Speech Accents in the UK

Mike said:
Many years ago I asked a University Professor of English about
the differences between the American, Australian and English
versions of the English language.

He explained that the American accent was how the English
spoke English at the time of the Pilgrim Fathers when America
was first settled.

The Australian accent was how the English spoke English at the
time when convicts were transported to the Penal Colonies in
Australia.

Incidentally the accent of the people in Nova Scotia is Orcadian
as most of the original settlers were from the Orkney Islands and
other island of Scotland.

Hence the name Nova Scotia = New Scotland.

Mike.
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oh that's really interesting Mike.... I didn't know that. I love the accent of the Orkney Islands, so I'd be fascinated to hear a Nova Scotia accent..I might go and google...
 

"....The Australian accent was how the English spoke English at the time when convicts were transported to the Penal Colonies in Australia.....".
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I don't know for sure, of course, but was taught differently. My understanding of the Aussie accent is that was developed over time due to the number of immigrants, from all over, that influenced the language. And, you know better than I, there is no standard 'English accent'. Even in my travels (which are limited of course), I've heard the huge difference in accents from London, to Yorkshire, to Northumberland (almost unintelligible to me), and Cornwall. To my American ear, their differences are infinitely greater than the different accents in the U.S. And I really have difficulty in Scotland.
 
Accents are common..all over the world. I spent a few years in Germany, and I noticed several different "dialects" as I traveled around the country....sometimes just going 50 miles seemed to be noticeable in the way people carried on a conversation.

Here, in the U.S., the most obvious differences in language would probably be to put someone from New Orleans together with someone from Boston, and listen to them try to communicate.
 

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