Why is that many Americans cant understand the accents and dialects of other cultures but almost everyone can understand us?
by 
Chosun One
ANSWERS: 6
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Did you know that in Europe 80% of the cultures speak English? But it is the British "proper English" that they are taught and not the American slang that we are used to...I know there are some Kentucky accents I will never understand...dont even think some of it is english...;)
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My accent and dialect is pretty hard to understand for most people; and I have a pretty easy time of understanding most accents and dialects of other people.
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Sorry.....I have to disagree. I am from Europe and travelling through the U.S. I found myself in many situations where I could not understand what was being said. Not just in the deep south....but in N.Y.,N.Y. and in Minnesota too. Language us fascinating - Every country I have visited has a base language...and some, or many, dialects. If you have ever been to Lancashire in England..in a rural area..where there still are elderly people who have lived a fairly insular life...anyone would be hardpressed to understand the colloquialisms, and the dialect....it truly seems like a foreign language, even to other Brits. It is a mix of new and old English...some medieval terms thrown in. The European dialects are harder, I guess, because all the languages are hybrids of Greek and/or Latin, plus influences of all the country's conquorers throught the millenia! Anglo/Saxon/Jute/Roman/Celt/Flemish/Viking/French/gaelic/ and on and on....the language of England...... Though provoking question, oh Chosun One!
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I think it has to do with exposure to the accents. Most of the world gets to hear American accent through movies and TV programmes (right there, my forefox tells this spelling is wrong, one more example). Reverse is not true.
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I don't think that is true. My mom who came to the US in the 50s from Europe, still can't here the difference in the 'th' sound and the 't' sound, neither can she say it. When I say 'teeth' she hears teets. And I've many visiting relatives who supposedly learned English there who can't understand English spoken by an Ameerican as easily as they can understand it spoken by the British.
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Of all the people in the world, only Americans and Russians are almost universally monolingual. Everyone else is probably conversant with at least one other language besides their own. This has given them more practice in understanding other dialects and accents. And even though Europeans and Africans are taught British English, they are often told about American variants during their studies.
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