The worst accent!

[OneVurfedGwrx]

Considering all the job postings looking for North American accents (and a lack of ones looking for British, South African and Australian accents), I'd have to say American is the best  Give the people what they want. 

This was my point. I'm not being sensitive. I'm not even from USA. I'm just saying the people picking USA are either bitter or clueless. American English is the standard de jour...sorry Brits.

It may be the popular choice here, but that doesn't necessarily make it the best choice.  Some arguments against having a US native speaker (ignoring the huge range of accents this covers, just like most other countries) could be a) Koreans already have plenty of TV/movie exposure to American English so being taught by a native speaker from elsewhere will only broaden their spectrum of English dialects and understanding (also refers back to the people posting about some Americans who have difficulty understanding other English speakers) and the also still have American English to listen to. b) Korea is a country that relies on other cheap countries for factories and manufacturing goods, China is the current number one (I think they tend to still have a preference for British English there) and after China, comes India where British English (and an ability to understand different dialects) is a must.  Also, as a minor point most native speakers from countries outside of the USA have no problems switching to US usage, spellings etc, where the reverse appears to be less common.

Popular doesn't always equal the best choice, just look at various media for that 

b.) Korea's main trade partners (both imports and exports) are China, Japan and the US.  Both China and Japan prefer American English.  India doesn't figure high up on that list.

China is a pretty big mix of both and still has some preference towards British English as far as I know, and as a manufacturing second option India is becoming the next "cheap" location.  Japan does use American English as a rule, but I don't think Japan is the biggest export market for Korea.  Also, for export you have the whole of Europe, who again don't use American English.  The USA is a less profitable market than Europe, due to the prices over there.  (I'm not sure which market is the biggest in volume now though).

[Cereal]

I find Kiwi's hardest to understand. I, at times, feel quite foolish constantly asking them to repeat themselves because I just don't get it.

My encultured bias says Canadians are the easiest to understand - our fellow Newfoundlanders notwithstanding    - followed equally by Mid-West Americans.

[JABU NXAU]

A lady at orientation for gepik plus talked about world englishes and her asian accent was so strong I doubt anyone fully understood her talk.

[hilarity ensues]

I'm pretty puzzled as to why the US is being voted as the worst… especially when Canadian is apparently the least worst and a lot of Americans and Canadians share the same accent.

I don't think there is a worst accent… but the ones I find hardest to understand are probably some of the coarser Northern England ones. But some British accents are also my favorites out of all English-speaking people.

[DejaVu]

Um... the 17 votes for the USA is clearly a joke.

The vast majority of books in the ESL world, and 100% in the Korean public school systems is American English.  There must be a reason for that.

Sure, you could argue against it but this many votes against the USA is a giant troll. 

It's like all the kids on YouTube who bash America came on waygook.org.  I was bashing my awful country long before you kids.  But, I do it through logic and taste- not just to look cool.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to ask a Scot to repeat themselves.  It's probably my favorite accent but the last one that I would want to learn as my second language.

[Vinnie]

If someone has problems with understanding your country's accent, so what?

Your question has already been answered in this thread. Some of it is due to laziness and ignorance and one speaker whose mother tongue is English claiming a total inability to comprehend another speaker whose mother tongue is also English is a little bit ridiculous. The irony that these guys also purport to be English teachers is quite clearly lost on them. What would these folk do if they leave Korea and go to another country say like the Philippines where English is not the mother tongue but is widely spoken?! Are they also going to claim that they can't understand filipinos when they use English? If they are teaching a student who uses UK English, are they also going to claim an inability to understand said same student?! Because, that's where their argument is leading to. If they can't understand other native English speakers, surely they must have grave difficulty understanding other people whose mother tongue is not English.

Frozencat's post on the first page of this thread summed the issue up very well with his experience and his use of the example of 'Mutton' and the different ways of pronouncing it amongst native speakers, none of which are unintelligible to the ear though. We are after all all still speaking in English. Ditto!

[JABU NXAU]

CHOOSE ONE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k

[Vinnie]

Yeah this is all a bit off.

Mainly because of the different degrees in accents. To simplify a vote down to a whole country is too basic.

Australian can be really really strong with a nasal accent, or you can have a much more rounded and English-influenced accent. Accents are very regional.

Yep, and pretty much what I alluded to early on in this thread.

My own personal take on this would be and if I was learning English from somebody from one of the seven English speaking countries, I wouldn't mind which one of these countries the speaker came from as long as that person's dialect was not overly strong to their particular region. Every country has regions where the accent is much stronger than in other areas. In other words, a much more important factor would be whether the person in question has a neutral accent or not.

[DejaVu]

In other words, a much more important factor would be whether the person in question has a neutral accent or not.

I can better understand a Korean or Japanese person speaking English as a second language than I can understand a Scottish person speaking English as their native language.

The Scottish person will speak at a much faster rate and their accent will muddle their words for my ears.  I have NO idea why you are so upset because some people claim to have a difficult time understanding other native-English speakers.  Of course it has to do with ignorance... I've not had a chance to live in Scotland.  That doesn't make me a worthless English teacher.

[Vinnie]

In other words, a much more important factor would be whether the person in question has a neutral accent or not.

I can better understand a Korean or Japanese person speaking English as a second language than I can understand a Scottish person speaking English as their native language.

The Scottish person will speak at a much faster rate and their accent will muddle their words for my ears.  I have NO idea why you are so upset because some people claim to have a difficult time understanding other native-English speakers.  Of course it has to do with ignorance... I've not had a chance to live in Scotland.  That doesn't make me a worthless English teacher.

Dear God! Can one not have a simple debate on here without somebody invariably coming on and accusing them of being 'upset' because they're offering a different viewpoint. In terms of me personally, I have a very neutral accent and never had any issues about my accent in any country that I've ever lived or visited.

Anyways, back to the issue at hand and your example of the Scots. Again that often depends on the individual themselves and the region of Scotland they hail from. (You also have to factor in who the actual listener is and what part of the world they hail from). I know people from Scotland who speak quite clearly and are very easy to understand. Not all Scots are as you describe and again there's always variations within countries. Listen to the tennis player Andy Murray in the video below. Would you also claim not to be able to understand him?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiHokF5dqGs

Finally, I never once disputed the fact that some dialects are more easy to understand than others (dependent again on the who the actual listener is) and the only thing I was pointing out was the ridiculousness of some native speakers claiming a 'total inability to comprehend the accent of a particular country based on their experience of talking to a few native speakers from said same country'. Nothing more, nothing less!   

[unclefrank]

I'm from the American South and my accent is by far the worst thing I have ever heard. You lose.

[Keuka]

The one you can't understand.

[Frozencat99]

Seriously, though, are the American votes (and the new Canadian ones) overlooking the context of "within ESL teaching"? This isn't "what country do you have a grudge against" and it's hilarious to think that people are having trouble understanding the generic mid-Western American accent.

[JahRhythm]

America on top as usual!
USA...USA...USA...!

[justanotherwaygook]

Popcorn.gif

I agree! 

[oskinny1]

I work for a very multicultural company. English is the company language but you can hear Hindi, Arabic, Tagalog, Urdu, and Afrikaans as well as every Native English accent possible at any given moment. By far the hardest one for non-native speakers to understand is Afrikaans, then Scottish. The easiest for them to understand are North American speakers and the Southern English.