ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Regional accents of English

So, you know how you talk with your friends and family and sometimes you use different words or say things in a different way than your teacher or someone you don't know very well? That's because people from different places often talk a little differently than others. These differences in the ways we speak are called accents.

English is spoken in lots of different places around the world, and each of these places has its own accent. People who live in the United States, for example, might speak with a different accent than people who live in Great Britain, Australia or South Africa.

But even within one country, people can have different accents depending on where they come from. For example, in the UK, people from Manchester might sound different than people from London, and people from Glasgow in Scotland might sound different than people from Belfast in Northern Ireland.

These regional accents can be really interesting because they give us clues about where someone is from or how they grew up. But sometimes, regional accents can be hard to understand, especially if you're not used to hearing them. So it's always a good idea to give your full attention and ask questions if you're not sure what someone is saying!