2

I'm not a native English speaker and the American accent is the most familiar to me.

I plan to visit NZ for a Working holiday program, but I'm concerned that I won't understand what they say. I can fully understand the North American speakers, but when I heard New Zealanders speak on TV, I couldn't understand half of it.

How to make sure that I will understand this accent and will it make my English worse for other places if I stay there long term?

Thanks

Improve this question
9
  • 4
    It depends to some extent how fluent you are in English. I am a native English speaker (US) and I could not understand a word of the first 5 or 10 minutes of Mr. Turner and then something went "click!" in my brain and I had no trouble understanding the 19th century working class English accent. Find a few movies made in New Zealand and listen to them. If you pick up the accent, so what? Everyone likes Kiwis! You probably will pick up the accent, and lose most of it if you move back to the US. Homo is a natural mimic of speech.
    – ab2
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 19:23
  • 2
    Watching TV is different from facing someone you know in an interactive conversation. Context will carry the day.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 20:17
  • 1
    @YosefBaskin agreed, but you might be able to pick up some nuances that will make it more understandable in real life.
    – marcellothearcane
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 20:39
  • 1
    Any suggestions for NZ TV series or movies? better be about science or history. Thanks
    – artde
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 21:48
  • 1
    See New Zealand Top 8 Films of All Time.
    – ab2
    Commented Jul 24, 2017 at 22:14

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .