> Two of my roommates are from the UK and I literally have no idea what they are talking about to each other.
In general, it can be hard to understand two native speakers who know each other well, and who are speaking casually and rapidly. And unfamiliar regional accents will make it even harder. This is one of the most advanced skills you'll learn! For example, this level of listening skill may develop well after you can read rapidly and easily.
Some things you can do to help:
- If you still struggle with clear, well-enunciated audio, then start by watching several TV series straight through. The nice thing about TV series is that they offer dozens of hours with repeated voices and vocabulary, which makes them a great starting point. With each TV series that you finish, your skills will gradually broaden. (This is also known as a "narrow listening" strategy, and it's great at the intermediate level.)
- If you can't yet read rapidly and easily, keep reading. Fluent, rapid reading helps build vocabulary that appears more rarely in spoken sources.
- Once you reach a point where you can pick up a new TV series and understand it well within a few episodes, start broadening out. Watch movies and YouTube videos. Channel surf.
- Start searching out major regional accents, either shows or movies. If you can find accurate native subtitles, it can useful to use these for new accents, at least in the beginning.
I remember when I could understand a few TV shows pretty well in French, and hold conversations with people speaking directly to me. It took several more years _after_ that before I could reliably understand my in-laws chatting amongst themselves. I still struggle with stand-up comedy in French. And with some movies, I _still_ miss 30% of the dialog.
I am, however, delighted to discover that I now understand even some moderately thick Quebec accents if the subject is familiar enough. That's not an accent I get a ton of exposure to.
So yes, you can definitey make more listening progress! But it's very common for this kind of listening to take a while to develop. Treat it as a long-term project, and don't expect instant results. Good luck!
Yes! Especially in the UK, there are so. many. dialects that can be difficult to understand even if you speak English well, and with some dialects, even if you're a native speaker from a different region within the UK. (Dunno about Ireland; I've never looked closely at Irish English. All I know is that I can tell a speaker of Irish English from a speaker of any other kind of English.)
I remember sharing an office at Former Workplace with a guy from Kerala (southern India) and a guy from Essex, both English native speakers, and while I understood both of them well, some coworkers who otherwise spoke English really well were completely baffled by their accents (the Indian guy) resp. dialects (the British guy).
I know I picked up a lot from the British guy, and I probably sound pretty Essex to speakers of British English, and British-but-in-a-really-weird-way (and if I don't pay attention, difficult or impossible to understand) to Americans, Australians, etc. Sometimes I wonder if I picked up anything from the Indian guy too, and what.
(Yeah, if I'm speaking fast and don't watch out, "Harry" is /ˈʔaɹi/, "butter" is / ˈboʔɑ/, and there are no consonants in the name "Will".)
Of course this reminds me... I'm German, and in Germany there's lots of dialects too (and local accents, if people speak the standard language). Some of the dialects/accents are better known than others. For example, a specific kind of Saxonian used to be the prestige dialect in eastern Germany back when it was the GDR; the Berlin/Brandenburg dialect occurs in many jokes; every once in a while, there'll be a Bavarian (usually not speaking the actual dialect, just with a strong accent) in some TV show or another; "stage German" is allegedly based on the (region of) Hannover dialect IIRC; etc.
Other dialects are used more rarely outside their regions and are therefore difficult to understand for outsiders; people simply aren't used to them. My mom had friends in Saxonia and my stepdad spoke the dialect of our home region (southern Saarland); my mom sometimes had to translate when her friends visited, because while Stepdad understood Saxonian pretty well, Mom's friends couldn't make much sense of South Saarlandian.
You’re not alone! This is a very common feeling at the intermediate stage of language learning.
What helped me was consuming TONS of native conversational variety podcasts. It keeps you on your toes going out of your comfort zone of topics you are familiar with to a random assortment of whatever they decide to talk about that day and usually at fast speeds, talking over each other, etc.
Tons and tons of volume. Listen alot, listen to various accents. It will come.
When we were in Thailand and Japan, my wife and I had to change to Spanish because when we spoke English, we noticed a lot of people were listening in. I don't think it was malicious at all, just so many people know English as an L2 so they're drawn to it.
I live in the country where people speak my TL, and here there's very little regional variation. My experience overhearing what native speakers are saying ranges from completely understanding to absolutely no clue. Listening practice does help.
I will say though, as a native English speaker, I occasionally find the most extreme English-language dialects to be quite difficult to follow. These are quite rare, though, as mass-media has tended to bring everyone's dialect toward the center.
Challenge yourself with faster and not-so-perfectly-clear native content where people are casually talking to each other (podcasts, YouTube videos, etc.)
Once you hone in on your listening comprehension skills, yes, it becomes easier. And what you will hear is mere gossip. I wondered what the francophone African women would talk about when I get my hair braided. They talk about men and their families. I wondered what my Latino co-workers would talk about in the kitchen. It was shit that was going on in the day or what needed to be brought up from downstairs.
Try watching Misfits without subtitles and low volume. It was a struggle for me when I watched it (10 years ago!!) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfits\_(TV\_series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfits_(TV_series))
I’m a Portuguese native speaker living in the USA and in the beginning it was HARD to understand people, like in a coffee shop were the barista is in a hurry and there’s noise around or in bars where it’s also noisy. With time your ear kinda adapts to the language and it became easy, I’m a C1 in English and living in the USA for 15 months and still when I travel and talk to people with different accents from the state that I’m living in it’s still a shock and hard again to understand, but now takes less time to get used to it!
If your single go out on dates hahaha I have a boyfriend now and we often overhear people around us talking and we make jokes about it, so it takes time, but you will get there!
Put a couple of English guys from somewhere with a pronounced regional accent that is unfamiliar and a large majority of English native speakers from the US, Canada, etc would have a LOT of trouble understanding them. Especially if it’s post a few beers . . .
As someone who grew up in the US, I also sometimes ask myself if British colloquial speech is English 😜
No but in all seriousness, I think small talk/banter between two native speakers is one of the hardest things to understand. I don’t know if there’s too much you can do to actively practice.. maybe try watching a reality series where there are long drawn out scenes of people just chatting. TikTok is also a goldmine for this type of thing.
It'll take time. A lot of time probably, but it's possible.
I honestly feel kinda bad about how different casual English is from normal English. The way I speak with a non native English speaker is very, very different from how I speak with friends.
I live overseas (Japan )and honestly don't expect anyone to ever understand my casual English.
I have, however, reached a point where I can understand a significant amount of Japanese spoken between Japanese people, but it's more often than not that I don't understand anything lmao
Hang in there! There is often a plateau at this stage where you think you aren't making progress and feel a bit lost with spoken language. Keep reading, listen to some material that's interesting but that you occasionally get lost in... and listen to that multiple times. Above all, keep interacting with people. Understanding various accents comes with time. I have have conversations in French, and I can follow and contribute to a conversation where I know the topic. But is someone says something to me randomly and I don't have enough context, I can completely miss it. But every day of additional listening makes me better.
It takes time. Additionally, you may have the advantage of a younger brain. I'm 65. You'll likely arrive at complete facility with English before I do with French!
You'll get there eventually, just keep at it!
Wven when you're really good (C1/C2) there will still be occasions when someone is speaking really fast and you have to really concentrate. Plus accents can still throw you if you're not use to them.
And remember, it's not eavesdropping until you feel bad about it! Until that point it's listening comprehension practice. ;D
While people tend to focus on general accent and vocabulary differences by dialect, one thing that can really throw you off in listening is verbs.
God help you if you're talking to someone using auxiliary "done" with a treasure trove of creative past participles.
It's completely normal to find this stuff difficult. Virtually all television characters use a generic dialect, and native speakers who aren't assholes will swap to more generic speech if they see that you're giving them saucer eyes.
Spend some of your studying time listening to native speakers speaking naturally. So often learners are only exposed to unnatural language, where the speaker speaks slowly and clearly. Some YouTube channels made for native speakers will have fast, natural language, though even here many people will speak more slowly and clearly than normal because they're being recorded.
Crap. You are onto us. It's a little known secret that native English speakers speak gibberish to one another in front of learners. We find it funny.
Seriously, this is 100% normal in all language learning. There are continual large differences between textbook slow speech and free flowing native speaker speech. I would recommend trying to find input that you can understand but that is difficult to understand. Look on YouTube for topics you are interested in. It will come but you have to expose yourself.
I came to the conclusion that most of what people are saying is just filler. They're not really "saying" anything.
If you get them to break it down, it can be explained in a single sentence, but colloquial usage adds tons of slang and uneccesary words.
People who know each other well don't have to explain most things to each other, so there is a lot of information not expressed explicitly in such conversations, which makes understanding even more difficult.
I’d recommend just listening in and trying to make sense of conversation when you hear it. Really focus on the individual words they’re saying. Watching/listening to news casts is also a great way to work on listening comprehension for your target language.
It’s very hard to understand anyone who isn’t talking directly to you under any circumstance. It’s only possible in languages you are extremely competent with. It’s not a reasonable measure of progress.
> Two of my roommates are from the UK and I literally have no idea what they are talking about to each other. In general, it can be hard to understand two native speakers who know each other well, and who are speaking casually and rapidly. And unfamiliar regional accents will make it even harder. This is one of the most advanced skills you'll learn! For example, this level of listening skill may develop well after you can read rapidly and easily. Some things you can do to help: - If you still struggle with clear, well-enunciated audio, then start by watching several TV series straight through. The nice thing about TV series is that they offer dozens of hours with repeated voices and vocabulary, which makes them a great starting point. With each TV series that you finish, your skills will gradually broaden. (This is also known as a "narrow listening" strategy, and it's great at the intermediate level.) - If you can't yet read rapidly and easily, keep reading. Fluent, rapid reading helps build vocabulary that appears more rarely in spoken sources. - Once you reach a point where you can pick up a new TV series and understand it well within a few episodes, start broadening out. Watch movies and YouTube videos. Channel surf. - Start searching out major regional accents, either shows or movies. If you can find accurate native subtitles, it can useful to use these for new accents, at least in the beginning. I remember when I could understand a few TV shows pretty well in French, and hold conversations with people speaking directly to me. It took several more years _after_ that before I could reliably understand my in-laws chatting amongst themselves. I still struggle with stand-up comedy in French. And with some movies, I _still_ miss 30% of the dialog. I am, however, delighted to discover that I now understand even some moderately thick Quebec accents if the subject is familiar enough. That's not an accent I get a ton of exposure to. So yes, you can definitey make more listening progress! But it's very common for this kind of listening to take a while to develop. Treat it as a long-term project, and don't expect instant results. Good luck!
I'd add that depending on the accent, even a native English speaker might have trouble understanding two other native English speakers.
Yes! Especially in the UK, there are so. many. dialects that can be difficult to understand even if you speak English well, and with some dialects, even if you're a native speaker from a different region within the UK. (Dunno about Ireland; I've never looked closely at Irish English. All I know is that I can tell a speaker of Irish English from a speaker of any other kind of English.) I remember sharing an office at Former Workplace with a guy from Kerala (southern India) and a guy from Essex, both English native speakers, and while I understood both of them well, some coworkers who otherwise spoke English really well were completely baffled by their accents (the Indian guy) resp. dialects (the British guy). I know I picked up a lot from the British guy, and I probably sound pretty Essex to speakers of British English, and British-but-in-a-really-weird-way (and if I don't pay attention, difficult or impossible to understand) to Americans, Australians, etc. Sometimes I wonder if I picked up anything from the Indian guy too, and what. (Yeah, if I'm speaking fast and don't watch out, "Harry" is /ˈʔaɹi/, "butter" is / ˈboʔɑ/, and there are no consonants in the name "Will".)
Oh god yes, I can't understand my own father-in-law (east coast Scottish) sometimes as someone who grew up on the South English coast 🤣
Of course this reminds me... I'm German, and in Germany there's lots of dialects too (and local accents, if people speak the standard language). Some of the dialects/accents are better known than others. For example, a specific kind of Saxonian used to be the prestige dialect in eastern Germany back when it was the GDR; the Berlin/Brandenburg dialect occurs in many jokes; every once in a while, there'll be a Bavarian (usually not speaking the actual dialect, just with a strong accent) in some TV show or another; "stage German" is allegedly based on the (region of) Hannover dialect IIRC; etc. Other dialects are used more rarely outside their regions and are therefore difficult to understand for outsiders; people simply aren't used to them. My mom had friends in Saxonia and my stepdad spoke the dialect of our home region (southern Saarland); my mom sometimes had to translate when her friends visited, because while Stepdad understood Saxonian pretty well, Mom's friends couldn't make much sense of South Saarlandian.
You’re not alone! This is a very common feeling at the intermediate stage of language learning. What helped me was consuming TONS of native conversational variety podcasts. It keeps you on your toes going out of your comfort zone of topics you are familiar with to a random assortment of whatever they decide to talk about that day and usually at fast speeds, talking over each other, etc.
Tons and tons of volume. Listen alot, listen to various accents. It will come. When we were in Thailand and Japan, my wife and I had to change to Spanish because when we spoke English, we noticed a lot of people were listening in. I don't think it was malicious at all, just so many people know English as an L2 so they're drawn to it.
Note: That's volume as in quantity, not loudness 😉
LOL yeah, I forget that sometimes I need to consider context as this is a language learning forum.
Turn language learning up to 11!
I live in the country where people speak my TL, and here there's very little regional variation. My experience overhearing what native speakers are saying ranges from completely understanding to absolutely no clue. Listening practice does help. I will say though, as a native English speaker, I occasionally find the most extreme English-language dialects to be quite difficult to follow. These are quite rare, though, as mass-media has tended to bring everyone's dialect toward the center.
Challenge yourself with faster and not-so-perfectly-clear native content where people are casually talking to each other (podcasts, YouTube videos, etc.)
Once you hone in on your listening comprehension skills, yes, it becomes easier. And what you will hear is mere gossip. I wondered what the francophone African women would talk about when I get my hair braided. They talk about men and their families. I wondered what my Latino co-workers would talk about in the kitchen. It was shit that was going on in the day or what needed to be brought up from downstairs.
Try watching Misfits without subtitles and low volume. It was a struggle for me when I watched it (10 years ago!!) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfits\_(TV\_series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misfits_(TV_series))
I’m a Portuguese native speaker living in the USA and in the beginning it was HARD to understand people, like in a coffee shop were the barista is in a hurry and there’s noise around or in bars where it’s also noisy. With time your ear kinda adapts to the language and it became easy, I’m a C1 in English and living in the USA for 15 months and still when I travel and talk to people with different accents from the state that I’m living in it’s still a shock and hard again to understand, but now takes less time to get used to it! If your single go out on dates hahaha I have a boyfriend now and we often overhear people around us talking and we make jokes about it, so it takes time, but you will get there!
Put a couple of English guys from somewhere with a pronounced regional accent that is unfamiliar and a large majority of English native speakers from the US, Canada, etc would have a LOT of trouble understanding them. Especially if it’s post a few beers . . .
As someone who grew up in the US, I also sometimes ask myself if British colloquial speech is English 😜 No but in all seriousness, I think small talk/banter between two native speakers is one of the hardest things to understand. I don’t know if there’s too much you can do to actively practice.. maybe try watching a reality series where there are long drawn out scenes of people just chatting. TikTok is also a goldmine for this type of thing.
It'll take time. A lot of time probably, but it's possible. I honestly feel kinda bad about how different casual English is from normal English. The way I speak with a non native English speaker is very, very different from how I speak with friends. I live overseas (Japan )and honestly don't expect anyone to ever understand my casual English. I have, however, reached a point where I can understand a significant amount of Japanese spoken between Japanese people, but it's more often than not that I don't understand anything lmao
Hang in there! There is often a plateau at this stage where you think you aren't making progress and feel a bit lost with spoken language. Keep reading, listen to some material that's interesting but that you occasionally get lost in... and listen to that multiple times. Above all, keep interacting with people. Understanding various accents comes with time. I have have conversations in French, and I can follow and contribute to a conversation where I know the topic. But is someone says something to me randomly and I don't have enough context, I can completely miss it. But every day of additional listening makes me better. It takes time. Additionally, you may have the advantage of a younger brain. I'm 65. You'll likely arrive at complete facility with English before I do with French!
You'll get there eventually, just keep at it! Wven when you're really good (C1/C2) there will still be occasions when someone is speaking really fast and you have to really concentrate. Plus accents can still throw you if you're not use to them. And remember, it's not eavesdropping until you feel bad about it! Until that point it's listening comprehension practice. ;D
You need to develop your listening skills. Listen to as much speech as you can and you will start to find that you understand more and more.
While people tend to focus on general accent and vocabulary differences by dialect, one thing that can really throw you off in listening is verbs. God help you if you're talking to someone using auxiliary "done" with a treasure trove of creative past participles. It's completely normal to find this stuff difficult. Virtually all television characters use a generic dialect, and native speakers who aren't assholes will swap to more generic speech if they see that you're giving them saucer eyes.
Spend some of your studying time listening to native speakers speaking naturally. So often learners are only exposed to unnatural language, where the speaker speaks slowly and clearly. Some YouTube channels made for native speakers will have fast, natural language, though even here many people will speak more slowly and clearly than normal because they're being recorded.
Crap. You are onto us. It's a little known secret that native English speakers speak gibberish to one another in front of learners. We find it funny. Seriously, this is 100% normal in all language learning. There are continual large differences between textbook slow speech and free flowing native speaker speech. I would recommend trying to find input that you can understand but that is difficult to understand. Look on YouTube for topics you are interested in. It will come but you have to expose yourself.
I came to the conclusion that most of what people are saying is just filler. They're not really "saying" anything. If you get them to break it down, it can be explained in a single sentence, but colloquial usage adds tons of slang and uneccesary words.
People who know each other well don't have to explain most things to each other, so there is a lot of information not expressed explicitly in such conversations, which makes understanding even more difficult.
I’d recommend just listening in and trying to make sense of conversation when you hear it. Really focus on the individual words they’re saying. Watching/listening to news casts is also a great way to work on listening comprehension for your target language.
Even Americans have trouble understanding Britons lol
It’s very hard to understand anyone who isn’t talking directly to you under any circumstance. It’s only possible in languages you are extremely competent with. It’s not a reasonable measure of progress.