Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

The Swedes ’ British accent

  Tags: Accent
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
26 messages over 4 pages: 1 2 3 4  Next >>
zorglub
Pentaglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 6991 days ago

441 posts - 504 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: French*, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: German, Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin

 
 Message 1 of 26
06 May 2012 at 3:09pm | IP Logged 
Why do the Swedes often speak  English with a marked British accent ?
They are exposed to AMerican series and movies with subtitles.
Do they have Brit lecturers at school ? Do their teacher acquire a Brit accent in the UK and transfer it ? Then how come these teachers succed in transferring their accent when most school teaching seems to fail to do so in the US , UK and France for instance ?
1 person has voted this message useful



Hampie
Diglot
Senior Member
Sweden
Joined 6650 days ago

625 posts - 1009 votes 
Speaks: Swedish*, English
Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin

 
 Message 2 of 26
06 May 2012 at 3:48pm | IP Logged 
Were, at least I was, taught exclusively British until we're in junior high, and then we do some dialects. But before
that almost all material that we have in school covers RP English. Nonetheless, most Swedes who speak English do
have a thick Swedish accent: perhaps this sounds British to others?
2 persons have voted this message useful



Elexi
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5556 days ago

938 posts - 1840 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: French, German, Latin

 
 Message 3 of 26
06 May 2012 at 4:04pm | IP Logged 
I agree with Hampie, Swedes tend to speak English with a Swedish accent - I have never
met one who can pass as a native - that is not a negative comment as most English people
I know love Scandinavian accents.
2 persons have voted this message useful



beano
Diglot
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4613 days ago

1049 posts - 2152 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian

 
 Message 4 of 26
06 May 2012 at 4:37pm | IP Logged 
Elexi wrote:
I agree with Hampie, Swedes tend to speak English with a Swedish accent - I have never
met one who can pass as a native - that is not a negative comment as most English people
I know love Scandinavian accents.


Agreed, when I hear Swedish people speak English they don't sound British at all. I also don't mean this in a negative light, in fact I prefer it when people use their own accents instead of trying to impersonate a foreigner.

Accents are not a problem in the UK. We have countless dialects and accents of our own, so the addition of a Scandanavian sound barely registers with most people. People in real life do not speak with RP, well maybe in the home counties they do.
1 person has voted this message useful



zorglub
Pentaglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 6991 days ago

441 posts - 504 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: French*, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: German, Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin

 
 Message 5 of 26
06 May 2012 at 5:12pm | IP Logged 
Hampie wrote:
Were, at least I was, taught exclusively British until we're in junior high, and then we do some dialects. But before
that almost all material that we have in school covers RP English. Nonetheless, most Swedes who speak English do
have a thick Swedish accent: perhaps this sounds British to others?


I did notice quite many Swedes do not speak English, quite many have a Scandinavian accent, but last time I was in Stockholm, many had a strongly British / Britishoid accent.I'm not telling they sound like native speakers but they were clos enough to prove contact with that accent. ANd definitely no touch of a North American one.
So I'm asking where do they get exposed to that peculiar accent or rather those British accents as indeed there are many.

Edited by zorglub on 06 May 2012 at 5:15pm

1 person has voted this message useful



tarvos
Super Polyglot
Winner TAC 2012
Senior Member
China
likeapolyglot.wordpr
Joined 4698 days ago

5310 posts - 9399 votes 
Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans
Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish

 
 Message 6 of 26
06 May 2012 at 7:56pm | IP Logged 
Perhaps that's what best aligns with native Swedish phonology?
2 persons have voted this message useful



Hampie
Diglot
Senior Member
Sweden
Joined 6650 days ago

625 posts - 1009 votes 
Speaks: Swedish*, English
Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin

 
 Message 7 of 26
06 May 2012 at 9:37pm | IP Logged 
zorglub wrote:
Hampie wrote:
Were, at least I was, taught exclusively British until we're in junior high, and
then we do some dialects. But before
that almost all material that we have in school covers RP English. Nonetheless, most Swedes who speak English do
have a thick Swedish accent: perhaps this sounds British to others?


I did notice quite many Swedes do not speak English, quite many have a Scandinavian accent, but last time I was in
Stockholm, many had a strongly British / Britishoid accent.I'm not telling they sound like native speakers but they
were clos enough to prove contact with that accent. ANd definitely no touch of a North American one.
So I'm asking where do they get exposed to that peculiar accent or rather those British accents as indeed there are
many.

School. We have English tuition from first class and onwards, 4 hours a week, I think.
1 person has voted this message useful



zorglub
Pentaglot
Senior Member
France
Joined 6991 days ago

441 posts - 504 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: French*, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: German, Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin

 
 Message 8 of 26
06 May 2012 at 11:12pm | IP Logged 
Hampie wrote:
...
I did notice quite many Swedes do not speak English, quite many have a Scandinavian accent, but last time I was in Stockholm, many had a strongly British / Britishoid accent.I'm not telling they sound like native speakers but they were clos enough to prove contact with that accent. ANd definitely no touch of a North American one.
So I'm asking where do they get exposed to that peculiar accent or rather those British accents as indeed there are many.

[/QUOTE] School. We have English tuition from first class and onwards, 4 hours a week, I think.
Ah.
So your school teaching of English succeeds in teaching a decent pronunciationand your teachers speak good British accented English I suppose ?
Because I never heard a British like accent among French natives not otherwise exposed to British English.
So either our French teachers of English don't have a decent pronunciation or they can't convey it for lack of skills, or time (certainly), or excessive number of pupils (probably too).



1 person has voted this message useful



This discussion contains 26 messages over 4 pages: 2 3 4  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 0.4063 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.