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British or American English in Europe | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5565 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 25 of 34 12 September 2011 at 1:25pm | IP Logged | |||||
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A good deal of non English speaking Europeans think they sound American but they actually sound like someone speaking English from their native country - I personally find the Dutch English accent to be the nicest.
I grew up speaking with a cockney accent and for years I tried to speak 'posh' RP(like Mr Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Listening to myself I thought I had achieved it until an American recently said 'Gee I love your cockney accent'. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kyle Corrie Senior Member United States Joined 4829 days ago 175 posts - 464 votes | Message 26 of 34 12 September 2011 at 8:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
Don't let that discourage you. Americans are seemingly horrible at identifying accents. If it's not the so called 'posh accent' that's heard on TV then the only other option for them is 'cockney'. I think it's more than fair to say that probably 99% of the time a Scotsman opens his mouth in The States he's identified as an Irishman. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Javi Senior Member Spain Joined 5981 days ago 419 posts - 548 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 27 of 34 12 September 2011 at 9:58pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In Spain the exposure to American accents among the general public is close to zero and
the same goes for every other foreign language in the world. Pretty much everything on the telly is dubbed. Some English learners are likely to seek material in its original version, and that will be a blend of British and American. On the other hand, formal instruction follows British standars and materials in most cases, so I would say that overall, "British English" wins hands down :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| July Diglot Senior Member Spain Joined 5273 days ago 113 posts - 208 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishB2 Studies: French | Message 28 of 34 13 September 2011 at 12:49am | IP Logged | |||||
Well I definitely speak RP, but not the strange affected version (it was just my local accent growing up, so I don't sound like the Queen). Over the years, I've spent a lot of time in the US - and I can't even count the times I've been asked what part of Australia I'm from. But to be fair, I can't always tell some northern US accents from Canadian, when they're very mild, and don't use any give-away words. As for learning British or American - just learn what you like and you think sounds beautiful, be it your teacher's accent, the accent of your favourite actor, or what you think will make you more easily understood in your travels. Pick one where you love the sound and will be motivated to put the effort in to get it right. You'll almost always keep at least a hint of your original accent in there anyway. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Haukilahti Triglot Groupie Finland Joined 4964 days ago 94 posts - 126 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, Polish | Message 29 of 34 13 September 2011 at 11:43am | IP Logged | |||||
And so in Italy as well. I wonder if with the popularity of satellite television, with the option of choosing language and subtitles, people will start watching more programs and films in the original language, but I have my doubts. Instead for example in Finland, it is true that everything on TV is subtitled, but it is also true that not all programs come from the US. There is instead a surprising amount of television from the UK, from documentaries to reality shows to sketches. Edited by Haukilahti on 13 September 2011 at 11:45am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ygangerg Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5318 days ago 100 posts - 140 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Arabic (Written), Mandarin, French Studies: German | Message 30 of 34 13 September 2011 at 12:08pm | IP Logged | |||||
I agree with the part about the travels, but I wouldn't recommend learning the dialect you think, initially, sounds most beautiful. I find that as you gain (if you gain) a high level of proficiency in a particular variety of language, you will stop hearing the sounds and really just hear the meaning, as you do in your native tongue. I would recommend speaking the dialect most useful to you in your area, the dialect of the culture that most interests you, or, as July says, the one most useful in your travels. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4828 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 31 of 34 13 September 2011 at 1:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
To be fair, with some of the island accents, it can be a little hard to distinguish them from some Irish accents. And some Northern Irish accents have a distinctive Scottish sound, not surprising as they were Scots originally. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4828 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 32 of 34 13 September 2011 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm probably similar. My parents were from Lancashire, but I was born and grew up in Gloucester which has a strong, almost west of England accent, but I was discouraged from speaking like the locals, and ended up with a sort of neutral RP accent - grammar, rather than public school, although probably influenced by the BBC radio of the day (1950s-60s, i.e. fairly "correct").
If imitating a favourite actor, I'd go for someone like Jeremy Irons, rather than, say, Michael Caine! :-) Much as I like Michael Caine, I wouldn't want to speak like him :-) Actually, since he's in a newly released film, John Hurt might not be a bad choice ... RP, but not too over-the-top "posh", to my ears. I'm biased towards a British accent, but there are plenty of American actors I enjoy listening to. Actually (having recently discovered the L-R method), I'm currently listening to a Librivox recording of a German book, voiced by several people, not well-known actors, and I am noticing some differences in accent, although I can't identify the accents. All are clear speakers though, which is the important thing. If trying to perfect an English accent, it might be an idea to buy a commercial audio book (or books), voiced by an actor or actors that you know and like the sound of (be they British, American or whatever). With a book you will have much longer with the voice than with a film, and without the visual distractions. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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