So, yeah, i need help...

Mastadi

Mastadi

Hello. As some of you may know, but probably most of you don't, i came from Poland. In my school, i was always the best in the whole year from english language. I always thought that my english was perfect, or atleast close to perfect. But few months ago, something happened. My dad got good job in England, so we moved... and now i realized that my pronunciation is really, really bad. Also, most of the time, when somebody talks to me, i can barely understand what he's saying... So, maybe is there anybody who was in situation simillar to me/knows good way to learn english as a foreign langauge... i appreciate every kind of help. Thanks in advance.
 
Watch English TV, and practice speaking. If you moved that means you parents can speak English, right? You could try asking them to help you practice.
 
well, "England English" can be pretty damn hard for anyone who wasn't raised there to understand. they use A LOT of bizarre slang. i lived there until i was 7, but i still have no idea what the hell my parents are talking about sometimes....and my grandma...fuggetaboutit...
 
I recently paid a visit to England on my own, but I already knew not to overestimate my English despite getting good grades at school and being on the internet all the time. It's basically something you need to get the hang of by doing it a lot. It depends on the person you're talking to of course, but most people shouldn't really mind a few mistakes here and there. Perhaps practice with your family by just speaking English or something? You could also do something like extra English school in the evening but I doubt you're into that.
 
just some chick said:
Watch English TV, and practice speaking. If you moved that means you parents can speak English, right? You could try asking them to help you practice.
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Agreed. Watching TV is the way to improve your pronunciation, also agreeing with chris, american english is much much easier to speak and to understand than english from england
 
whereabouts in England did you move to? The thing with England is there are a huge amount of regional variations to the accent and dialect, that can make it hard for even an english person like myself to understand sometimes. It will probably just take you some time to get used to, just keep practising.
 
If you moved up north then basically you're gonna understand nothing at all because they speak quickly and weirdly. E.g. ay Traaaci d'yawanna go t'Rovers?

If you're around London/Kent/Surrey etc it's much easier.

Try to watch Eastenders or something with the subtitles on and generally just ask people to slow down when they speak.
 
Watching tv will definately help, possibly with subtitles if you can read better than listen? Also, as a couple of other people have said, some areas have pretty retarded regional dialects, but hopefully if youre in the south that shouldnt be too big a prob.
 
I live in South-West part of England (Wiltshire), and i think we got a few ppl from the other parts of England in school. I mean, few of the guys speak that way i can understand most of the things they are saying, but some of ppl speak just... strange :/
 
watching TV with the subs on is a good way to start learning but if you really want to learn quickly and effectively just talk to as many people as you can. immersing yourself in the language is really the only way you can truly learn it. I went to japan for 6 months with two years of high school japanese under my belt. i was pretty much in the same boat you are in. what i did was just talk to as many people in japanese as i could. eventually i started to understand the nuances of the language without really realizing it. i still only speak at a childs level but i can understand what people are saying when they talk to me.
 
English isn't my first language either - Russian is. When I first moved, I spoke very little English and I picked it up 90% from watching TV. By the time I went to school 2 months later, I was speaking English quite well, and now I hardly have an accent. Anyway, good luck with that.
 
don't worry english is my first language and when I watch British TV even I cant understand what they are saying.
 
I have english people coming into my store all the time, since Im in Las Vegas, and I dont have a hard time understanding them one bit. Although they may say an odd thing or two but I usually figure out what the hell they are saying.. I guess Im just used to them.

basicly just get familiar, within 6 months you should be speaking enough english anyways since you got the basics.
 
Dan Dan said:
Yeah the south rocks. Northern bastards.
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qft lol

Also yeah you would be surprised how much the accents vary around the UK when compared to America (from my experience). A harsh Northern/Scottish accent is often very hard to understand even for me as a native English resident :x
 
If there are scots on tv I switch over, it sounds like they're just spitting and making greenies, its a disgusting accent/language.
 
Dan Dan said:
If there are scots on tv I switch over, it sounds like they're just spitting and making greenies, its a disgusting accent/language.
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Scots accent is awesome.

English isn't my native language either, but I've been to Canada, US and UK often enough, plus I've lived in Canada, and I have trouble understanding them sometimes too. The best way forward, with anything, is practice and take the time. you'll learn eventually.
 
The south west (Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset et al) has a really strong accent, I've lived here all my life and I still can't understand a word that some of the older folk say. Just move to London and you will be fine!
 
Try talking to people, even if you can't understand shit at first, soon you'll be able to understand and talk the language.
 
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