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Difference between British and Australian English? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| darkwhispersdal Senior Member Wales Joined 5833 days ago 294 posts - 363 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Ancient Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 25 of 31 11 January 2010 at 8:19pm | IP Logged | |||||
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There's quite alot in North Wales and in the valleys around Swansea though most people will not speak Welsh around people who can't as its considered rude.
There's a row in the Valleys about this as in my old job (receptionist of local council) we had to answer the phones in Welsh then English before we could ask the customer what they wanted. One day a customer asked a collegue to serve her only in Welsh I can't speak it and no one on-site could either and as it was weekend there was no one off-site we could transfer her to which would have been pointless anyway. We had a full half hour abuse from her about our lack of welsh language knowledge and that we had no right to call ourselves welsh. After that we all refused to answer the phone in welsh and I won't learn it now or any of my ex-collegues. They don't speak Welsh in Cardiff or Newport for that matter. Most of the old industrial villages, towns and cities discouraged the use of welsh by using the cane and bullying upto the 70s (or at least in the schools of my town according to my parents). Also these places had big immigrant populations of English, Irish and Italian so English quickly became the dominant tongue. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| elvisrules Tetraglot Senior Member BelgiumRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5262 days ago 286 posts - 390 votes Speaks: French, English*, Dutch, Flemish Studies: Lowland Scots, Japanese, German | Message 26 of 31 11 January 2010 at 9:21pm | IP Logged | |||||
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You decided not to learn it because of the abuse from some woman?!
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| Logophiliac Newbie Ireland Joined 5224 days ago 4 posts - 4 votes Speaks: English* | Message 27 of 31 11 January 2010 at 9:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm an Australian who has emigrated to the UK (where my father came from) and now lives mostly in Ireland. I have
a fairly broad Australian accent and was asked once (in England) if I was Welsh. Generally my antipodean origin is obvious to anyone I talk to, but I often get taken for a new Zealander. I know someone who was born in NZ and came to Sydney as a young adult--her accent is noticeably different to mine. I don't think Australians generally are sensitive about the convict origins of the country. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| darkwhispersdal Senior Member Wales Joined 5833 days ago 294 posts - 363 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Ancient Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 28 of 31 11 January 2010 at 11:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
Basically and poor teaching during school days has completely turned me off the language. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| kmart Senior Member Australia Joined 5917 days ago 194 posts - 400 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 29 of 31 16 January 2010 at 9:08am | IP Logged | |||||
Haha Steve, thanks for your sensitivity, but I don't think any of us Aussie convict descendants have any hang-ups about it - in fact, having "First Fleet" ancestors (the ones who were the first lot to settle here in 1788) is a source of pride (I have at least 5, by the way. My husband warns people to count their silver spoons after I've visited, he thinks that much criminality can't have been completely eradicated by the dour Scots Presbyterians who added their genes to the mix in the 1850s). And you are right about the majority of the convicts, most were extremely poor people who were forced to become criminals for survival, and their history in Australia is one of hard work and respectability. That said, the slight disrespect of authority in the Australian character is definitely a leftover from those rejected poor and political prisoners. 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| WANNABEAFREAK Diglot Senior Member Hong Kong cantonese.hk Joined 6620 days ago 144 posts - 185 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, Cantonese Studies: French | Message 30 of 31 17 January 2010 at 6:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
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British English is totally different and I can't even understand it at times.
I only just have to say 1 sentence and basically everyone will know I am Australian. I tried to put on a British accent and people gave me WTF reaction like I was so not British sounding. I think most Australians draw out their sounds and have stronger emphasis on word endings in comparison to English people. I also think many Australians will say something like "Austraiya" instead of Australia. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| SteveB Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5737 days ago 14 posts - 15 votes Studies: Portuguese | Message 31 of 31 17 January 2010 at 8:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
Glad to hear it. I honestly did think that I might have put my foot in it. Its difficult to know sometimes. I have on a number occasions, spoke my opinions on some topic or other, only to find I have offended someone and have absolutely no idea why. Its happened to me enough times that I guess I'm getting quite paranoid. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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