Being in a country of native English speakers, I've been surprised that I can't understand the locals probably 20% of the time. In other places we've lived, I communicated with people in English which was their second or third language, so the vocabulary and pronunciation was pretty standardized. But here, especially the "whites" speak fast and furiously with their own terms and phrases and their own (to me) funny dialect. (I still can't get used to that distinction -whites - but saying Rodesians or expats or European-Zimbabweans is even less acceptable here since they ARE adamant about being Zimbabwean and African.) It sounds closer to South African or even Australian English than one of England's dialects...as far as I can tell. (Zimbabweans who are from Shona or Ndeble tribes usually speak those languages as their first language and are fluent in English on top of that.)
I'm at the gym, where I get my best internet connection. The instructor teaching the class is providing me with a helpful pronunication guide:
- Leg = Layg
- Bench = Beench
- Guys = Gahys
- Hands = Hends
- Quicker = Quickuh, Over = Ovuh, There = Theyuh
- Nearly = Nehly
- Dance = Dahnce
- World = Wuld
- (my favorites) Weather = Waythah, Pleasure = Playzhah
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