Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
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James
Quork
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Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
...is this dialect very hard to comprehend? I'm having great trouble understanding what they say, especially the (nice) lady at the beginning.
Quork- Posts : 1437
Join date : 2012-05-05
Age : 32
Location : Hofheim a.T., Hessen (Hesse), European Union
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
For someone who has English as their first language, the accents on the clip are fine.
I can imagine, though, the difficulties created for someone for whom English is not their first language by the numerous accents and dialects within the English language.
I can imagine, though, the difficulties created for someone for whom English is not their first language by the numerous accents and dialects within the English language.
James- Posts : 62
Join date : 2011-08-22
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
Hmm, I'm Dutch and it's somehow easy to understand. Could also be that I consider British English best English
Drag0nflamez- Posts : 210
Join date : 2012-05-11
Location : The Netherlands
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
Well, of course, you are absolutely right there
Even within British English, though, there are countless different accents and dialects. Certain experts on the subject can tell the exact town someone comes from just by listening to them speak.
Most of the accents are easily understandable, but some very strong accents can be very difficult to understand, even to a native English speaker. For example, personally I have always found a strong Geordie (Newcastle) accent (which has strong Nordic influence) can be very tricky.
Even within British English, though, there are countless different accents and dialects. Certain experts on the subject can tell the exact town someone comes from just by listening to them speak.
Most of the accents are easily understandable, but some very strong accents can be very difficult to understand, even to a native English speaker. For example, personally I have always found a strong Geordie (Newcastle) accent (which has strong Nordic influence) can be very tricky.
James- Posts : 62
Join date : 2011-08-22
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
Of course the English(es) spoken on both british isles are the only true English However, just like James points out, there are many dialects. I'm, e.g., not having any trouble at all understanding what Adele says, although she's using (especially in older interviews) a dialect vastly different from what I had learned as British English at school once. The same goes for Jools Holland and, mostly, for the makers of TopGear. But NYMR TV is regularily making me rewind every single line five times... *g*
Quork- Posts : 1437
Join date : 2012-05-05
Age : 32
Location : Hofheim a.T., Hessen (Hesse), European Union
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
As someone who has impaired hearing I agree it is difficult to catch the speech. It isn't up to the standard of pro TV announcers plus the recording quality may be less than it should be. The regional accents aren't very strong, but might be enough to throw non-native speakers off balance.
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
I feel already clever enough to distinguish American accents...James wrote:Certain experts on the subject can tell the exact town someone comes from just by listening to them speak.
Drag0nflamez- Posts : 210
Join date : 2012-05-11
Location : The Netherlands
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
I was born in London, but now live in the Colonies and I had to listen very carefullyto understand the lady. I am guessing that is a Yorkshire accents. As several have mentioned, there are many different dialects in the British Isle. Heck, London has several distinct dialects! Speaking of English (as the verse from My Fair Lady goes) in America, they haven't used it for years!
nigelb- Posts : 9
Join date : 2011-07-30
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
*g* Well the problem of dialects isn't unknown to me; while Poland is virtually dialect-free, German is an artificial language created by Martin Luther as an auxilliary construct which can be somehow understood by speakers of all the german languages... In the meantime it is the primary language, but still, dialects are of great importance. I rememer driving last year, together with a second driver apprentice, with a collegue from Cochem/Mosel who had lived all life in the Mosel valley. Neither the other student (who worked as a linguist before coming to the railway) nor me (who I am quite adept with languages as well) could understand a word of what he said. We just nodded and repeated "yeah, it's just like that in our post as well" every now and then while shrugging our shoulders
Quork- Posts : 1437
Join date : 2012-05-05
Age : 32
Location : Hofheim a.T., Hessen (Hesse), European Union
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
nigelb wrote:I was born in London, but now live in the Colonies and I had to listen very carefullyto understand the lady. I am guessing that is a Yorkshire accents. As several have mentioned, there are many different dialects in the British Isle. Heck, London has several distinct dialects! Speaking of English (as the verse from My Fair Lady goes) in America, they haven't used it for years!
It is a Yorkshire accent (quite a mild one, with no local dialect), but the phrase is deceptive. There are many, many different accents in Yorkshire (and a lot of variation in dialect as well). For example, listen to a person from Sheffield, and the accent (and some dialect) is completely different to that of a person from Barnsley, 15 miles away. People from elsewhere in Yorkshire often call a person from Sheffield a "Dee Daa" because of their use of the words "thee" and "thou" (which they pronounce as "dee" and "da") - both of which are ancient words which have been replaced by the word "you" in mainstream English.
Bringing this back to railways, I have heard some remarkable voice tapes of railway communication where the two people speaking were quite unable to make out what one another were saying, due to strong regional accents. Of course, that is where a thorough knowledge of the phonetic alphabet becomes essential!
James- Posts : 62
Join date : 2011-08-22
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
Oh I know that problem well... Usually a "say again please" results in getting the same sentence but in a more or less mainstream German, but sometimes you need to answer in a dialect as diametrically different as possible to receive a sensible answer.
Quork- Posts : 1437
Join date : 2012-05-05
Age : 32
Location : Hofheim a.T., Hessen (Hesse), European Union
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
Some very interesting comments about regional accents,which, I'm pleased to say, are still in existence. My Grandparents used to live at Danby, which is about 10 miles (15km) from Whitby, where the NYMR is. I would put a lot of money on saying that the girl at the beginning of the clip probably comes from near Middlesbrough. The clue is the way she pronounces the word "show" It's a real give-away and is a mix between North Yorkshire and South Durham. Nice Video, nice People and a great Heritage Line. Thanks for announcing it.
Cheers,
John
Cheers,
John
johnsinden- Posts : 210
Join date : 2011-09-19
Age : 71
Location : Southampton, UK
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
@Quork - your comments remind me very much of my situation back in the early 70s when I was stationed in Germany with BAOR (British Army of the Rhine - Britische Rheinarmee). I was trained as a linguist/interpreter. We were taught Hochdeutsch. My first posting was to Duesseldorf. Could I understand the Rheinlanders???? Not a hope.....................!
johnsinden- Posts : 210
Join date : 2011-09-19
Age : 71
Location : Southampton, UK
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
Ha, et haett no emmer jot jejange... Well, learning Hochdeutsch and then landing in Duesseldorf (or anywhere else along the Rhine between Mainz and Duesseldorf), it could hardly go worse... How fast did you get used to it?
About the video - yes, it's great, I enjoy every one of those (though there are only few... I know only of two, I don't know where they uploaded the other 32 episodes, not to their YouTube channel for sure^^ And even if I sometimes don't understand a word, it's still great to hear English can have much more character than we usually hear in Hollywood movies. Thank god at least Cpt Jean-Luc Piccard of the USS Enterprise is played by a british actor from the Royal Shakespeare Company
About the video - yes, it's great, I enjoy every one of those (though there are only few... I know only of two, I don't know where they uploaded the other 32 episodes, not to their YouTube channel for sure^^ And even if I sometimes don't understand a word, it's still great to hear English can have much more character than we usually hear in Hollywood movies. Thank god at least Cpt Jean-Luc Piccard of the USS Enterprise is played by a british actor from the Royal Shakespeare Company
Quork- Posts : 1437
Join date : 2012-05-05
Age : 32
Location : Hofheim a.T., Hessen (Hesse), European Union
Re: Is it just me, or... - NYMR TV
Slightly off-topic, but related to the dialects discussion here:
That's a nice one
That's a nice one
Quork- Posts : 1437
Join date : 2012-05-05
Age : 32
Location : Hofheim a.T., Hessen (Hesse), European Union
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