I have really loved Australia. The area we stayed in and people we met made our time in Newy so special. As much as I love the Aussie accent and words it is sometimes hard to understand, especially in a loud/fast paced setting. I was working at a pub in Newcastle for a bit and I really enjoyed it but it took me a second to get used to all of the names of things. All of the beers are different there so I was learning their names and nicknames at the same time. Someone came to the bar and ordered a beer and I had to ask them to repeat themselves multiple times because the way they were saying “VB” was confusing. The full name of the beer was Victoria Bitter, which is a really popular beer but I did not know that when I first started. I would pronounce VB like Vee Bee but it sounds more like Vay Bay with the Aussie accent. I was embarrassed at the time but looking back now, it was obviously not a big deal I just needed a little to get used to it. Some other things that are different about Aussie pronunciation are that often the “R” is dropped at the end of the word to dinner is dinna, later is lata, her sounds like ha. Footie can refer to football (rugby) or soccer depending on the context. Other words are shortened to breakfast is breakkie, school holidays are schoolies, afternoon is arvo. Surely and heaps are two of the words I have started using. Reckon, keen, and full on are some other ones I noticed.
I think it just takes a second to understand but in the moment can sometimes be stressful. Luckily everyone seemed to be pretty understanding. One of my coworkers asked me a question but I couldn’t understand her so when she asked it again she emphasized the endings of the words for me. I thought it was funny. Someone from Australia would probably view this as pretty normal. A lot of Australian’s are fairly familiar with the American accent because there is so much American influence through media, so I think it is a lot easier for them to understand the American accent and American phrases. People tend to be pretty understanding especially if they heard my accent. These situations prepared me to respond to future cultural misunderstandings by teaching me to be patient and that its okay to ask questions. Sometimes in the moment it is hard to remember this but really its completely fine.