>I can say, from experience, that native Texans and Australians can have difficulties understanding each other. (On a pedantic note, I did specifically say US

>I can say, from experience, that native Texans and Australians can have difficulties understanding each other. (On a pedantic note, I did specifically say US accents.) I have to wonder if this is purely caused by pronunciation or other aspects of dialect. After all, the stereotypical Australian 'accent' (Ex. "Shrimp on the barbie") is usually accompanied by more than just a change in pronunciation. Obviously the international case is different than the local one. It's probably more accurate to say that somebody who has trouble getting people who speak a dialect of English to understand them doesn't know the dialect. >See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fChqXqvvmg8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fChqXqvvmg8 for an example that I enjoy of a song, in English by native English speakers, than many English speaking people have trouble understanding. Music is something of a special case. If it weren't, there wouldn't be so many lyrics sites out there to help people who have trouble understanding.