British Accents Ranked from Easiest to Hardest (+ Free PDF & Quiz)

Hello everyone and welcome back to English. With Lucy, today we're going to talk about the big topic of

accents

, particularly the

accents

that you guys find

hardest

to understand. Now, when it comes to accents, you can't just say this one. easy and this one is difficult it doesn't work like that it all depends on where you are from and what you are used to what you are used to hearing I speak English with a modern pronunciation accent received and many people say it I seem to find it very clear and easy, but that probably It's because my accent is an accent that is commonly taught in schools, you may hear it frequently in movies and TV shows, one of the most important things you can do if you want.

Improving your understanding and improving your listening skills in English is to familiarize yourself with as many accents as possible and this is a very fun task as a starting point. I thought it would be really fun to identify some of the accents that English learners commonly find difficult. to understand them so you can focus on becoming even more familiar with them. To do this, I created a survey. This is just for fun. It's not scientific, but I think it gives a good indication. I took 10 celebrities who speak 10 of my favorites. accents and took little clips of them speaking.

Then I asked my students on my email list to tell me on a scale of zero to ten how easy it was for them to understand that little speech. I averaged the scores I gave them. order and I am very excited to show you the results to make this even more interesting. I will play each clip twice, once without subtitles and once with subtitles so you can test your own understanding of each accented clip, obviously there will be many variables. the speed at which the person speaks the environment in which they speak, whether formal or informal, but I hope it gives you a good idea, as always, there is a pdf that accompanies today's lesson and it has all the information that I shared today. plus links to the full clips and also some extra snippets, if you want to download them just click the link in the description box, enter your name and email address, sign up to my mailing list and then immediately , the pdf will be published. will arrive in your inbox and then each week you will automatically receive PDF files of my lessons.

You will also receive all my news and offer updates and the opportunity to participate in future surveys which you won't want to miss out on that important research. we have 10 accents and the person who is number 10, that is, the

easiest

to understand according to my students is Queen Elizabeth II, of course, it helps a lot that she speaks very, very slowly and this was a formal broadcast, let's listen , king james. We may not have anticipated how important sports and games would be in promoting harmony and common interests, but from the scriptures in the Bible that bear their name we know that nothing is more satisfying than the feeling of belonging to a group that is dedicated to help. each other and now let's listen one more time with subtitles on the screen so you can check how much you understand.

King James may not have foreseen how important sports and games would be in promoting harmony and common interests, but from the scriptures in the Bible that bears his name we know that nothing is more satisfying than the feeling of belonging. a group dedicated to helping each other that's why the queen speaks the queen's English with a Received Pronunciation accent at the upper end of Received Pronunciation Now this is an accent that is traditionally considered standard English. British, but things are changing originally. This accent was called public school pronunciation and public school actually means private school, so an independent school in the UK state school is an education paid for by the in a government public or private school, you pay for yourself , so this is an accident that is learned traditionally and it's quite interesting because it doesn't have a specific geographical location, it was originally spoken in public schools throughout the British Isles, it was a kind of class sign a couple of decades ago the Most of what you would hear on the radio and on television would be received pronunciation but now that is not the case and rightly so, let's move on to number nine and this is a very attractive one for me. celebrity, it's Jason Statham speaking with his magnificent Cockney accent.

I know many of you are big fans of the Cockney accent. Let's listen and you have to accept that, I mean, we are at the end of the day and we shouldn't be. moaning because we're, you know, we're hired actors, you walk in, you get paid, shut your mouth, do your job and go home, it should be a little bit of that, but sometimes you want to try to get involved and you try to try and collaborate and get things done. Can we have a moment of gratitude for men with bald heads? I absolutely love you, let's listen again with subtitles and see how much you understood and you have to accept that, I mean we are at the end of the day we shouldn't be complaining because we are, you know, we are hired actors, you walk in, you get paid, shut your mouth, do your job and go home, it should be a little bit of that, but sometimes you want to try to get involved. and you try to try and collaborate and get things right I love this accent it originates from the east end of London supposedly you were only a real cockney if you were born within earshot of the bow bells it means within earshot to listen within the listening distance and the bow bells are the bells of a church, a historic church in east London.

Now the east end of London is changing and a lot of the people who were born there or grew up there are moving to Essex, so it was very interesting for me. To see that number eight was the Essex accent, so let's watch a clip of that, we have a celebrity called Gemma Collins who I personally adore, she's so sassy, ​​so entertaining, if I'm ever feeling down I watch her best moments on YouTube because, wow, what a character! she's completely herself I've become one of Britain's biggest reality stars I'm a global icon it's weird but that's the gc and that's what I do I make great TV I provide you with entertainment um and I explain it to the people are like paul o'grady and lily savage you know, that's how I make my money, I mean, she's so confident, right?

I loved the guy eamon holmes' face just as she was praising herself, brilliant, let's listen again with subtitles, I've become one. of Britain's biggest reality stars I'm a global icon, it's strange but that's the gc and that's what I do. I make excellent television. I provide you with entertainment and explain it to people. It's like Paul O'grady and Lily Savage. You know, that's how I make my money, so the Essex accent is in and around Essex. Many people from the originally Cockney East End moved to Essex or continue to move to Essex. It's like a mix of the estuary.

The Cockney accent and accent have become incredibly popular over the last decade due to a television show called The Only Way is Essex. It's a reality show that follows young people from Essex, very glamorous people and Gemma was one of them and her career has just exploded. Okay, moving on to number seven, we're going to another country, we're not in England anymore, we're in Wales and it's the Cardiff accent spoken by Charlotte Church, who is an opera singer. Well, I guess in terms of the movie. would finish milk forest is such an incredible piece uh dylan thomas's writing is so unusual um yeah and I'm just not really I'm pretty new to acting I've done little things in the past very interesting can you hear her say unusual uh well I would say unusual so it's almost like he's adding an extra syllable in there and he also said amazing uh with an r sound that I have a hard time doing it's like one thing, it's like a rolling r sound that I love to hear For Welsh accents, they're very melodious to me, let's listen again with subtitles, well, I guess in terms of how the movie would end, The Milk Woods is such an incredible piece of work, Dylan Thomas's writing is so unusual, yeah, and I just.

Actually I'm not, I'm a newbie to acting. I've done some things in the past. If you're interested in learning a little more about Welsh accents, I recommend a comedy called Gavin and Stacy. Pretty good about this video because it shows an Essex family and a Welsh family coming together because the son and daughter are getting married. It's funny, some fabulous Welsh accents, let's move on to number six, it's the Yorkshire accent as spoken by Louis Tomlinson from one direction. It's basically true, I mean, my name is Louie, but I didn't love it when I was younger, once I was old enough, I don't know why I didn't love it, so I was known as Louis.

All my friends from home call me. me lewis and then i get there it's pretty close sorry and then i get there on my first day on the x factor with simon and you know, i mean all the judges and he called me louie so for me one of the most distinctive thing about his accent is that he says I instead of my my name instead of my name that's really distinctive for me where I would say love he says love I didn't love it but for me it's I didn't love it I found this accent very warm love yes, It's just lovely, isn't it?

Let's listen again, but with subtitles so you can see how much you got basically right. I mean, my name is Louie, but I didn't love it when he was younger like I did when he was old. Enough, I don't know why he just didn't love me, so I was known as Louis. all my friends from home call me louis and then i get there, it's close enough, i feel it and then i get there on my first date. x factor with simon and you know, i mean all the judges and he called me louie, did you also hear him not pronouncing the h at home?

He said erm, I would say at home from home from earm from um, I'm not sure if that's right. from um I'll need a little help with my yorkshire accent another thing I noticed he said it was instead of it was when he was younger when he was younger is what I would say is part of his dialect okay number five , so this The difficulty for you is mid-range, it's the Brummie accent, which is the Birmingham accent and we've got Adrian Charles speaking it, so anyway, look, when they try to get him to come here, they give you a list of all.

The brilliant people you've had in the past have the opposite effect on me. I said you know Richard E Grant and stuff, why would anyone be interested? Anyway, that's my turn. I guess it's my turn. You're the best. I could understand it, well, a lot of them are real words, yes, so Adrian doesn't actually have the strongest bromy accent I've ever heard, but if you're having a hard time understanding it, he's talking pretty fast here, so if you can understand it. You're doing a really good job, let's listen again with subtitles, so anyway, look, actually, when they try to get me to come here, they give a list of all the brilliant people you've had in the past.

That has the opposite effect on me, I said, you know Richard and Grant and stuff, why would anyone be interested? Anyway, that's my turn, I guess it's my turn, you're the best I could get, uh, well, a lot of those are true words, yeah, too, how awesome is that. That sign language interpreter was actually conveying the comedy quite well. As charming as you may find this accent, this is actually one of the British accents that faces the most discrimination within the country. There is another one I will talk about as well. When people take opinion polls, you often appear as one of the most disadvantaged.

It's very interesting when they do similar opinion surveys of foreign visitors, so non-native English speakers, the Brummie accent seems to work quite well, they find it very melodious, this implies that yes. poorly in polls due to prejudice rather than a genuine dislike for their sound. I would be interested to hear your opinion and know if there are any accents in your country that you think are unfairly considered. I know living in Spain. I learned Spanish with an Andalusian accent and I have definitely received criticism. Some of them I take too, which means a lot of them come from people from other countries saying "ah, this kind of accent is ugly, you should learn my accent." Accent um, but it can be quite painful to be honest because that's the accent I speak with.

Now let's move on to the next one. You rated this number four and I know I shouldn't play favorites, but I think I can. This is my favorite I love the way this accent sounds and I love the person who has this accent it's nadine coyle from girls out loud she's a blessing to the ears she really speaks with a milky accent listen to this I enjoy cooking baking and those things work with ruffles and do sweet things. I'm not so used to snacking on saltier things, when you just tune out, put on your music and just snack, you just have a ton of stuff, does anyone else want to just snack and cook? with flour with her is just lovely, see if you can notice that where I would say flower, sheIt says something more like steering wheel and it also says mecca instead of doing, as I would say, chop, chop, really very different differences, let's listen again with subtitles which I enjoy. cooking and baking and stuff, working with ruffles and making sweet things, I'm not so used to snacking on saltier things, like when you just log off, put on your music and just snack, you just get a lot of lovely, really lovely stuff, I love it, uh, let's move.

At number three we have another member of Girls Aloud, so you voted these two pretty high on the difficulty scale. Cheryl speaks with a Geordie accent that you'll find in and around the city of Newcastle. Let's listen to what we did three hours last night and those girls, so there's a girl named Charm who I used when I did my own solo tour. I just adore her, I love working with her and we did three hours with those girls and those girls were sick, yeah, I was watching them the whole time like I wanted to do it like her, she speaks very softly and she speaks very, very gently, uh.

Let's listen again with subtitles and then I have something to say about this accent that we did three hours last night and those girls are so there's a girl called Charm that I used when I did my own solo tour that I absolutely adore. she I love working with her and we did three hours with those girls and those girls were sick yeah I was just looking at them the whole time like I wanted to do it like her did you hear her use the word sick sick I think I mentioned it recently in a video, it's a slang word that means cool.

I remember finding it really confusing as a kid because I thought it came out wrong, but that's sick, it's really cool, so I wanted to talk a little bit more about accident discrimination here because Cheryl I remember it was in the news a lot. I would say about 10 years ago she was a judge on the X Factor, a singing talent show in the UK and she was invited to the US to be a judge on U.S. Virgin and then. She was supposedly fired quickly and it was apparently because the producers were worried that her accent would be difficult to understand now.

I don't know if this was just to generate publicity, but it sounded pretty harsh. I remember feeling really bad for her. At the time I feel like even if her accent was something new to The X Factor viewers in the US, they would have gotten used to it pretty quickly, so I don't know if I agree with that decision, but I imagine that Yeah. it was just for publicity maybe this was all decided before, right, let's move on to number two, number two is a comedian that I am very fond of, his name is frankie boyle, he tells the most outrageous jokes, he really pushes the limits and surpasses them quite often, but he speaks with a Glasgow accent from Glasgow in Scotland, let's listen to my cousins ​​when I was a kid in Ireland, their dad was like a fisherman on a fishing boat in Ireland and he'd be gone for two weeks at a time, I remember thinking.

That's the worst thing you could imagine. You know, it's like your dad is just going to disappear for two weeks and now it's like you know two months would be pretty standard on a very, very distinctive tour. I'm not even going to try to imitate him. this for me is one of the most difficult accents for me to, uh, imitate one thing that I find quite distinctive is that where I would say is that they say like or instead of kind, for me they say whipped, let's listen again with subtitles, let's see how much I picked up my cousins ​​when I was a kid in Ireland, their dad was like a fisherman on a fishing boat in Ireland and he would go away for two weeks at a time.

I remember thinking that's the worst thing you could imagine, you know? your dad is just going to disappear for two weeks and now it's like you know two months would be pretty standard on a tour and the last accident, the accident that you voted the

hardest

to understand, in all fairness, I don't think he gave you the clip easier. He talks very fast, but his name is John Bishop and he speaks with a Scouse accent and there has been a lot of press recently about people who speak with a Scouse accent coming out and talking about the discrimination they have faced, let's listen to the comedian.

John Bishop speaking in his Scouse accent, listen to those distinctive characteristics. Yes, I wrote about them in the book, but I called them Generation Zed because I gave them a full title because I'm old enough to call things. for this entire title instead of yourself, which Gen Z has. Yes, that's also the only clip with background music, so I'll keep that in mind next time to make sure it's as fair as possible. However, it is a very distinctive accent. when he says butt i almost says it's too hard for me to play it, he almost rolls the r sounds.

Another thing I notice is that when they say things like school or cool, they tend to say skull or kiwill which almost adds an extra syllable, yeah, I've written about them in the book. I called them generation Z because I gave them a full title because I'm old enough to call things by this full title instead of yourself, which has become generation Z. That's the end of today's video, those were the 10 accents that helped me classify from the

easiest

to understand to the most difficult to understand. I really enjoyed making this video. I love seeing the ins and outs of many accents.

I would love to make another video like this, so let me know. If you enjoyed it and want more, don't forget to download the

free

pdf that accompanies this video. It has links to all the full clips so you can explore more accents you like. Simply click on the link in the description box enter your name and email address and sign up to my mailing list. You will receive PDF files each week along with my news, course information and updates. Don't forget to visit nordvpn at nordvpn.com. Lucy. you can take advantage of the amazing offer from her, you can connect with me on all my social networks.

I have my Instagram and my website englishwithlucy.co.uk, where I have a really cool pronunciation tool where you can click on the phoneme and hear me pronounce it. those phonemes in words that contain those phonemes is very fun and word not. I also have my personal channel where I document my life here in the English countryside. There are big changes happening, so it might be interesting to watch all the videos. fully subtitled so you can use them to practice listening comprehension and improve your vocabulary this way. I'll see you soon for another lesson.