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US vs UK English for learners | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5839 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes  Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 9 of 136 30 April 2009 at 11:19am | IP Logged | |||||
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Jeff, With UK English - I mean RP (Recieved Pronounciation) or BBC4 "no regional accent" English. This is usually what the English teaching material is based on in in schools, at least in the countries where I went to school.
I don't know very much about American pronounciations but the standard "California (?)" American that is spoken in most of the popular American TV shows is what I was thinking of. This is probably what most Europeans get exposed to and view as "standard" American. I've noticed that they go for very neutral accents on CNN which I watch sometimes. When their English reach a certain level European learners face a choice: Do I follow the pronounciation they teach in school, and that is also more European, or do I imitate the pronounciation that is on TV every night? I live in the UK, so I speak RP style (in a contemporary way for course!) and most English people appreciate it. For most people it takes a while to hear/register that I am a foreigner. I will never be able to erase the last fragment of foreign accent but I can live with that. It's pretty common that people think I am a white anglo South African, lol !! I guess that's a success in a way. I don't think I sound like them though! (It's really funny when you meet "real" Americans and they normally speak nothing like on TV, instead they have a New York accent, Midwestern.. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| paparaciii Diglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 6337 days ago 204 posts - 223 votes Speaks: Latvian*, Russian Studies: English | Message 10 of 136 30 April 2009 at 1:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
But unfortunately in spite of the fact that I prefer AmE, some British spelling always gets into my writing and it can sometimes be very tricky to make out how to pronounce words correctly due to the fact that so many accents exist in this unregulated English speaking world. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6440 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 11 of 136 30 April 2009 at 2:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
Congratulations; that means you write like I do - that is, as a Canadian. Mixing American and British conventions is common in Canadians. The guidelines given in school for spelling were simple: "pick American or British spelling, and stick with it", with absolutely no follow-up other than correcting forms which occur in neither; unsurprisingly, this doesn't seem to lead to particularly puristic results. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Olekander Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5884 days ago 122 posts - 136 votes Speaks: English*, French, Russian | Message 12 of 136 30 April 2009 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Well I'm passionate about the English accent, so really I want everyone to learn that. I think calling it British is very misleading because I would be very suprised if a man from Latvia came up to me and went "alriiight laad, hoe'r ya do'un"? Same with Irish or Welsh.
I don't particulary like American English, but if you're foreign and want to live here, I suggest you learn English accent, likewise America, learn the American accent. Kinda logic really. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6904 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 13 of 136 30 April 2009 at 4:20pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's exactly how I feel about it. American accent sounds more natural. Dark_Sunshine, Cordelia - I may try British accent, though :). My problem is that I often switch to the kind of accent the person I'm speaking too has, so it's quite difficult to stick to one variety. I'd need some immersion and my accent will probably depend on where I'll go. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6895 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 14 of 136 30 April 2009 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Something like neutral UK here, with a sprinkling of some southern regional elements, since I lived there for a few years, though that was a while ago now.
On the subject of accents, I have the impression that the term "RP" is not very useful at all. It is not clear to me what type of accent it is supposed to represent, I am not seeing it used consistently, and apart from some academic circles I have the impression that the term "RP" is hardly ever used by native speakers when discussing accents. There is the neutral and slightly artificial-sounding accent as heard on the BBC. There is "Oxford English" or "Oxbridge" accent, which I suppose is not far from BBC-speak (right?). I'm not sure if the BBC-accent would qualify as "RP" (?). Then there are many accents with larger or smaller proportions of regional elements in them, and then there is the "upper-class" variety, the way royalty sound, and a few other upper-class people depending on what public school they went to. Surely royalty-speak must qualify as "RP" or what? All well and good for the few individuals who were born and bred in that kind of setting. But who would dare recommend a non-native learner to try to ape that kind of accent? A couple of generations back maybe, but not today, surely? Edited by Hencke on 30 April 2009 at 6:11pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Russianbear Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6776 days ago 358 posts - 422 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, Ukrainian Studies: Spanish | Message 15 of 136 30 April 2009 at 6:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I model my English accent on the Russian language, the Moscow dialect :) Just kidding. I am in the US, so it makes sense for me to stick with the US accent. At least I hope that is what remains when my Russian accent is gone :) I find UK accents hard to imitate, and, in some cases, hard to understand. Edited by Russianbear on 30 April 2009 at 6:55pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5925 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 16 of 136 30 April 2009 at 7:16pm | IP Logged | |||||
The most neutral authentic American accent is not Californian, but rather urban Midwestern, though some Western accents can also sound fairly neutral. Edited by mick33 on 30 April 2009 at 7:24pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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