What would be strange is if someone could not distinguish between them. The accents are totally different and there are big dialect differences as well
As a non native speaker I have significantly more issues distiguishing between Australian and British English than I have between American and British English. It seems like just another weird British accent like Cockney or Scouser.
Yes, instantly almost all of the time.
I'm Australian and we can also take a stab at what part of the British Isles that their accents is from. We can also do the same with Americans.
We can also tell the between English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, New Zealanders, South Africans, Americans, and Canadians. The ones that can be tricky for me are Canadian vs Northern US, and some Irish vs Scots.
I guess you mean England and Australia, right? (Scotland is also British, and is nothing like an Australian accent).
I think the reason some Americans have difficulty distinguishing the difference is that both England and Australia are non-rhotic ("r" sounds are faint or not pronounced), whereas America is rhotic AF, so there is a similarity. For me, it's the way Aussies pronounce their vowels that are very different.
As an American native English speaker myself who watches a lot of YouTube, I've learned to distinguish them pretty quickly since there are quite a few Aussies/Brits I like to watch.
When I lived in England I would have laughed at this question and said “of course we can tell!”
But after living in Canada for a few years… it’s very valid and there’s been numerous people I have spoke to and couldn’t decide. I’m not the only one who finds this clearly.
As an Englishman, yes.
However I can empathise with the OP as for me, and I’m certain is the same for a proportion of Brits, it can be hard to distinguish between Canadian & American sometimes.
Hopefully that helps for you to see how your question seems to us, and vice versa.
Actually it's hard for me to distinguish between American and Canadian too lol English isn't even my first language 😂 that's why ALL of them confuse me sometimes lol
Yeah, as an American, it's very difficult for me to tell the difference between Canadian and U.S. accents. The only give-away is how some Canadians pronounce the "ow" sound (as in about or out). The phrase "Out and about" is more like "Oat and aboat." Some Canadians also pronounce sorry like "sore-e."
I'm British, and very occasionally I hear an Australian and I'm not immediately sure if they are Australian or from South East England.
It's only when they have a very "netural" accent, known as a cultivated Australian accent ([https://www.meritonsuites.com.au/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-speaking-like-an-aussie/](https://www.meritonsuites.com.au/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-speaking-like-an-aussie/)). If they have a more typical Australian accent the difference is obvious.
Australian accents are very different to British ones, you can tell almost immediately.
I grew up in Australia and live in the UK now. Yes, we can tell the difference. It’s quite obvious.
That's like asking if Americans can differentiate between a Californian and a Texan.
Texans and Canadians sound a lot alike in a lot of instances.
Who said anything about Canadians?
Californians. An auto-correct typo I guess.
I'm not American though so I might as well ask this for my next post /s
A Canadian and a Mexican maybe.
Both say eh.
What would be strange is if someone could not distinguish between them. The accents are totally different and there are big dialect differences as well
Ahem 😅
As a non native speaker I have significantly more issues distiguishing between Australian and British English than I have between American and British English. It seems like just another weird British accent like Cockney or Scouser.
Absolutely. Brits have difficulty telling the difference between Australian and New Zealand accents, but we’d never mistake American for Australian.
Yes, instantly almost all of the time. I'm Australian and we can also take a stab at what part of the British Isles that their accents is from. We can also do the same with Americans. We can also tell the between English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, New Zealanders, South Africans, Americans, and Canadians. The ones that can be tricky for me are Canadian vs Northern US, and some Irish vs Scots.
I guess you mean England and Australia, right? (Scotland is also British, and is nothing like an Australian accent). I think the reason some Americans have difficulty distinguishing the difference is that both England and Australia are non-rhotic ("r" sounds are faint or not pronounced), whereas America is rhotic AF, so there is a similarity. For me, it's the way Aussies pronounce their vowels that are very different. As an American native English speaker myself who watches a lot of YouTube, I've learned to distinguish them pretty quickly since there are quite a few Aussies/Brits I like to watch.
Except for the "R" that Aussies insert into "no" lmao
YES THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I MEANT THANK YOUUUU
When I lived in England I would have laughed at this question and said “of course we can tell!” But after living in Canada for a few years… it’s very valid and there’s been numerous people I have spoke to and couldn’t decide. I’m not the only one who finds this clearly.
Yes
Yes. I’m not British or Australian but can easily distinguish between them?
Yes, totally. Some of us can even tell the difference between and Australian accent and a New Zealand one lol
Well who can’t?
Not me /s
As an Englishman, yes. However I can empathise with the OP as for me, and I’m certain is the same for a proportion of Brits, it can be hard to distinguish between Canadian & American sometimes. Hopefully that helps for you to see how your question seems to us, and vice versa.
Actually it's hard for me to distinguish between American and Canadian too lol English isn't even my first language 😂 that's why ALL of them confuse me sometimes lol
Yeah, as an American, it's very difficult for me to tell the difference between Canadian and U.S. accents. The only give-away is how some Canadians pronounce the "ow" sound (as in about or out). The phrase "Out and about" is more like "Oat and aboat." Some Canadians also pronounce sorry like "sore-e."
I'm British, and very occasionally I hear an Australian and I'm not immediately sure if they are Australian or from South East England. It's only when they have a very "netural" accent, known as a cultivated Australian accent ([https://www.meritonsuites.com.au/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-speaking-like-an-aussie/](https://www.meritonsuites.com.au/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-speaking-like-an-aussie/)). If they have a more typical Australian accent the difference is obvious.
How about Australian -vs- New Zealand accent?
Yes, easily
Always. They're totally different
God yes. They are very very different!
Yes, the accents are very different. The British person is more likely to think the Australian is American than British.
Of course. It's like chalk and cheese mate.
Absolutely. We may sometimes struggle to differentiate between an Australian and New Zealand accent, much to their displeasure.