Strange question, but: Is it really that unusual for an American to be able to distinguish between English spoken with an English, Australian, Irish, Scottish, Dutch, German, French, or Finnish accent?
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One of the ones I was thinking of was housemates with an English expat, so that was probably part of it. And yeah, I met a Swedish fur in the UK and had no idea he was Swedish until he told me, but often the accent is pretty distinct when I see Swedes in rally coverage and such
Makes sense to me. The accent is strongest in Swedes 30+, but below 30, it drops off sharply. Which, not coincidentally, tracks well with an earlier age at which Internet use became more common.
