Terrible at understanding different british accents

Apart from the London accent, I have great difficulties understanding certain british accents - I dont know the names of these accents as I stay in Asia.

I have tried hearing british movies/talks but I dont seem to make any progress on this. Could someone give me any tips on how I can be any better on this issue?

Socially and in office, I often find myself keep asking the other person to repeat more often than not! This is embarrassing so its really an area where I am looking for improment.

Any help is much appreciated.

Anonymous wrote:

Apart from the London accent, I have great difficulties understanding certain british accents - I dont know the names of these accents as I stay in Asia. I have tried hearing british movies/talks but I dont seem to make any progress on this. Could someone give me any tips on how I can be any better on this issue?

This is not an easy task!

There are very many accents in Britain. One reason is that we are actually made up of four different countries! (England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland)

And  each area  has  its own original language sources.  Also,  for hundreds (thousands?) of years people in Britain didn't associate much with people living in other parts of Britain, so they all developed their own accents.

You might be surprised to know that even British people can't always understand someone who has an accent that is very strongly different from their own!

However, the more you associate with people of different accents, the easier it becomes to understand them.

So...Be patient! Smile! Don't be embarassed! Laugh about it! For centuries we in Britain are still laughing about the fact that we can't understand each other!

The most difficult accents for a foreigner to understand would probably be those from the different parts of the Lowlands of Scotland. Although it may seem odd, the accents from the Highlands are far easier to understand. This is because a large part of the North of Scotland was once a Gaelic speaking area and when they turned to English they adopted a more "standard" variety.

Nona The Brit wrote:

So clearly there are differences just between individuals with the same accent; some people are just clearer than others.

Absolutely!

Helo dear anonymous,

Honey hive here. Well i believe you need to talk to yourself, as much as possible. you see pal, watching and listening to some language is not all required only, you must try speaking too. When you listen to an English movie conversation, repeat it loudly , and keeping thier accent in mind. Then you must aslo record your voice to check your mistakes and improvments. I hope it helps. Best of  luck!