]

There isn't a person under 80 in the English-speaking world, who didn't grow up watching mostly American tv and movies. I'm not good at picking different American regional accents, though; I can recognise super-obvious ones like Deep South, or Boston or Maine. But I'm pretty sure that "Midwest" just sounds like "generic Seppo" to me.