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’.