For students of English as a foreign language the differences between British and American accents can add an extra hurdle to reaching fluency. There are so many variations in accent within the same country that there really is no one British accent or one American accent – bad news for language students then! Or is it?

Why accents can be good for language learning

Although the wild variation in accents and therefore pronunciation might at first seem like a problem, the difference between accents can actually be quite informative to the English language student.

This is because hearing different accents lets the student understand the different ways a word or phrase can be pronounced. This can help you to improve your English listening skills.

Some accents elongate the syllables of a word, others shorten endings. Vowel sounds are the most often changed by different accents in English, for example, the southern long ‘a’ and the northern short ‘a’ in England. However, be careful not to confuse having an accent with simply speaking bad English or mumbling.

It can also be refreshing for the English language student to hear different accents, as this gives an interesting new twang or a new ‘personality’ to a language.

It also means that however the student pronounces a word, it could well be correct somewhere in the English speaking world!

Cockney accent or the Queen’s English

To Americans, British English seems to have two distinctive styles – either the ‘Cockney’ accent or the RP (or ‘posh’) accent –the Queen’s English.

In reality, these two accents are possessed only by a small minority of people in England, in particular the Cockney accent, which is only really heard in the East End of London.

English people joke about this – in American films the only English accents normally heard are these two! Check out Mary Poppins for a funny Cockney accent in the character Burt (Dick Van Dyke).

There is also the occasional strong Manchester (Mancunian) accent in American television shows for additional variation. You can hear this Mancunian accent in the character of Daphne in the hit American comedy television show, ‘Frasier’.

New York gangster or wild west 

On the other hand, English people can also think of America as having only three accents – the New York drawl (‘corfee’ for coffee), the California accent and the Southern burr, as often heard in old Western films.

American is such a huge country it would be crazy to think there are only three accents!

British and American accents

So for EFL students, there are a huge variety of accents in spoken English. British and American accents vary enormously within their own countries.

For safety, it is best to stick to learning English with a consistent ‘middle of the road’ accent, whether you look to Britain or America for inspiration.

Remember though, it is always fun to try different voices out – you might find you prefer to speak English with a Scottish accent.

The choices in accents are many – and the choice is yours!

How do you feel about accents?

What is your favourite accent?

Do you find accents confusing when learning a language?

Do you have any funny stories involving accents? Let us know in the comments!

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