I had a buddy from Derry explain to me “If you’re in the UK and you start having a conversation where you realize three minutes in you have no idea what language the other guy is speaking you’re likely talking with a Welshman”. I thought he was joking. I thought I spoke English then I too met a bunch of people from Wales. My English isn’t that good
You can be forgiven for Welsh is a separate language
Yes but they were speaking English which was a language I thought I was fluent in given it is my first language.
I had a Welsh work colleague years ago. A few times he was on the phone and spoke Welsh. None of the mental markers on what language he was speaking seemed to change. It sounded like English, spoken with a Welsh accent. Until my brain tried to interpret it. It was like I had had a stroke. It parsed as English, but wouldn’t make sense. It took a conscious effort to remind myself that he wasn’t speaking English.
I have a friend with a strong scouser accent (Liverpool). I discovered the day I met her that I won’t be able to call myself fluent in English (proper, not simplified) until I manage every accents of the British Isles.
I just watched a guy travel through the hills of Appalachia. The British Isles might not cut it
Despite being a Scot myself, even I can’t understand some of the stronger northern accents and dialects, they’re practically a different language
English is my second language, I’ve got the top bilingual score at work, still can’t watch Trainspotting without subtitles…
My work frequently has me interact with people from southern Louisiana. It’s a whole different language, that Cajun. Got a guy I work with that was born in Vietnam, then lived down in the south for several years before moving north. I joke that he speaks 3 languages: Vietnamese, Cajun, and English.
Well yeah, Cajun is a creole language mixing French and English, which is different from the accent people from Louisiana might have when speaking English proper.
10:12 is when the Cajun section starts
The film hot fuzz has an amazing take on this. They need to talk to a farmer, but end up bringing the dog handler along. It turns out it’s not for the dog. It takes 2 accent translations to make sense of what he is saying!
My mom and I went to Orkney in 2022 and overheard part of a conversation in a shop. My mom asked the clerk what language that was. “… English.”
Now try a conversation with a Geordie or Mackem shipyard worker.
I only know two languages:
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English
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Bad English
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