Re: Hollywood versus the English speaking world

"rhino" <No.offline.contact.please@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"curmudgeon" <briticanlankey@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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An accent tells you what country some one is from.
A dialect tells you what part of that country they come from.

I don't know why but I assure you that some Americans have serious
difficulties understanding people who speak English with foreign accents.
Believe me, I KNOW this from considerable personal experience.


True enough, millions of Americans cannot tell the difference between a
Scottish dialect or an Irish dialect, they both sound English to them.
I have even met Americans who have told me that the Australian actor Paul
Hogan sounds just like the Scottish actor Sean Connery.
I have even met Americans who tell me there is no difference in speaking
voice between the Irish actor Peter O'toole and the Welsh actor Anthony
Hopkins.
I could go on with more examples, but the point is this, for millions of
Americans it is impossible for them to tell if someone speaking English is
in fact English.
Or to put it another way if they do not sound American then they must be a
foreigner, but they have no idea as to where in the world they call home.


.

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