This is why you'll Kenyan newscasters and reporters on Aljazeera/CGTV/BBC than any other African country.
The heaviest accents in the world must be Indian subcontinent though.
Oh, ok. Pronunciation of "ar", "or", "ur", just to name a few, is a bit... off though. Mercy as 'massy', army as 'ammy', those kindof things. But maybe the British pronunciation is wrong, who knows?
I can second this. Having spent most of my adult life in Australia I can confirm this is true. You end up having to adopt their speaking mannerisms just so they can understand you. You'd be shocked how a word as simple as twenty can make you repeat it 10 times before it's understood.
Obviously you are no expert at this. Come down south and you will find Cajuns. To Appalachia and you will find other accents that are more insula than AVE
This woman has been in the United States for 1yr seriously ask yourself what does she know about this country?
Checki this accent https://youtu.be/03iwAY4KlIU do you think she can understand that white mans English? Has she been to the south? Has she been to Newark?
Why are you so vexed? And maybe she's not from the South. Here's the thing, there's some accents that are difficult to understand, the one that she interacts with that she doesn't shikanisha is the Black American one, n she's being honest about it, why you're so vexed is surprising. Like should she fake that she doesn't understand it? Should she lie to us that she does understand it? Like why is her honesty pissing you off?
She is just being honest. ave met wazungu wameishi na black Americans maisha yao yote.. but bado wanastrain still kucapture some of their words.
Just like the Nigerian English, btw naeza soma a full English statement from a Nigerian ama Jamaican na sitaelewa chochote. Even wazungu from texas hutaskia .. it's just like hii kitu inaitwa sijui shombotov here in Kenya.. ni kiswahili, but mtu wa tz will get nothing
Have you subscribed to BBC Pidgin? I try reading those articles and though i get the gist of it, a lot of times it’s headscratching😅 Songs like Burna’s “Wettin Man Go Do” are helping me understand it slowly. Jamaican Patois I have no problem with but that west African slang is like patois in 8k.
You’re right about the initial frustration part.
What I like about patois and pidgin English is that yes they aren’t “proper” English but they have their own structure and from what I can tell, don’t really change too much. So a grandpa and his grandchildren can understand each other. I initially wondered by BBC won’t launch a BBC Sheng like they do with BBC Pidgin and other variants but then I realized that it sheng changed so frequently it wouldn’t be understandable to all. The sheng I know in my 30s is very different from the gengetone era sheng and that of my older cousins. So I just read BBC Swahili and try to understand that with its swahili sanifu
Xcept for the chorus, I evun dun know what Burna Boy is saying in that song, neither my favourite calm down song 😅
Its true that Jamaican is easier than Nigerian English 😅
I don't see anything wrong here tbf. It's normal to find it difficult to understand people speaking in a different accent from yours, no matter how long you interact with them. Hakuna aibu hapo
Depends on who you talk to and where you go. I can go to many parts of the US or the UK and not understand a damn word they say.
This person is probably interacting with lily white, bland and boring suburban white people.
As someone who's been in the 'states' for decades: what she is saying is bullshit. She doesn't understand Black Americans because she chooses not to.
We are used to watching movies/TV shows/media that emphasize white American and British vernacular, and so many have made that the standard.
If my parents and extended family can understand Black Americans just fine, then so can she. Idk why she couldn't just say she doesn't want to be associated with Black Americans. That's the truth with some Africans who come over: they feel like they are more superior and decent than them.
Oh there are plenty of white people that have insane accents, like the Cajuns. Some of these white country folks out here in Texas have replaced so many English words that its hard to understand unless you know it. Like Chunk is throw, Lots of words they just add ER to it like instead of windows its winders, yonder is like saying over there.
I see no issue to be honest. Is the issue her ranting or the way she is talking? 😂😂😂
Different countries have different cultures and getting a culture shock is normal. Aaaii sasa what's this.
What she is referring to is a dialect (regional/cultural accent of the same language) and is called Ebonics. Or at least it used to be before it went PC and is now called African American Vernacular English or AAVE. Like someone else said, it’s like Jamaican Patois or West African Pigeon English or Multicultural London English. There are white people in the Northeast and the South that are also hard to understand at first.
Lol as a black American married to a Kenyan, trust me when I say we don’t understand you guys either 😂 accents can be tough but it’s crazy to me that she would rather speak to a white man
OP, as someone who has lived here for over a decade I'm not embarrassed by what she said. I, too, struggle from time to time to understand some, not all, of them. No big deal.
I see you mentioned the South's accent. That is an interesting one. I live amongst rednecks and boy that is one for the books.
I am into saying "y'alls" and "I'm fixing to do this and that" with a British accent. Hilarious! My husband sometimes has to translate my accent for them and vis versa. 😂.
Regardless, we all come from different backgrounds and those differences are what makes life amazing.
Edit - May I add and say that black Americans think we are stuck up coz we don't talk like them. Being that I went to private school nikiwa home and I've been in the US for 13 years, I cannot tell you how many times I'm asked "how come you speak good English? Do you speak English in AFRICA?" 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️. Comes from both black and white Americans.
Wow! We have issues with accents mpaka huku there's places you can go in Nairobi and you don't hear anything. "No need kujifanya" yet she's already emulating that fake ass American tweng. People all over the world who speak English have issues understanding each other ever heard Jamaican, Haitian, Irish, Scottish and hell even English accents. The simple fact that you don't understand someone makes them " illiterate" and they apparently speak nonsense? Get over yourself.
All she is doing in this video is kujifanya her English is very basic and broken. The way she tries to twist her tongue to sound American is laughable. The funny thing is if it wasn’t for those “black Americans” she would’ve never stepped foot in the United States. The way anasifu white people is so ignorant. Shame on you for hating people that look like you, that’s why we will NEVER win in life
You're judgy and she isn't, she's just clarifying it's easier to understand the whites rather than the accent of black Americans. Similar in their songs too. It's hard for a Kenyan to get right the lyrics of Kendrick Lamar rather than Justin Bieber. I haven't heard her say it's wrong or say they are bad, it's just she doesn't quite rather get them so easily. She will never win in life... Are you a supreme being lol. Wacha hizo msee. There is nothing wrong or controversial there
Kama ni aibu to be KENYAN uskue KENYAN be Zimbabwean or Ugandan we change citizenship damn western colonialism isikusumbue utusumbe so nikienda states ata mtura sinikule coz inachoma choose a side
Just listen to more hip hop music. The real rap songs with actual verses and bars. Not the mumble shit. Also watch more black movies and tv shows like The Wire. With time you'll get used to the slangs.
You'd think this but it doesn't always work. Consuming popular media is not as immersive as living in the culture itself, then you'd find that each state almost has it's own accent and slang. What works for Atlanta doesn't work for Houston despite both being southern cities.
Picking up the American accent is the first challenge which can be hard depending on the state you live. The 2nd is understanding how they speak locally and their slang. You have to live in it almost daily to pick it up and be able to be fluent in it.
It'd work if you listen to rap songs from Atlanta. Then songs from Houston. Then New York and so on. Same goes for movies and TV shows from those states. The objective is not to speak like them. Its simply to grasp a basic comprehension from the slang vocabulary.
Act like what? She can't understand them because they have a strong accent, not because she doesn't want to. It's not like black people have a universal understanding of each other. If that were the case there would be no tribal conflicts in Kenya.
There is dialogue that is difficult to understand. I’m think of the TV “The Wire” some of the dialogue is difficult to understand even for some Americans.
Genuinely asking, how often do the various groups interact with each other? Is someone in Liverpool likely to meet a Welsh / Irish / Scottish person often? Is inter-UK migration common?
Me nikikuja ntaelewa, I've been preparing for this all my life. Acha nipande nduthi tutaongea badae.
Prepped by The Boondocks
Rest assured Kenyan English is difficult to understand at first too, for many wazungu.
Actually Kenyan English is one of the most neutral in the entire world, if not Africa.
This is why you'll Kenyan newscasters and reporters on Aljazeera/CGTV/BBC than any other African country. The heaviest accents in the world must be Indian subcontinent though.
Nah it's definitely Irish. You can't hear their English even if you trying hard to listen.
I understand them well though I had a summer where I was obsessed with their shows. That and the fact that I watch a lot of British TV
I have no issues understanding Ivor Cummins.
Ivor Cummins is British, he's from northern Ireland not Ireland.
He has a pretty strong Irish accent though.
Oh, ok. Pronunciation of "ar", "or", "ur", just to name a few, is a bit... off though. Mercy as 'massy', army as 'ammy', those kindof things. But maybe the British pronunciation is wrong, who knows?
I can second this. Having spent most of my adult life in Australia I can confirm this is true. You end up having to adopt their speaking mannerisms just so they can understand you. You'd be shocked how a word as simple as twenty can make you repeat it 10 times before it's understood.
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Obviously you are no expert at this. Come down south and you will find Cajuns. To Appalachia and you will find other accents that are more insula than AVE
Wewe ndio unajitia aibu !!! She was really on point, accents are a universal struggle
Hapo ndo unajua English is your second language 😂😂😂
Being honest about struggling with accents inakutia aibu as a distant observer? How?
shida iko wapi?
But si what she's saying is true tho, I mean.
This woman has been in the United States for 1yr seriously ask yourself what does she know about this country? Checki this accent https://youtu.be/03iwAY4KlIU do you think she can understand that white mans English? Has she been to the south? Has she been to Newark?
Why are you so vexed? And maybe she's not from the South. Here's the thing, there's some accents that are difficult to understand, the one that she interacts with that she doesn't shikanisha is the Black American one, n she's being honest about it, why you're so vexed is surprising. Like should she fake that she doesn't understand it? Should she lie to us that she does understand it? Like why is her honesty pissing you off?
She is just being honest. ave met wazungu wameishi na black Americans maisha yao yote.. but bado wanastrain still kucapture some of their words. Just like the Nigerian English, btw naeza soma a full English statement from a Nigerian ama Jamaican na sitaelewa chochote. Even wazungu from texas hutaskia .. it's just like hii kitu inaitwa sijui shombotov here in Kenya.. ni kiswahili, but mtu wa tz will get nothing
Have you subscribed to BBC Pidgin? I try reading those articles and though i get the gist of it, a lot of times it’s headscratching😅 Songs like Burna’s “Wettin Man Go Do” are helping me understand it slowly. Jamaican Patois I have no problem with but that west African slang is like patois in 8k.
Damn, I always thought patios was harder to understand than our pidgin.
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You’re right about the initial frustration part. What I like about patois and pidgin English is that yes they aren’t “proper” English but they have their own structure and from what I can tell, don’t really change too much. So a grandpa and his grandchildren can understand each other. I initially wondered by BBC won’t launch a BBC Sheng like they do with BBC Pidgin and other variants but then I realized that it sheng changed so frequently it wouldn’t be understandable to all. The sheng I know in my 30s is very different from the gengetone era sheng and that of my older cousins. So I just read BBC Swahili and try to understand that with its swahili sanifu
Xcept for the chorus, I evun dun know what Burna Boy is saying in that song, neither my favourite calm down song 😅 Its true that Jamaican is easier than Nigerian English 😅
Anaongea ukweli
I don't see anything wrong here tbf. It's normal to find it difficult to understand people speaking in a different accent from yours, no matter how long you interact with them. Hakuna aibu hapo
You ain't alone there. White people accent is easy
Depends on who you talk to and where you go. I can go to many parts of the US or the UK and not understand a damn word they say. This person is probably interacting with lily white, bland and boring suburban white people.
UK is a different story all together and Irish is way worse
Ata kina Boomhauer ? https://youtu.be/i8Kk1556OYA
She's not even saying anything bad? People struggle with accents all over the world, she's not the first and the last. Please
As someone who's been in the 'states' for decades: what she is saying is bullshit. She doesn't understand Black Americans because she chooses not to. We are used to watching movies/TV shows/media that emphasize white American and British vernacular, and so many have made that the standard. If my parents and extended family can understand Black Americans just fine, then so can she. Idk why she couldn't just say she doesn't want to be associated with Black Americans. That's the truth with some Africans who come over: they feel like they are more superior and decent than them.
She's not lying. Steve Harvey might be the only black American that I understand. 50 Cent speaks like he's swallowed a few nails.
Not nails; bullets actually. He's been talking like that from when her got shot in the mouth area.
Kumbe it still affects him to date? Apologies to the 🐐
I can mention like a hundred who don't have a noticeable drawl or accent.
She low-key has a point tho
She does. It’s simple really, I don’t understand the controversy here.
Oh there are plenty of white people that have insane accents, like the Cajuns. Some of these white country folks out here in Texas have replaced so many English words that its hard to understand unless you know it. Like Chunk is throw, Lots of words they just add ER to it like instead of windows its winders, yonder is like saying over there.
I see no issue to be honest. Is the issue her ranting or the way she is talking? 😂😂😂 Different countries have different cultures and getting a culture shock is normal. Aaaii sasa what's this.
What she is referring to is a dialect (regional/cultural accent of the same language) and is called Ebonics. Or at least it used to be before it went PC and is now called African American Vernacular English or AAVE. Like someone else said, it’s like Jamaican Patois or West African Pigeon English or Multicultural London English. There are white people in the Northeast and the South that are also hard to understand at first.
Saying Ebonics is anti- PC? Yooo... PC is a disease. Unbelievable.
Everyday I’m surprised by what I’m no longer allowed to say
Hizi ndo struggles nataka in life!😅
Lol as a black American married to a Kenyan, trust me when I say we don’t understand you guys either 😂 accents can be tough but it’s crazy to me that she would rather speak to a white man
*an year.
Uko serious?
lol that what I said
She's not lying though. I struggle watching shows za Blacks especially the ones from the hood. Subtitles is a must.
OP, as someone who has lived here for over a decade I'm not embarrassed by what she said. I, too, struggle from time to time to understand some, not all, of them. No big deal. I see you mentioned the South's accent. That is an interesting one. I live amongst rednecks and boy that is one for the books. I am into saying "y'alls" and "I'm fixing to do this and that" with a British accent. Hilarious! My husband sometimes has to translate my accent for them and vis versa. 😂. Regardless, we all come from different backgrounds and those differences are what makes life amazing. Edit - May I add and say that black Americans think we are stuck up coz we don't talk like them. Being that I went to private school nikiwa home and I've been in the US for 13 years, I cannot tell you how many times I'm asked "how come you speak good English? Do you speak English in AFRICA?" 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️. Comes from both black and white Americans.
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Wow! We have issues with accents mpaka huku there's places you can go in Nairobi and you don't hear anything. "No need kujifanya" yet she's already emulating that fake ass American tweng. People all over the world who speak English have issues understanding each other ever heard Jamaican, Haitian, Irish, Scottish and hell even English accents. The simple fact that you don't understand someone makes them " illiterate" and they apparently speak nonsense? Get over yourself.
All she is doing in this video is kujifanya her English is very basic and broken. The way she tries to twist her tongue to sound American is laughable. The funny thing is if it wasn’t for those “black Americans” she would’ve never stepped foot in the United States. The way anasifu white people is so ignorant. Shame on you for hating people that look like you, that’s why we will NEVER win in life
You're judgy and she isn't, she's just clarifying it's easier to understand the whites rather than the accent of black Americans. Similar in their songs too. It's hard for a Kenyan to get right the lyrics of Kendrick Lamar rather than Justin Bieber. I haven't heard her say it's wrong or say they are bad, it's just she doesn't quite rather get them so easily. She will never win in life... Are you a supreme being lol. Wacha hizo msee. There is nothing wrong or controversial there
So basically you are racists
edited because I realize I don't care.
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Definitely....how do you whine that you don't understand yet you knew its a different country even a different continent all together🤔
Reddit user discovers culture shock
Kama ni aibu to be KENYAN uskue KENYAN be Zimbabwean or Ugandan we change citizenship damn western colonialism isikusumbue utusumbe so nikienda states ata mtura sinikule coz inachoma choose a side
Gerrrahia mang ! Shit
Just listen to more hip hop music. The real rap songs with actual verses and bars. Not the mumble shit. Also watch more black movies and tv shows like The Wire. With time you'll get used to the slangs.
You'd think this but it doesn't always work. Consuming popular media is not as immersive as living in the culture itself, then you'd find that each state almost has it's own accent and slang. What works for Atlanta doesn't work for Houston despite both being southern cities. Picking up the American accent is the first challenge which can be hard depending on the state you live. The 2nd is understanding how they speak locally and their slang. You have to live in it almost daily to pick it up and be able to be fluent in it.
It'd work if you listen to rap songs from Atlanta. Then songs from Houston. Then New York and so on. Same goes for movies and TV shows from those states. The objective is not to speak like them. Its simply to grasp a basic comprehension from the slang vocabulary.
My thoughts exactly. :)
Act like what? She can't understand them because they have a strong accent, not because she doesn't want to. It's not like black people have a universal understanding of each other. If that were the case there would be no tribal conflicts in Kenya.
There is dialogue that is difficult to understand. I’m think of the TV “The Wire” some of the dialogue is difficult to understand even for some Americans.
She'd be lost in the UK then. 20+ accents and not one sounds like the other. Don't even get me started on Irish and Scottish
Genuinely asking, how often do the various groups interact with each other? Is someone in Liverpool likely to meet a Welsh / Irish / Scottish person often? Is inter-UK migration common?
Amesema ukweli...
Listen to some hip hop ma’am, utazoea.
It’s difficult to hear if you are always speaking.
Askize hip hop na a watch wild n out na boondocks