Re all this 'which English is the international one?' business. The standard US dialect of the midwest, circa Chigago, is very popular and widely sought-after by organizations which teach English as a second language. I have heard that RP British English is also prized in the European ESL scene, but in general the very fluent European speakers of English I encountered when I taught there sounded more like Americans than English. The other dialects (Australian, Texas, New York, etc.) don't get much of a look-in, but if a school is desperate for a native English speaker on staff, they won't really care. At my first job as an ESL teacher I was encouraged to use an American accent, which most Australians can do because we hear it on TV so much. I tried it for about a day then went back to my normal speaking voice!) At another job prospective clients were told I was a Harvard graduate, which I'm not. Shady, this ESL racket!

Due to the spread of US culture around the English-speaking world via movies, TV and pop music, as well as its relative 'standardness', the US midwest dialect is widely understood in English-speaking countries. It also doesn't have much if any relation to social class, as British English does, which might also be a reason it's popular. Last, of course, the US is the top dog in the world economy right now so that's another good reason to learn to speak that way - because one might want to do business there.

Meanwhile I've misunderstood both the highland Scottish and south island New Zealand dialects, causing embarrassment. I saw In The Heat of the Night recently, a film set in the south of the US, and had to rewind a couple of times because I couldn't catch what they were saying. I have also on occasion pronounced my final 'r's, for example saying 'kar' instead of the usual 'kah', to aid clarity. I think I did that in the US, mostly, (even though many Americans I met love the Australian accent!)

So, short answer to the question posed: if you had to name one, midwest US English is the functional international English, but plenty of others are taught and understood.

ceigered:

geo63:there is a thunderstorm round here (a real one with lightings) and I am afraid of my computer. Bye.

Afraid of or afraid for? Ever since I was younger and decided to muck around with my computer's power supply, I've been both (dangerous yet fragile machines).

...afraid of... (I think). Computers do scare me, at least during a thunderstorm, when they can turn into a killing bloodthirsty electric beast...

Attention all colonials! There is only one English that is the true English and that is the Queen's English.

sudanglo:Attention all colonials! There is only one English that this true English and that is the Queen's English.

Does the Queen know anything about digraphs, single linked lists or Btrees? If not, then whose English is the language of science?

Forgive me, I wasn't sufficiently comprehensive. I should have said 'Attention all colonials and foreigners!'

I consider British English standard myself.

But I think the standard American accent is easier for foreigners to understand. We pronounce our final R's. And words like "no" should have just one vowel, unlike that dipthonged "neŭ" that I sometimes hear from Brits.

On the other hand this "American English for foreigners" has to be better enunciated than standard American English. T's have to be clear T's, not to be confused with D's. I saw recently in the Guardian that a columnist referred to being unsure of whether the Americans say "party hearty" or "party hardy" because of that D-T confluence. (columnist guessed "hardy" but that's wrong, it's hearty). "Clothes" has to be clearly distinguishable from "close" (it isn't in my accent)

I've always felt that some Irish accents were a good compromise between vowel precision and pronunciation of R, so maybe it's the Irish who have the clearest English!

Lancelot Hogben (author of interglosa) used the term "Anglo-American" for the English language, to express the influence of both sides of the Atlantic on it.
One example that comes to mind is the term "jail".

sudanglo:Forgive me, I wasn't sufficiently comprehensive. I should have said 'Attention all colonials and foreigners!'

What do you mean, heathen?! The queen and her kin are appointed by God himself, and before that by whatever pagan gods we were into. Surely the whole earth is unto them!
(joking of course. We all know that the one place in the world that England has always wanted is France and that every colony was really compensation for France being too independent and all).

As for easy to understand accents for foreigners, how about Irish? They pronounce the Rs, have very simple long vowels, and have a very smooth rhythm. They just happen to be a very small community of speakers compared to England and the USA.
(EDIT: Just saw Erinja's comment as I was writing this - glad I'm not the only one who's pondering this!)

I wonder though if there's such thing as an Anglo-American accent (using the term introduced by Miland). I'd imagine it'd also have some things in common with Australian English except for simpler vowels (if the Irish are on the "simple" end, we're on the "Trying to take the title of most vowels away from Scandinavia" end).

And Miland, what do you mean by "jail"? (Or gaol as is the official way downunder ).

ceigered:And Miland, what do you mean by "jail"? (Or gaol as is the official way downunder ).

Nu, bv. lumigi min, ho Jodo:* at the corners of Monopoly boards made down under and used by Ozzies, does it say "Go to Gaol"?

*Trans: "Here's a question, then:"

The speech of Queen herself has changed over the years. Listen to her first Christmas broadcast, then her most recent one, (I think they are all on Youtube) to compare for yourself. Someone did a proper study of it, too, I believe. Why has the way she talks changed? Influences are probably the growth of the mass media, the declining significance of the class system, and the continuing disappearance of the empire combined with the rise in importance of the EU, which is supposedly anti- all the old notions of empire, social class, etc. (Australia's still pink on the world maps, and our flag makes it look like we could still be a colony, but we aren't allowed to work in the UK freely anymore, as Poles are!)