Difficulty with Irish accents abroad!

grenache

Judging from my own personal experience and the many posts on here, the problem is not with us Irish and how we speak, rather it's with those Americans, Antipodeans, British, South Africans, etc who we meet on our travels. These are the particular folk who never venture outside their own town, nevermind the country. I've had the odd language comprehension problem in England. It's funny how an English person cannot seem to understand me yet all my French and Italian friends can catch every word i say.

In the Anglophone world, the Irish have key advantage over many other fellow English speaking country - we're in tune with their media, but they don't receive ours. Like for example we all watch British tv, we can listen to British radio and follow British football. Most of us could distinguish between a Geordie accent from a Manc one. But very few British could likewise for different Irish accents. The same applies to the US, and to a lesser extent Australia, New Zealand, SA and the Carribean. So on a whole, we know much about particular countries, yet they know little about us. Thus often cannot get their heads around how we pronunce words. It's all to do with familiarity. Simples.

Frisbee

Living in Oz I've only had two issues.

No-one can pronounce my name. Which is fair enough as it's an Irish name they'd never have heard of.

When I'm in work and I'm asking someone for their computer number or I'm calling a machine number up to someone else. The letter 'R' is a killer.

Way I'd say it: Or
Way Aussies say it: Ar

For some reason I still have a complete mental block about saying it their way. I am getting better though as I'll say it my way and then correct myself and say it their way before they have to ask what the hell I just said.

donegal_man

Frisbee wrote: »

Living in Oz........ The letter 'R' is a killer.
Way I'd say it: Or
Way Aussies say it: Ar
For some reason I still have a complete mental block about saying it their way. I am getting better though as I'll say it my way and then correct myself and say it their way before they have to ask what the hell I just said.

Living in Victoria my way of pronouncing letters seemed to just cause nothing but confusion so eventually I just stuck to using the phonetic alphabet.
Although it ass worse for my mate who has a really strong Geordie accent and persists in using local words and phrases, he might as well been from the moon. I was once asked why he had called a child 'a ride bony barn' (right bonny bairn) I think the parents were afraid it was some sort of weird pagan Tyneside chant.

endabob1

Frisbee wrote: »

Living in Oz I've only had two issues.

No-one can pronounce my name. Which is fair enough as it's an Irish name they'd never have heard of.

When I'm in work and I'm asking someone for their computer number or I'm calling a machine number up to someone else. The letter 'R' is a killer.

Way I'd say it: Or
Way Aussies say it: Ar

For some reason I still have a complete mental block about saying it their way. I am getting better though as I'll say it my way and then correct myself and say it their way before they have to ask what the hell I just said.

Had/have the same issue, "R for Robert" has become a stock part of my vocabulary in the last 10 years, I do it without thinking a lot of the time.

travelledpengy

I remember my 1st week in Chicago asked a bartender for a vodka and mi-wadi haha I got some look!

I have to talk very slowly here

Offside

I'm living in the southern US. Ok for the most part but had an interesting encounter in a Hardee's fast food restaurant. Asked For a Buffalo chicken snack wrap and the worker just stared at me in a very confused manner. Now the options I had were Buffalo, Ranch or Honey Mustard, so they're all very different sounding words. I said to her "Oh, do you not understand my accent?" Reply was, in a very thick southern accent "I was born here, I was raised here, I go to school here, and I don't need to be understandin anyone elses accent"... In my shock I just paid her got my wrap and got the hell out of there!
Another weird one is literally nobody understands me when I say the word onion - I just don't understand it, Subway is always a hard experience!

cournioni

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Without turning this into a city v country thread - some rural accents can be hard to understand even within Ireland...especially in a crowded chipper at lunchtime. That said, "salt" is pretty universal. Unlike the "taytos" thing which is a trap anyone could fall into.

Some City accents can be equally hard to understand. A guy that I work with from Dublin was once asked "how long he has been living in Ireland for" by another Irish person. :pac:

Balmed Out

I worked in Mickey D's in the US and kept having people approaching me on the street asking what does gluck mean. Eventually realised that its good luck which i said instead of have a nice day.

Loomis

Waiter: And what salad would you like?
Dad: What do you have?
Waiter: *lists at least a dozen at warp speed*
Dad: It's ok. I'll have it without...
Waiter: *Blank look* *looks down at his menu* *looks back at my dad* I'm sorry sir, we don't have that one today...

Ride attendant: How many in your party?
Dad: Five.
Ride attendant: Four?
Mam: Five!
Ride attendant: Four?
Mam & Dad: *hold up five fingers each*

Both in Orlando...

Crooked Jack

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Compare North and South Armagh accents!
Armagh City:

Culaville:

Slightly exaggerated...

Hi boy, that feen is clayn rulya, I wouldnt say not to his beure though, she's pure munya. I'm off punchin'. Are ye comin'....or is it just the way you're standing.

Gotta love Cross

RGM

grenache wrote: »

Judging from my own personal experience and the many posts on here, the problem is not with us Irish and how we speak, rather it's with those Americans, Antipodeans, British, South Africans, etc who we meet on our travels. These are the particular folk who never venture outside their own town, nevermind the country. I've had the odd language comprehension problem in England. It's funny how an English person cannot seem to understand me yet all my French and Italian friends can catch every word i say.

In the Anglophone world, the Irish have key advantage over many other fellow English speaking country - we're in tune with their media, but they don't receive ours. Like for example we all watch British tv, we can listen to British radio and follow British football. Most of us could distinguish between a Geordie accent from a Manc one. But very few British could likewise for different Irish accents. The same applies to the US, and to a lesser extent Australia, New Zealand, SA and the Carribean. So on a whole, we know much about particular countries, yet they know little about us. Thus often cannot get their heads around how we pronunce words. It's all to do with familiarity. Simples.

True, that's why I'm trying to scout out the place before I head over. Don't want to make an ass out of myself by not understanding the family. I've never met some of them before, don't want to come off as an idiot with a hearing problem.

Testament1

Over in Aus at the moment and hate having to tell Aussies my address is on Earl Street because it usually takes a couple of goes before they can understand when I say "Earl". Also gotten a few strange looks from people working tills who ask me how I am today and I reply "Grand thanks"

LordSutch

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

Waiter: And what salad would you like?
Dad: What do you have?
Waiter: *lists at least a dozen at warp speed*
Dad: It's ok. I'll have it without...
Waiter: *Blank look* *looks down at his menu* *looks back at my dad* I'm sorry sir, we don't have that one today...

Ride attendant: How many in your party?
Dad: Five.
Ride attendant: Four?
Mam: Five!
Ride attendant: Four?
Mam & Dad: *hold up five fingers each*

Both in Orlando...

I'll have it without... without what? and the four-five thing? does four sound like five?
I'm Sorry Mr. Anderson, you will have to explain both of them to me.

Not in Orlando.

citytillidie

Try living in Montreal with a Derry accent my god was that hard but fun

CardBordWindow

I was in Washington DC. Me and my friend were looking for somewhere to leave our bags. Finally found a place with lockers. The girl behind the counter told us to go downstairs and ask the security man.

So I find the man and ask him in my bogger-esque accent 'What's the story with the lockers, or do we just work away ourselves?' Cue blank face, and then confusion when I repeat it.

awec

citytillidie wrote: »

Try living in Montreal with a Derry accent my god was that hard but fun

To be honest even us fellow nordys don't understand a word you derry waaans say.

Cyyyaaarr. Gyyyeeeeeeerrlll.

left_behind

When I lived in Boston i shared an apartment with 3 other irish guys all from galway. The apartment above us had 4 female college students. The 1st night we met them they came down for a few drinks. When the irish started talking to each other i heard 1 girl go to the other
"wow its just like watching Trainspotting"

confusticated

Agricola wrote: »

What about Irish accents when speaking a foreign language. Last time I was in Paris, thought I'd be a bit swish and order "deux bieres".
After a blank look from the barmaid I put up two fingers.....
"Bieres, sil vous plait, Jaysus, Bee.....Airs????" Nothing.

I pointed at the stella Artois.

"Ohhhhh, BIERE monsieur! Je suis desole!"

Fúckin French.

It's the Rs, every time. Unless you sound like you're choking, they won't get it.

I get caught with the letter t as well, friends from France, America and even Antrim all think I'm saying sh instead - "sorry I'm late" - "You're laysh? What?"

Realtine

Americans or maybe just New Yorkers don't get the name Ann.
It became Nnnnn?
Most asked me to spell it and even still just couldn't understand it - eventually It became Annie for a bit.

Also English people didn't get the name Ger!

If they were Irish names I could get it, but Ann and Ger?

fasttalkerchat

Frisbee wrote: »

Living in Oz I've only had two issues.

No-one can pronounce my name. Which is fair enough as it's an Irish name they'd never have heard of.

When I'm in work and I'm asking someone for their computer number or I'm calling a machine number up to someone else. The letter 'R' is a killer.

Way I'd say it: Or
Way Aussies say it: Ar

I hate when you're on the phone to an english call centre.
Me: IAR
Agent: ARR?

tony_soprano

the one quintesentially irish saying that foreigners do not get is " shur "

shur i cant be expected to do that !

philstar

the famous irish jockey sketch:pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR5yDZO4nZE

elefant

I've lived in the Netherlands for a bit I and teach a bit over here- in general don't have many problems at all with my accent (although I reckon I speak noticeably quicker and with less time in between words when I'm speaking with Irish/UK people).

The one thing that people find funny about my Galway accent is my pronunciation of words involving 'ar' sounds- 'card', 'bar' etc.
They all say it like 'bor' and 'cord'. Too much American telly I suppose.

peckerhead

Spare a thought for the Nordies.

fasttalkerchat

peckerhead wrote: »

Spare a thought for the Nordies.

Don't you mean spare a taut?:D:p

Siuin

Had an incident like this myself- I asked for 'water' abroad and the waitress didn't have a clue what I was saying. I never really considered myself as having any kind of strong accent, but apparently I'm pronouncing it "woh-sher"

g5fd6ow0hseima

confusticated wrote: »

I get caught with the letter t as well, friends from France, America and even Antrim all think I'm saying sh instead - "sorry I'm late" - "You're laysh? What?"

oh roish yeah?

Gyalist

travelledpengy wrote: »

I remember my 1st week in Chicago asked a bartender for a vodka and mi-wadi haha I got some look!

I have to talk very slowly here

Did you ask for a 'hang sangwidge' as well? MiWadi is a domestic Irish brand so the barman could hardly be expected to know what you were asking for.

HavingCrack

Funnyonion79 wrote: »

where do accents come from and why so varied in our part of the world??

Huge amount of information on this but no one seems to be exactly sure why accents occur. Anyway we have some many accents in Ireland and the UK due to the length of time people have lived here. The United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia all have much shorter histories than we do and hence far less time for the same variety of accents to develop.

However even in the US there are accents, eg New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, Great Lakes, 'Southern' accent, Texas, California etc. The more 'modern' parts of the US-Colorado, Arizona, etc. have just adopted mid-west pronunciation.

Apparently linguistics researchers in the US have noticed that as the American population has become more 'settled' in the last 20 years or
so that tiny divergences in accent have begun to form (wouldn't be noticeable to anyone yet though). In the next 50-100 years they predict there will be far more regional US accents than there are now.

However this is offset by the advent of television and internet which has the opposite effect of destroying accents by promoting 'standard English'-basically BBC English in the UK and standard-American in the US (Ohio accent is what your 'typical' American tv presenter aspires to). Hence, unless you actually visit the US you'll only hear tv and films with that 'standard' US accent.

Morpork wrote: »

I had similar issues with those 'u' sounds in Japan. I actually had a running gag going with some of my students about it. The fact that they are taught American English in school just made my life more difficult and I tried my best to convert them lol.

I used to work with a lot of Russians who insisted that I spoke English incorrectly because I said "funn-y' instead of "faann-y" (or something) and even got a dicitonary to prove it to me .

left_behind wrote: »

When the irish started talking to each other i heard 1 girl go to the other
"wow its just like watching Trainspotting"

To be fair, Irish/English/Scottish accents would all sound quite similar to Americans and Canadians. People always could tell I was from this part of the world but used to regularly ask was I English/Irish/Scottish an equal amount of times.

Nothingbetter2d

Kev_2012 wrote: »

Just wanted to see what other peoples experiences are as regards people from other countries having difficulty with your Irish accents/slang (assuming you have one!)

I'll go first, in Liverpool, we went to McDonalds for some grub the second we got to the city. We paid for our food (albeit after the staff nearly had a heart attack when we handed £50 notes to pay!), and a friend of mine asked for salt.

The girl behind the counter literally hadn't a clue what he was saying! And others working there couldn't understand either, so myself and another lad tried to explain but they still didn't understand us. It was hilarious! But then we just said "what do you generally put on chips with vinegar" and they copped it. Think it was because of how much emphasis we put on the 'lt' at the end whereas they pronounce it like "sauw" or something.

Anyone else have problems with this?

all the time... foreigners inc alot of brits think we talk too fast.

tbh we only understand them better because we all watch british and american tv shows all the time. if RTE / TV3 was available on freeview in the uk they soon start to understand us easier.

Ouchette

I was queuing for a train ticket a couple of weeks ago and the guy in front of me had a Northern Irish accent (not an especially strong one) and the ticket seller had a Jamaican accent. They had so much trouble understanding each other that they had to resort to writing everything out on a notepad.

And on the rubber vs eraser topic, I grew up in South East England and we all said rubber, not eraser.

Badly Drunk Boy

Wompa1 wrote: »

Just moved to Arizona, am catching lots of crap for my accent and I don't have a strong accent. I've been avoiding the most obvious ones but still got caught out. The big ones I've been called out on are: Garage, vitamins, addidas, bar, carribean

I hope you corrected them!

maximoose

I'm from Antrim and have a fairly soft Northern Irish accent, not very strong at all (in fact a lot of people here have thought I'm a dub)

Anyway I was in Gatwick airport last month and my GF got a massive nose bleed, wasn't showing any sign of stopping so I ran over to one of the information desks and asked "Is there a first aid station nearby?", the silly English bint behind the desk looked at me as if I was speaking chinese. Tried again twice with her looking puzzled before getting annoyed and saying it very slowly and sarcastically.

I probably came across like a massive tit but flipping hell she was thick.

oden

Yeah i asked for a pint of bulmers in leeds,after about 10 times repeating myself, i remembered that they call it magners or somthing,she still didn't understand me

bullpost

When in Rome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgHg7SFeDF4

Kev_2012 wrote: »

Just wanted to see what other peoples experiences are as regards people from other countries having difficulty with your Irish accents/slang (assuming you have one!)

I'll go first, in Liverpool, we went to McDonalds for some grub the second we got to the city. We paid for our food (albeit after the staff nearly had a heart attack when we handed £50 notes to pay!), and a friend of mine asked for salt.

The girl behind the counter literally hadn't a clue what he was saying! And others working there couldn't understand either, so myself and another lad tried to explain but they still didn't understand us. It was hilarious! But then we just said "what do you generally put on chips with vinegar" and they copped it. Think it was because of how much emphasis we put on the 'lt' at the end whereas they pronounce it like "sauw" or something.

Anyone else have problems with this?

fasttalkerchat

I remember playing football with group of French exchange students. They all spoke good English but in a game of football we didn't have time to slow down and annunciate.

Yes, giz it, haul 'er, up a top.
Ended up having to play France vs. Ireland.

awec

bullpost wrote: »

When in Rome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgHg7SFeDF4

The bar woman there is faking that accent. She's a culchie trying to sound like she's not a culchie and failing spectacularly. Belfast people don't talk like that.

Fizzlesque

mikemac1 wrote: »

Fair play to the Scots and their Irn Bru, love that drink but hard to find here

Superquinn sell Irn Bru.

c_man

I got caught last week talking to a yank. Was telling a story and it involved someone "giving out". They were utterly confused. Then I tried to think of another way of saying it and got lost myself... "Scolded?"

Fratton Fred

oden wrote: »

Yeah i asked for a pint of bulmers in leeds,after about 10 times repeating myself, i remembered that they call it magners or somthing,she still didn't understand me

if you ask for a pint of Bulmers in England, you'll get a pint of Bulmers, just not the Bulmers you were expecting.

HavingCrack

c_man wrote: »

I got caught last week talking to a yank. Was telling a story and it involved someone "giving out". They were utterly confused. Then I tried to think of another way of saying it and got lost myself... "Scolded?"

Yeah it's a strange one. I used to live in New York and New Jersey (shudder) never really found equivalent slang to 'giving out to'.

Where To

An elderly relative in a fancy(ish) restaurant in San Diego recently, in as thick an Inishowen accent as you can imagine;

'Hoiy, wee cuttie, throw us out a locka them purdies and kale lake thon bucko oer thonder's ating'. (man at next table had a side of champ)

She didn't understand him at all

xflyer

SteoL wrote: »

Side dish?

Yes it's commonly used here now this was some years ago before it became common here in Ireland. So we were clueless at the time.

Another funny one was in a Subway Style sandwich shop which a huge variety of subs available. My friend, a true blue Dub just wanted a cheese roll. 'What would you like with it?' was the question. No just a cheese roll. In the end the puzzled assistant handed him a cheese roll. A cheese flavoured roll.

Hazys

I try talking to Siri on my iPhone every so often to remind me to get stuff. This was the conversation yesterday:

Me: "Remind me to buy contact lense solution at 7:30"
Siri: "Here is your reminder to buy contact lense solution and 7 turkeys...When would you like me to set this reminder?" :mad:

RGM

Hazys wrote: »

I try talking to Siri on my iPhone every so often to remind me to get stuff. This was the conversation yesterday:

Me: "Remind me to buy contact lense solution at 7:30"
Siri: "Here is your reminder to buy contact lense solution and 7 turkeys...When would you like me to set this reminder?" :mad:

pragmatic1

I have a thick Donegal accent. I have bother in most places in Ireland never mind in foreign countries.

confusticated

Jazlyn Delicious Infantry wrote: »

oh roish yeah?

Nah, I'm from the country, I've the least d4 accent possible! It's just because I don't enunciate t's well, like a BBC accent, in my accent t's are soft.

fryup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaadphJyy50

onlyrocknroll

HavingCrack wrote: »

Yeah it's a strange one. I used to live in New York and New Jersey (shudder) never really found equivalent slang to 'giving out to'.

Yelling?

To me it seems that Americans use it as we would say "giving out to" rather than shouting.

Spread

Conbhar wrote: »

I remember when i was younger my relations came over from America and they hadnt got a clue what i was saying but it was more to do with me speaking so fast or so they told me. Rite enough when i slowed my speech down they they had no problem understanding me at all

Could you not have told them slowly "to listen quicker"?