No matter where in the world they come from, visitors to Australia often remark about the difficulty in understanding the language. People from non-English speaking backgrounds who may have had the chance to study English at home still struggle to comprehend the Aussie vernacular and accent.
The Mainstream Australian Accent is a distinct accent produced by native English speakers in Australia. It's a tough accent to replicate, even for actors in Hollywood.
An Australian speakers' tongue, comparatively, is low and to the back, resulting in an 'ah' hesitation sound. Other common traits in the Aussie dialect include lack of enunciation and a particular kind of flow - but Macpherson suggests that that could all be quite different in 100 years' time.
Americans understand around 90% of Aussie English. Usually we can get the accent but the hardest part is random vocabulary that is Aussie specific. Check out our Aussie guests! Over the years we have done some great episodes with Australian guests.
Australians are usually humble, quite welcoming, polite and contact seeking when meeting strangers. Do not be surprised that strangers greet you, look you in the eyes and start a conversation with you in situations that you perhaps never had expected someone to do in your home country.
It is considered impolite to ask a direct question about a person's salary or wealth. Inquiring about someone's weight or age is also highly inappropriate in many situations. Spitting in public is rude. If there is a line for something, always queue and wait for your turn.
Australians are known their laid-back and relaxed attitude to life, and this is true to an extent at least. You'll likely meet quite a few locals who are chilled out, and take the time to enjoy life.
Let's face it, most of us are suckers for a sexy accent. According to a recent survey conducted by the popular dating website MissTravel.com, over 2000 American men and women regard Australian accents as one of the sexiest in the world.
If you find the British accent difficult to understand, it's likely you'll find the Aussie accent even harder to grasp as, for the most part, Australia is a melting pot of all the different regional dialects of British English.
The most widely accepted theory to why Australians have the accent they do is that the first Australian born children (of the colonizers, not the natives obviously) simply created the first trace of the recognizable accent amongst themselves naturally.
New Zealand. The New Zealand accent is most similar to Australian accents (particularly those of Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia) but is distinguished from these accents by the presence of three "clipped" vowels, slightly resembling South African English.
Three main varieties of Australian English are spoken according to linguists: broad, general and cultivated. They are part of a continuum, reflecting variations in accent.
One of the first things you'll notice about Australia will no doubt be the very unique speaking habits of its people. Australians speak fast, 'chew' words and skip pronunciation of letters – combine this with their penchant for slang and abbreviations, and you have a language that's quite difficult to comprehend!
Australian English is most similar to British English in spelling and sentence construction, although its accent and vocabulary are very distinct from the UK.
“How ya goin'?” is the ultimate Aussie greeting. If you're not from Australia, this mash-up of “How are you?” and “Where are you going?” might leave you a little perplexed. If it helps, think of how the Brits say “y'alright?” - it requires no detailed response. In fact, a simple “hey!” will suffice.
The Australian National Dictionary explains that the Australian usages of mate derive from the British word 'mate' meaning 'a habitual companion, an associate, fellow, comrade; a fellow-worker or partner', and that in British English it is now only in working-class use.
British, Australian, and French were named the sexiest accents in the world, and also the most likely to make someone seem more attractive.
What's Beautiful in Australia? Australians uphold “fit, healthy, and natural” as the attributes that make you beautiful. Vibrancy, warmth, and self-confidence also top the list of qualities deemed important. Healthy skin and beautiful eyes are seen as the most desirable physical traits.
Their own dialect is unusual and phonetically bizarre. They are isolated from all other accents of English. Immigration from other English-speaking countries, until fairly recently, was limited . And yet, as whole, they are the most accent-proficient actors on earth.
In a nationally representative survey of Australian 15-year-olds, 87 per cent said they 'treat all people with respect regardless of their cultural background' and 85 per cent said they 'respect the values of people from different cultures', compared to the OECD average of 81 per cent and 79 per cent respectively.
In this way, humility is essential to social interaction. Australians are often very modest about their accomplishments and commonly self-deprecate to avoid seeming pretentious. This can sometimes be taken to extreme lengths in social circles and workplaces.
In addition to being herding dogs, Australian Shepherds serve as Seeing Eye dogs, hearing dogs, drug sniffing dogs, and search and rescue dogs. Because of their high intelligence, Aussies are well suited to do a wide variety of jobs.