A lot of English learners get quite confused about the fact that some people understand them perfectly while others don’t seem to understand a word they say.

This divide is normally along the lines of native and non-native speakers. Non-native English speakers were actually able to understand each other better when they spoke to each other than when they spoke with native English speakers!

How could this be true when they were all speaking a foreign language? Well, most native English speakers grow up hearing only one language — their own variety of English. Non-native speakers hear many different kinds of English as they learn the language, and therefore have a “better ear” when it comes to understanding others.

Native speakers also listen for subtle nuances of the language that non-native speakers don’t particularly care about. We listen for word stress and intonation patterns to give us more information. Non-native speakers ignore all of that to focus more on vocabulary.

So this is why we can end up having more miscommunication when native speakers are involved. We hear the English language differently.

This is why it’s just as important for native speakers to pay attention to their speech in international settings and also make an honest effort to understand others.