Improve Your English: English in Everyday Life

Yank
. Uh, so to 
a 
Brit
, no, they don’t think I have an accent other than 
maybe an American accent. In the United States, most 
people think I have an accent. Uh, probably less and less 
people think it’s British, just because of time.
6. A CARIBBEAN PERSPECTIVE
WOMAN:
Yes, and they keep wondering, “After forty-
something years, you still have your accent?” I said, “Yes, 
I guess it’s a part of me, so . . .”
INTERVIEWER:
And what-what, how do you describe it to 
them? Your accent, I mean, when they say, “What-what 
kind of accent do you have?” What do you tell them?
WOMAN:
A West Indian accent, it’s a West Indian accent. 
Mm-hmm.
INTERVIEWER:
Do you have trouble understanding accents 
in the United States, other accents?
WOMAN:
Funny enough, not really, no, no. I always liked 
languages so, you know, and with, especially with Span-
ish, you had to learn the diff erent accents or dialects, you 
know. So, no, I don’t have any trouble with that, no.

---

Impr
ov
e Y
our Englis
h: Englis
h in Ev
er
yda
y Life
114
INTERVIEWER:
Do you al—, do you speak, uh, 
Guyanese 
Creole
also?
WOMAN:
[
No, no, mm-mm.
]
INTERVIEWER:
No, you don’t. You speak . . .
WOMAN:
I just speak 
[ 
English 
]
.
INTERVIEWER:
English.
WOMAN:
English, mm-hmm.
INTERVIEWER:
Do you understand it?
WOMAN:
I understand