Variation in English

When foreign learners of English first come to the British Isles, they are usually surprised, and often dismayed, to discover_______ little they understand of the English they hear.

For _____ thing, people seem to speak faster _____ expected.

Also, the English that most British or Irish people speak seems to be different in _____ ways from the English the visitor has learnt.

While it is probably differences of pronunciation that _____ immediately strike them, learners may also notice differences of grammar and vocabulary.

Their reactions ____ this experience will vary. They may conclude that most of the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish people that they hear do not – or even cannot – speak English correctly.

In this they would find that many native speakers agree ______ them. They might even be told that, since learners of English _____ a foreign or second language have usually studied English in a formal way, they should know better than would native speakers what is ‘correct’.