If you see a westerner how do you know if he is British, Australian, American, etc?

(Oh, a Nino-fan??) The differences are very easy for me, but it may be because of my great interest in Asia. Hmm, to help others know the differences... listen & study a lot, I would say. In the beginning, I went by these rules on languages; Japanese sounds somewhat cute, overly happy/excited. Chinese sounds like people are holding their fingers against their nose, breathing through their mouth while speaking, along with alot of X/Z/S/Sch-sounds. As for Koreans.. they speak in boxes? I'm not sure how to explain it, but it makes me think of their hangul. They just pronounce their words like that. Also, the way Asians look and behave differ from country to country. But that's even harder to figure out, since all people are different. Not everyone matches stereotypes, but got their own style/look. It takes time to get used to Asians, and even longer to know the differences when you're from the Western world. But once you have gotten it, I would say it's (almost) as easy for Western people as for Eastern people. It's all a question about practice and time. (I'm sure Asian also have trouble knowing the differences of people from the Western world)

You cannot teach this stuff. It is acquired only through exposure.

I can't think of any way to distinguish non-Hispanic caucasian Brits, Aussies or Yanks but that's probably because the latter two were directly or indirectly "colonies" of Great Britain. But there are definite facial differences amongst the East Asian nationalities. It simply requires that one pay a little attention and it it not that difficult. I usually don't have trouble determining nationality amongst Japanese/Chinese/Korean and often I can correctly guess Vietnamese and even Cambodian. Obviously, for one to learn the differences, it requires some exposure to the various peoples. Not all Westerners get this exposure. It also takes a willingness to pay attention. Often, you can't even tell the difference between an American and many types of Europeans! Often, the best way is to tell by their style of dress.

It's easy! The Chinese, Japanese and Koreans all dress differently and act differently.