|
 |
Can you pinpoint my English Accent? | ||
Tags: Accent | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5371 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes  Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 9 of 20 02 August 2014 at 4:46am | IP Logged | |||||
|
@robarb -- I'm pretty sure his pronunciation of "newspaper" is typical of where he's from.
I can't discern a non-native accent either and I've guessed as jeff did. However, you were reading and you probably practiced a bit. How about an improvised speech instead? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sizen Diglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4329 days ago 165 posts - 347 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Catalan, Spanish, Japanese, Ukrainian, German | Message 10 of 20 02 August 2014 at 9:16am | IP Logged | |||||
|
I'm going to say something with no intention of ruffling any feathers, but I've found a
lot of Americans to be unaware of their own accents and the different variations of accents in the English language (outside of the UK). There are probably many reasons for this, but I'd chock it up to a lack of interest to study the differences, along with a healthy dose of lack of exposure. This is not to say everybody is like this. When I meet Americans, some are actually able to say I sound like a Western Canadian (which I'm always very happy to hear. No, not all Canadians live in Toronto :p), while others just say my accent doesn't sound quite right. I've also met many a stubborn American who insists on correcting my "accent". In my opinion, it's not that you have a bad accent, far from it; they might just not know any better and call it wrong when it should just be called different. I'll add that I wouldn't be shocked if I met a Canadian who held similar beliefs to the Americans I've mentioned above. It's just that Canadians are more exposed to American accents through the media and generally can't tell the difference between an American or a Canadian one unless it's a heavy Texan accent! Edited by Sizen on 02 August 2014 at 9:32am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| BrianDeAlabama Groupie United States Joined 4509 days ago 89 posts - 113 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 11 of 20 03 August 2014 at 8:35am | IP Logged | |||||
|
I'm an American from a southern state (Alabama). I did not detect any accent that would lead me to believe that
you were not an American. That sounded 100% American to me. Edited by BrianDeAlabama on 03 August 2014 at 8:36am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5365 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 12 of 20 03 August 2014 at 1:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I agree... I cannot detect anything that would suggest your English is not 100% American sounding. I do note that you sound "highly-educated" which is not really an accent but something that comes through in the way you speak. There are, of course, many accents and you do have a distinct sound to your voice that I would have a hard time placing what part of the country you are "from." Like me, you sound different than people from the south, Minnesota, Boston, etc.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3897 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 13 of 20 04 August 2014 at 4:50am | IP Logged | |||||
|
I am an American and have lived in New Jersey just about all of my life (regardless of people
thinking people from New Jersey have a "Joysey" accent, which is only in parts of the north, a lot of people in this part of the country have a "standard" American accent, like the ones you'd see in the movies or on the news.) You would fool me 100% if I met you randomly; I would 100% think you were American. I did notice a slight (very slight) accent on some of the R's, but that is only because I was listening for it. With that said, I cannot really pinpoint where in America you are from. I would definitely rule out the South and major inner-cities (New York, Boston, Chicago, etc). I'll add to the poster that said you sound very educated and say that you sound professional as well, which makes it hard to pinpoint where you could be from since there are so many centers in the US that are influenced by this way of speaking due to the level interaction with people in professional settings. This is also because you are reading something. I'd like to hear how you would talk in a more natural, every-day conversational/colloquial manner. Then it would be much easier to tell since that's where it would really come out. Edited by soclydeza85 on 04 August 2014 at 4:58am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Kartof Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5056 days ago 391 posts - 550 votes Speaks: English*, Bulgarian*, Spanish Studies: Danish | Message 14 of 20 04 August 2014 at 2:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Hey, so thank you all for all of the comments!
In light of the comments about the first recording being of a reading, I made another recording off the cuff. It sounds a bit like a voice-mail but it's a better picture of how I speak informally. http://www.recordmp3.org/lf6AC.mp3 Here's the transcript of the recording: "The first thing I did this morning when I woke up was make myself a cup of coffee. Then, I fried some eggs and bacon, and I made another cup of coffee. In a couple of hours I plan to take the train into the city and meet up with a friend who I haven't seen in a few months. We haven't decided what we want to do today, but we'll probably go see a museum, or hang out at the park, or just catch up." I know "who" should be "whom", but who uses "whom" informally? Thanks in advance! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| dampingwire Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4655 days ago 1185 posts - 1513 votes Speaks: English*, Italian*, French Studies: Japanese | Message 15 of 20 04 August 2014 at 3:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
You're still American. Maybe you just don't sound like your neighbours and that's what leads to their comments?
Me :-) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5365 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 16 of 20 04 August 2014 at 8:16pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I have same comments as before with regards to you new recording.
I'd liken it to you simply having a distinctive sound... I know plenty of people who I'd recognize their voice immediately simply because it has a certain sound to it or the way they talk. It does not have anything to do with an accent. Either way, you sound totally 100% American. I'd certainly not worry about your accent at all. 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
