Alphax (alphasigmax(a)gmail.com) [050505 20:16]:
David Gerard wrote:
My guess is that people from countries in the first
paragraph (EN-N)
could understand each other (EN-N) and English speakers from the other
countries (EN-3); people from the countries in the second paragraph
(EN-3) could understand the "native" speakers (EN-N), and EN-3 speakers.
> (Mind you, just trying to buy lunch required my
American friend to interpret
> the waitress's Glaswegian to English for me.
Well, no, that's an example where this native speaker couldn't understand
that native speaker ;-) More recently, a friend from Dublin, Ireland
visited. The Dublin accent isn't outrageous, but we had a lot of trouble
understanding each other and both had to consciously speak very clearly.
> Of course, they all understood
> Australian, because every single person in Britain is required by law to
> watch 'Neighbours'.)
I feel sorry for them :p
There's an election today, perhaps the winning party will declare it cruel
and unusual culture.
- d.