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US vs UK English for learners | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Thatzright Diglot Senior Member Finland Joined 5673 days ago 202 posts - 311 votes  Speaks: Finnish*, English Studies: French, Swedish, German, Russian | Message 97 of 136 05 November 2010 at 3:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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I am one of the many who do not speak the English language so much as a wildly popular North American dialect of it :-)
But yes, I tend to use an American accent, although I have no idea where somebody in America would speak like me, since there are so many varieties just inside that country too. That's just because I grew up absorbing American influence from products that used American English. I think the British "accent" ("Then again, I don't really have an accent - this is just how things sound when pronunced properly" - British comedian Jimmy Carr) can sound cool at times too, for example for some reason I like David Cameron's voice and the way he speaks, but then there are some British accents that I just can't handle, ones where the "poshness" has seemingly been turned up a lot. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5335 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 98 of 136 26 December 2010 at 12:03am | IP Logged | ||
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I have just spent my Christmas holiday in Tenerife in the company of heaps of Englishmen, and take my word for it: There are loads of British accents that are as un-posh as they come. Some of them are in fact barely understandable. I had to ask a family the other day, because I thought they spoke English, but I could only catch a word here and there. Tunrs out they were from Yorkshire. And here I thought I understood Yorkshire-dialect after having wathched Emmerdale farm for years as a kid...
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| Cowlegend999 Groupie CanadaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5145 days ago 72 posts - 94 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Cantonese | Message 99 of 136 26 December 2010 at 6:45am | IP Logged | ||
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Doesn't anybody ever learn an Australian accent? I personally think it's an awesome accent even though in
Canadian. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| FuroraCeltica Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6866 days ago 1187 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 100 of 136 26 December 2010 at 4:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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My advice to learners of English is think about what you personally are more likely to deal with. If an Italian is planning to work in London, obviously they need to focus their study on UK English, as many vocab items in UK English are different. If that same person was instead planning to work in Chicago, I'd encourage them to focus their study on US English.
In terms of accent, I don't think its hugely important whether theyt imitate UK or US pronounciation, as they can be understood by either. There is some slight different, for example in the stress pattern on words, (e.g. address in US but address in UK) but never enough to prevent understanding. If the student is looking to do immersion, I'd say they should aim for a 'neutral' accent in whatever country they are studying. This would mean avoiding Northern England and the Southern USA, as the accents in these places are quite strong. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ratis Hexaglot Newbie Germany Joined 5104 days ago 28 posts - 43 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin Studies: Czech, Japanese Studies: Hindi | Message 101 of 136 29 December 2010 at 1:42pm | IP Logged | ||
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When I came out of school I was using a wild mix of more or less American pronunciation
plus thick German accent copied from all the non-native teachers. Later on I consciously decided to model British English instead and stuck with it. Reasoning: 1) It was easier to get hold of interesting materials for British English (BBC iPlayer, to name just one) 2) At work, I keep noticing all those small cultural differences between US and EU, and came to feel I'm European, so I wanted to sound that way. It just seemed more logical to my mind. So I guess I'm motivated by some kind of (friendly) European patriotism? It might also be a bit of tongue-in-cheek rebellion because my boss is American. :D 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| JLA Triglot Newbie France Joined 4898 days ago 25 posts - 33 votes Speaks: French*, English, German Studies: Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 102 of 136 11 August 2011 at 12:47pm | IP Logged | ||
I am most definitively with you here, If I were to be able to loose my VERY strong French accent I would most definitively aim for an Australian accent. They are a few other "local" accents that I really love, both in Great Britain and in the US - for examples Scottish, Wyoming, Georgia ... but nothing "sexier" than the Aussie accent :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jasoninchina Senior Member China Joined 5232 days ago 221 posts - 306 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Mandarin, Italian | Message 103 of 136 11 August 2011 at 3:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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Since someone decided to resurrect this thread, I might as well pose a question. I have always thought that my Californian accent was essentially no accent, "neutral". I'm not sure how to describe it, but I suspect many of you understand what I mean. How do others perceive this? Do the English or Australians perceive themselves as having no accent? That would blow my mind if they did.
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| pitwo Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6160 days ago 103 posts - 121 votes Speaks: French*, English | Message 104 of 136 11 August 2011 at 3:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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What about Indian English speakers, do they think "those americans are sure hard to
understand"? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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