For some reason, i just can't tell apart South African and Australian accents. They sound almost identical to me, and it's driving me nuts.
What brought this on? While playing Gears 3, i found it impossible to determine whether Samantha Byrne has an Australian or South African accent. I also have this problem with Purna from Dead Island. I think i read in her bio she's half aborigine, and from what i understand the aborigine peoples originated from Australia... but i'm fairly sure everyone on the island speaks with a South African accent. So i can't bloody work out whether she's Aussie or Afrikaans!
I've been told some people are just unable to hear the differences. I've also been told you're only really able to tell them apart when you've spent time with people who speak with those accents. I'd like to know if anyone else on the escapist has this problem, and if not, why can't i recognise which is which. I would also like to know if there are any other examples where it is seemingly impossible to differentiate accents / sounds apart from each other. I think i read somewhere that there's a condition some people have where they're genuinely unable to "understand" or "interpret" music as separate sounds and everything just sounds like noise to them and i'm wondering if that's slightly similar to what i'm experiencing regarding these accents, just on a far smaller scale.
[sup]And please, let's avoid the obvious answers like "Well one comes from Australia and one comes from South Africa herp derp!". You'll get cookies and punch. I swear.[footnote]Cookies and punch may not exist.[/footnote][/sup]
What brought this on? While playing Gears 3, i found it impossible to determine whether Samantha Byrne has an Australian or South African accent. I also have this problem with Purna from Dead Island. I think i read in her bio she's half aborigine, and from what i understand the aborigine peoples originated from Australia... but i'm fairly sure everyone on the island speaks with a South African accent. So i can't bloody work out whether she's Aussie or Afrikaans!
I've been told some people are just unable to hear the differences. I've also been told you're only really able to tell them apart when you've spent time with people who speak with those accents. I'd like to know if anyone else on the escapist has this problem, and if not, why can't i recognise which is which. I would also like to know if there are any other examples where it is seemingly impossible to differentiate accents / sounds apart from each other. I think i read somewhere that there's a condition some people have where they're genuinely unable to "understand" or "interpret" music as separate sounds and everything just sounds like noise to them and i'm wondering if that's slightly similar to what i'm experiencing regarding these accents, just on a far smaller scale.
[sup]And please, let's avoid the obvious answers like "Well one comes from Australia and one comes from South Africa herp derp!". You'll get cookies and punch. I swear.[footnote]Cookies and punch may not exist.[/footnote][/sup]
