English?

Blog post #142 of 365

My last post was on American English. This one is about my sister who moved from Pennsylvania to Australia. She moved there in 2000 and for years hasn't visited. We have however spoken on the phone. Since she has lived there I have come to understand the nuances of The foreign country Englishes. England has a very different English than say Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia etc.

On the phone my sister sounds Australian. Not fully native but close. She recently came to visit and after 18 hours on a plane full of Americans she lost most of her accent. But still retained a touch. She can't hear it. She says people ask where she is from. I have no idea what the answer would be since she was born in CA then moved to PA and for 13 years has lived in AU.

During our first phone conversation after she moved to Australia she didn't have a strong accent but she had picked up Aussie slang. I would have to stop the conversation and ask for translation. Now her accent is stronger and from time to time I still have to ask for translation. Now that she has been in the states again I find I didn't know nearly enough slang. I feel like I might survive if I were to go visit. I don't see that happening but if it did I think I'd be okay!

Next post translations!!!