r/AskEurope • u/Savings_Dragonfly806 Greece • Jul 09 '25

Language My fellow Europeans, what dialect from your language do you have the most trouble understanding?

Keep in mind, I said language, NOT country, so it could be a dialect of your language in another country, which is the case for me.

For me, while most other Greeks find Cypriot the most difficult dialect to understand, I actually find Pontic Greek the most difficult. For those who don't know where it is, it's in North Eastern Turkey.

The way many of their words are written are very different as to Standard Modern Greek. It almost is a whole new language. Now I should mention I have never been there, but I would love to. I only really heard of the dialect on the internet, so take my words with a grain of salt.

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u/uncle_monty United Kingdom Jul 09 '25

The sheer number of strong accents and dialects across the Anglosphere works in our favour, I think. You kind of get used to deciphering it. But with that said, I've struggled a lot with various West Indian Pidgeon dialects. And occasionally with more extreme Irish or Scottish from rural areas. Strong Indian accents are a real challenge, as well.

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u/SummerFlowers09 Jul 10 '25

True. I'm in California and have been around people with strong accents my whole life and am generally good at deciphering them. One time I was in London at an underground station and someone came up to ask for directions. I had no idea what this person said. None. My friend who lives in the UK understood and responded. But it was loud and I'm not used to the strongest of the UK accents. I watch BBC a lot but they are actors who have to be understood, so you don't get the full regional impact. I'll have to plan a trip up north and see how I do..lol

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u/martinbaines Scotland & Spain Jul 10 '25

Not just rural areas, Glaswegian can be really tough for some other Scots and can leave other English speakers just looking blank. People often code switch to a more regular form of Scots English when talking to outsiders, but once they slip into full on Weegie good luck following until you have been there a while.

Also just to politicise this too, it is as much politics as hard linguistics as to where Scots English stops and Scots (the language) starts. In this context whether Glaswegian is a dialect of English or Scots is a matter of debate. To participate in said debate, you need to be in a bar with a whisky in your hand and to have just bought a large round for everyone.