Listening: Understanding Different Accents & Varieties of English B2 - Lesson 1: Understanding a Range of Native English Accents (e.g., Australian, Canadian, Irish, Scottish) with Some Familiarity

B2 Accent Awareness: Understanding a Range of Native English Accents

Welcome to B2! In this lesson, we will develop awareness of different native English accents¹ beyond American and British.

Important: A computer voice cannot truly speak with these complex accents. For this lesson, we will make it "pretend" by changing a few key sounds. This is a simple simulation to give you an idea of the differences.

1. Australian English (AusE)

We will simulate one feature of some Australian accents where the 'i' sound /aɪ/ in words like "right" or "nice" sounds more like "oi" /ɔɪ/.

Written Sentence: "It's a nice day today. It's the right time for a trip."

Simulated Audio Example: "It's a noice day today. It's the roight toime for a trip."

2. Irish English (IrE)

We will simulate a common feature of some Irish accents where the 'th' sound /θ/ becomes a 't' sound /t/.

Written Sentence: "I think there are thirty-three thousand people here."

Simulated Audio Example: "I tink dere are turty-tree tousand people here."

3. Scottish English (ScE)

A famous feature of many Scottish accents is a clear, "tapped" or "rolled" 'r' sound. Our computer voice cannot make this sound, but be aware that words with 'r' will sound very different and stronger. Listen to the standard reading below.

Written Sentence: "There are four cars parked right around the corner from that bar."

4. Canadian English (CanE)

The Canadian accent is very similar to the Standard American accent. Many of the differences are too subtle for our computer voice to simulate. For this lesson, we will treat it as a standard North American accent.

Written Sentence: "Let's go out and about around the house."

Quiz: Which Simulation Did You Hear?

Listen to the simulated sentence. Which pronunciation feature did you hear?

1. Audio 1 reads: "I tink dat's true."

   The speaker is simulating: (a) The Irish 'th' becoming 't'. (b) The Australian 'i' becoming 'oi'.

2. Audio 2 reads: "Moiy bike is whoite."

   The speaker is simulating: (a) The Irish 'th' becoming 't'. (b) The Australian 'i' becoming 'oi'.

Click to Show Answers

Answers: 1-a, 2-b

Homework Task

1. Accent Hunt: Go to YouTube and search for videos of people from each country (Australia, Canada, Ireland, Scotland). Can you hear the real features we talked about today?

2. Focus on Comprehension: Remember, you don't need to copy these accents. The goal is to understand them. When you meet a tourist with an accent you don't recognize, listen for the keywords and use context to understand their message.

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Accent (noun) - Khmer: សំនៀង - A distinctive way of pronouncing a language, associated with a particular country or region. ↩
2. Variety (of a language) (noun phrase) - Khmer: ទម្រង់ផ្សេងៗនៃភាសា - A form of a language used in a particular region or by a particular group. ↩
3. Phonetic Feature (noun phrase) - Khmer: លក្ខណៈសូរស័ព្ទ - A specific, characteristic quality of a speech sound. ↩