[keto1]

A message in a previous topic said that HK people think SG people cant speak English well. I understand , since Singlish, as it's known, drives me up the wall. Examples:

- can or not?
- how can like that?
- can off the light?
- he choose the black black black one.

From this, I'd like to ask if English from any other Western country annoys other Western raised people.

eg- does Aussie English annoy Americans? Does American English annoy New Zealanders? etc etc etc

[smelly]

Only southern US English annoys me.

[pdx]

Sometimes it takes a little effort to figure out what people said, but it doesn't really annoy me. I speak American West Coast English and haven't had any memorable problems understanding English from people from elsewhere.

"Off the light" is used on Guam, too. Funny.

Sometimes when I watch British or Irish films, I turn on the subtitles so I don't miss what they're saying.

[Mat]

Keto1, where are you from?

[dwoo]

I speak with an east-coast American accent and I find Scottish English - all varieties - to be quite difficult to comprehend; I've heard from some of the students that I teach that heavy Australian accents are difficult for them.

[tx75070]

I have met a few Ausie's with very thick accent and I could barely understand them. I kept shaking my head and saying yeah even though I wasn't getting half of what they said. Most Aussie's I understand fine though.

I love listening to people from New Zealand talk.

[ksrnf]

i love the singaporean accent. I know it is sometimes annoying when they use their singlish but i like the accent. I especially like a singaporean's mandarin accent.

[Katanga]

my favourite Singlish has to be:

"can or cannot ?"

The answer usually is "can, can" or "no can do"

[keto1]

Just came back from Sydney, where I was born.

I cant believe I never noticed how nasal the aussie twang is!

And for those of you who actually LIKE Singlish, all i have to say is...

how can like that???

[ksrnf]

haha, well...i think singlish is cool because i've known two singaporean girls and they were pretty and the accent just kind of accentuated it.