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Do I have a thick or difficult to understand accent or speech?

Do I have a thick or difficult to understand accent or speech?

Feeling_Remove7758
I recently had a slightly amusing and confusing experience on Discord during a voice chat session in which all of the other people in it were struggling to understand what I was saying. Most of them were non-natives, which is fair enough if they don't get everything I say; but one of them was a native speaker from the States, and they too were struggling. I questioned them on whether it was the accent or my own individual way of expression, but they didn't seem too sure on what. It's worth mentioning that I am a former stutterer, and still an occasional one, which I suppose has made me difficult to understand even to people from my area. (On that note, could you also guess where I'm from?)

31 comments

Goodbyecaution
I love your mix of Lancashire, Bob Mortimer, and posh southern lol. It seems to vary wildly across your words and makes for interesting listening. You sound clear to me as a fellow Brit, but I confess I was distracted trying to pin you geographically. If it makes you feel any better my French husband loves a Scouse accent but struggles with Londoners (much to my amusement), so I don’t think these things are really about clarity, more just what you’re attuned to.
varnie29a
Non-native here. I understood every single word. I like your manner of speech.
Flashy-Country9777
It's probably the weird notices you make between words English is not my native language but I understand it just fine. And you kind of talk as if your nose is blocked and you have too much saliva in your mouth.
Ok_Ordinary_7397
Accent isn’t thick at all. Quite clear.
Gib_eaux
I did have to focus to understand you but I understood 99% of what you said. I missed only one or two words. I’m from the US and I’m bilingual English and Spanish.
Pure_Manner_6333
I understand you perfectly man, but in all honesty you sound like a non-native speaker who picked up a Northern accent at a young age. I guess it's also your choice of words while you speak that makes me think that. Are you ethnically British? Or maybe it's just a dialect I'm unfamiliar with. 😂
DarrensDodgyDenim
As a Scandinavian, I had no problems understanding you.
CallTraditional5736
in a way it sounds like youre clenching your teeth when talking but thats just pretty cool. sound a bit northern if you asked me
Automatic-Repeat-3
I can understand it
WashBeautiful2920
well it's somewhat clear but needs more practicing dw u ll get it , well I am guessing, are you Ukrainian?
kylekoi55
Mildly somewhat...it's not flowing into my ears like General American or RP or most any other "broadcast" accent. Still pretty far from "hard to understand" though. No idea where you're from other than somewhere in the Isles based on your soft r sounds and how you pronounced "America". I'm from Texas fwiw.
sshivaji
Your accent is trivial to understand! It also feels "perfectly" native as your inflections are well done, at least to my ears. What exactly is your accent classified as? It's not RP, is it NewCastle or Yorkshire? I am practicing the RP accent now, and Americans do sometimes struggle with certain words in the British English accents.
Eispalast
German here. I was able to understand everything easily. Did you maybe speak much faster when you were on that call? The accent itself doesn't seem to be hard to understand.
Thin_Sky2313
I was confused because I just saw the title of your post and assumed it was posted by a non-native speaker. But when I listened to the audio, you sounded British to me. You sound perfectly clear to me, btw. I’m from the US and don’t understand why the American didn’t understand you.
TypeHonk
Nope, it's crystal clear. (coming from a non-native speaker)
fennforrestssearch
I understand you perfectly and my english listening skills are far from perfect. I guess they we're just bantering around or genuinly a bit thick.
jardinero_de_tendies
Maybe your mic sucked, you’re easy to understand
Then_Increase7445
I'm American and teach English in Germany. You sound exactly like the audio files from my British-produced text book. Very easy to understand, though I have a lot of experience listening to British speakers.
Star-Mist_86
Not at all. 
No_Elk6131
I’m from Chile, I speak Spanish “the hardest Spanish accent to understand” and i understand perfectly 90%, 10% I couldn’t bc I’m not in that level.
esteffffi
It sounds Northern, although the extent of it seems to vary from word to the next, and a bit off in a way that's hard to pinpoint, and unusually halting somehow. But still perfectly easy to understand.
chickadeedadee2185
I am American and understand you perfectly fine. Of course, I hail from NEW England.
Jmayhew1
It is quite easy to understand, though your voice sounds a a bit tense and your rate of speech can be quick.
pesem
English is my second language, so I have a hard time understanding some English accents, but your speech is clear and completely understandable.
Complete_Aerie_6908
You could read the dictionary to people and make money with that accent, sir.
Glittersparkles7
I’m American. My particular flavor of ADHD comes with auditory processing issues. My daughter has friends from wales and I can’t understand what they are saying about 60% of the time 😅 VERY thick accents. I could understand you clear as a bell.
madamcurryous
for me its the feedback from the mic, try to get a little distance from the mic
Swedish-Potato-93
I was going to say something offensive, but... I'll just say they must have wax in their ears. I hadn't the slightest issue understanding you. Though I can usually understand even the thickest accent but yours is far from it. And I'm not a native speaker.
EulerIdentity
You sound perfectly clear to me (an American). Perhaps there were a bunch other people talking at the same time on Discord or you weren't articulating as carefully as you are in that clip, or you had a bad audio connection, or some of the listeners are not familiar with your accent.
Beginning_General_83
No i understand you perfectly. I'm from Australia if it matters.
footles12
Not thick. TBH, you sound like a soccer commentator. Though commentators might not say 'free' when meaning 'three'.