2

I'm not a native English speaker and the American accent is the most familiar to me.

I plan to visit NZ for a Working holiday program, but I'm concerned that I won't understand what they say. I can fully understand the North American speakers, but when I heard New Zealanders speak on TV, I couldn't understand half of it.

How to make sure that I will understand this accent and will it make my English worse for other places if I stay there long term?

Thanks

artde
  • 49
  • 2
  • 4
    It depends to some extent how fluent you are in English. I am a native English speaker (US) and I could not understand a word of the first 5 or 10 minutes of Mr. Turner and then something went "click!" in my brain and I had no trouble understanding the 19th century working class English accent. Find a few movies made in New Zealand and listen to them. If you pick up the accent, so what? Everyone likes Kiwis! You probably will pick up the accent, and lose most of it if you move back to the US. Homo is a natural mimic of speech. – ab2 Jul 24 '17 at 19:23
  • 2
    Watching TV is different from facing someone you know in an interactive conversation. Context will carry the day. – Yosef Baskin Jul 24 '17 at 20:17
  • 1
    @YosefBaskin agreed, but you might be able to pick up some nuances that will make it more understandable in real life. – marcellothearcane Jul 24 '17 at 20:39
  • 1
    Any suggestions for NZ TV series or movies? better be about science or history. Thanks – artde Jul 24 '17 at 21:48
  • 1
    See New Zealand Top 8 Films of All Time. – ab2 Jul 24 '17 at 22:14
  • 1
    As a Belgian with a Kiwi girlfriend, I feel your pain. Although her accent is not outspoken usually, I had trouble following conversations between her and her brothers. That being said, all of them spoke more clearly to me than they did to eachother, and I had no issue in understanding them in a direct conversation with me, except a few Kiwi-specific idioms and dialectic sayings (but that's cultural dissonance more than pronunciation). – Flater Jul 25 '17 at 09:23
  • @Flater do you live in New Zealand? – artde Jul 25 '17 at 22:47
  • You should be ok if you fully understand Americans (which is more than I do, lol). The main difference is in the vowels and the brain tends to auto compensate with a bit of practice. Might take a day or two but you'll soon get the hang of it. Don't try visiting Glasgow btw, even we struggle. – Vishnu Jul 25 '17 at 06:06
  • @artde: Nope, Belgium currently (my home country). – Flater Jul 26 '17 at 07:39

0 Answers0