# How does the English accent sound in your language?



## basurero

Hi
I was interested to know how English speakers sound when they speak foreign languages. In English some foreign accents sounds harsh, romantic etc. Some have stronger accents while other people have no problem adopting good English pronounciation. What do people think of the Englsih accent in your language?

Hola
Me interesa saber cómo suenan angloparlantes cuando hablan otros idiomas. En inglés algunos accentos suenan ásperos o románticos etc. Algunas personas tienen accentos muy fuertes pero otras pueden aprender la pronunciación inglesa con toda facilidad. ¿Qué piensa la gente en el accento inglés en tu idioma?


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## VenusEnvy

Bas: I am so glad that you asked this question. I wonder the same thing all of the time! For example, if I try to imitate a Frenchman speaking English, I replace the "th"'s with "z"'s, and I throat my "r"'s. If I were to imitate an Italian speaking English, I would add a whole bunch of "e"'s before every word.    lol    I hope I don't offend anyone.

I'd like to know, too: How to people from other countries imitate English accents???


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## Dalian

Mandarin is a tone language, while English is not.
Generally we have four tones. A syllable using different tones have different meanings.
e.g. ma (level tone)=mother
ma (rising tone)=hemp
ma (falling-rising)=horse
ma (falling)=scold
Most English-speaking people have difficulties in distinguishing the tones, and they tend to speak mandarin sentences in a plain intonation.
Hope I made myself clear, anyway, English and Chinese differ a lot and are hard to compare.
It's also difficult for us to pronounce good English.


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## Javier-Vega

First, english-speaking people are usually unable to pronounce 'rr' and the strong 'r' at the beginning of a word, so they pronounce it as a weak 'r'. For example, when they say "burro" sounds like "buro" to us. (Well, this is probably more universal, not limited to english-speaking people, since the spanish 'rr' is quite difficult).
More particular of english-speaking people is that they tend to say the 'o' at the end of a word like an 'ou'. For example, 'amigo' sounds like 'amigou'.

Apart from that, there is a lot of very typical phrases in bad learned spanish ('No problema' or 'No problemo' instead of 'No hay problema', and so on).


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## gaer

basurero said:
			
		

> Hi
> I was interested to know how English speakers sound when they speak foreign languages. In English some foreign accents sounds harsh, romantic etc. Some have stronger accents while other people have no problem adopting good English pronounciation. What do people think of the Englsih accent in your language?
> 
> Hola
> Me interesa saber cómo suenan angloparlantes cuando hablan otros idiomas. En inglés algunos accentos suenan ásperos o románticos etc. Algunas personas tienen accentos muy fuertes pero otras pueden aprender la pronunciación inglesa con toda facilidad. ¿Qué piensa la gente en el accento inglés en tu idioma?


First of all, people from the same country but with different educational backgrounds often sound very different when they speak English.


But how did you post kanji and hiragana?

猿も木から落ちる, "Even monkeys fall from trees" (Everyone makes mistakes.)

Cool.  It works! (But only for those of us who have Japanese installed…)


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## Akialuz

I would imitate an American English speaker with a lot of "air puffing" when talking. Pronouncing all the "r's" as in butter. And making all the fianal vowels long and the others short. 
A Puertorrican speaking English (with a worst accent than mine!!)  by pronouncing all the "r's" strong, the "sh" sound like "ch", the "y" like "ll", adding a "g"  in front of 'weekend' (or actually in front of every w), pronouncing "th" like "s"...   so many more!!  
~Akialuz
PS We think is cute the way North Americans sound.  
     I know they hate our "Spanish accent".


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## Lancel0t

Here in the Philippines any foreigners who speak english and will try to speak in our language which is Filipino, will have a very hard time pronoucing our dialect properly because they usually can't immitate our hard accent. Fortunately many of us can immitate the American accent and I believe that is one of the reason why many US companies are outsourcing their call centers here in the Philippines.


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## te gato

I admit, guilty..guilty as charged..I can't for the life of me roll the rr..
I personally find the Spanish Language beautiful to listen to..I told all my friends in Mexico that I didn't care, call me a horse, tell me I dress funny, and so on..just talk. I don't know if the Alberta side of Canada has an accent??? I do not talk like a person from Texas (sorry) I do not have a southern drawl, I do not have a french accent.. I have no accent..
It would be interesting to hear, or to find out.
te gato


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## zebedee

te gato said:
			
		

> I don't know if the Alberta side of Canada has an accent??? I do not talk like a person from Texas (sorry) I do not have a southern drawl, I do not have a french accent.. I have no accent..



I would presume that anyone from out of Canada listening to you speak would say you had a Canadian accent, wouldn't they?

zeb


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## badger

te gato said:
			
		

> I admit, guilty..guilty as charged..I can't for the life of me roll the rr..
> I personally find the Spanish Language beautiful to listen to..I told all my friends in Mexico that I didn't care, call me a horse, tell me I dress funny, and so on..just talk. I don't know if the Alberta side of Canada has an accent??? I do not talk like a person from Texas (sorry) I do not have a southern drawl, I do not have a french accent.. *I have no accent*..
> It would be interesting to hear, or to find out.
> te gato



Hi te gato.

I lived Australia for a number of years (a long time ago) and didn't have much contact with Irish people.  During that time I mistook Canadians for Irish on a few occasions, although I can't remember what part of Canada they came from.   

badger.


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## ayed

basurero said:
			
		

> Hi
> I was interested to know how English speakers sound when they speak foreign languages. In English some foreign accents sounds harsh, romantic etc. Some have stronger accents while other people have no problem adopting good English pronounciation. What do people think of the Englsih accent in your language?
> 
> Hola
> Me interesa saber cómo suenan angloparlantes cuando hablan otros idiomas. En inglés algunos accentos suenan ásperos o románticos etc. Algunas personas tienen accentos muy fuertes pero otras pueden aprender la pronunciación inglesa con toda facilidad. ¿Qué piensa la gente en el accento inglés en tu idioma?


Once I tried before my Prof.that I do know how to pronounce "Intersection"
I said"Innersection"Immediately interrupted me :" You, say"InTERsection" 
"Exteraordinary" and"Particular" were hard for me to pronounce.I would say the two words until I have won , eventually.
Right now, I am affect with _Exteraordinary & Particular Syndrom_

Thanks


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## Whodunit

I didn't even meet an English speaking people, but by TV and radio, I've already heard many native English speaker trying to say some words in German.

Their worst problem I think is the German "r" (like the French one). They want to say "rennen (to run)" and it sounds like "uaennen", English speaking persons have problems to lose their 'soft rolled-r' created by the tongue to get the German 'harsh throat-r' produced in the throat without the tongue.

And the verb ending -ern in e.g. "weigern (to refuse)" also gets this slightly rolled r to 'waygearn' instead of 'vaygern'. Here you can see another problem: The German w is pronounced as the English v.


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## DDT

VenusEnvy said:
			
		

> Bas: I am so glad that you asked this question. I wonder the same thing all of the time! For example, if I try to imitate a Frenchman speaking English, I replace the "th"'s with "z"'s, and I throat my "r"'s. If I were to imitate an Italian speaking English, I would add a whole bunch of "e"'s before every word.    lol    I hope I don't offend anyone.
> 
> I'd like to know, too: How to people from other countries imitate English accents???



You're not offensive, you're just terribly right!!!   

DDT


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## Cath.S.

Ok so there's the "r" thing, most English speakers I've met were unable to pronounce the French "r", what Whodunit says about the way it sounds in German also applies to French, also the vowel sounds like French "u" seem hard to grasp and our "é" sound tends to sound too much like "ay" in the mouth of English speakers. 
But I must say I find English accents quite charming in French, if they are not too strong.


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## DesertCat

The one thing I've noticed that many non-native English speakers have trouble with s words. Example: especial rather than special.


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## te gato

badger said:
			
		

> Hi te gato.
> 
> I lived Australia for a number of years (a long time ago) and didn't have much contact with Irish people. During that time I mistook Canadians for Irish on a few occasions, although I can't remember what part of Canada they came from.
> 
> badger.


Hi guys;
Ok First Badger;
I think that everyone who hears a Canadian speak thinks that they have an accent..Sure! I'm not saying that there are no accents in Canada....I, for the life of me can't understand People from Newfoundland, Or, Prince Edward Island. ..Then there is Quebec, Ottawa...Yadda, yadda, yadda...
I guess I didn't say it right...I was born in Alberta..We Alberta born do not have accents..(commented on to me quite a few times)--"Where are you from, you have no accent". Canada Is a Melting pot...We have different Nationalalities from all over living here, so maybe that is why you detected an accent.

Now zeb;

I would presume that anyone from out of Canada listening to you speak would say you had a Canadian accent, wouldn't they?

zeb

I guess you could say that...Yet I have been told I have no accent...Most people think a Canadian accent is a French accent (How can you be from Canada-you have no french accent) People from Toronto even have an accent--They say Toranna, and wanna (want to)..Maybe the Alberta born are on their own??? 
The only way to prove my point...Call me some time..Then you tell me.. 
te gato


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## gaer

te gato said:
			
		

> I do not talk like a person from Texas (sorry) I do not have a southern drawl, I do not have a french accent.. I have no accent..
> It would be interesting to hear, or to find out.
> te gato


Sure, you have an accent. Trust me. I, on the other hand, have none. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





The only language other than English I have listened to a great deal is German, and I find that it varies, just as English does, from ugly to very beautiful, all depending on who is speaking it.


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## Benjy

meh.. if you have 2 people and they speak with different accents then they both have an accent. and i'm going to make the highly dangerous assumption that we probably do not speak in the same way or with the same accent. i think it would be safe on my part to assume that when people have said to you that you have no accent then what they mean is that your general north american accent has no features such that i can identify you as being from a region in particular


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## gaer

Benjy said:
			
		

> meh.. if you have 2 people and they speak with different accents then they both have an accent. and i'm going to make the highly dangerous assumption that we probably do not speak in the same way or with the same accent. i think it would be safe on my part to assume that when people have said to you that you have no accent then what they mean is that your general north american accent has no features such that i can identify you as being from a region in particular


In fact, it all comes down to how you define "accent".  You see, here's my definition: an accent is what everyone in the world has except for me. 

Seriously, I agree with you.

What we seem to be getting in various countries is some kind of "neutral" accent. For instance, when I turn on any of our cable news channels, all the women sound much the same to me. Or most of them. It's as if announcers are all taught to speak in much the same manner. I notice it less with the men, but it seems to me that "looks" are more important when women are hired, same old double-standard.

So long as what I here deviates from this "standard" in a way that is very small, I can't identify the place any of these people come from. Someone with a keener ear could.


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## DesertCat

In regards to accents, people may use more than one accent.  As someone who has always lived on the west coast I usually talk in that generic west coast way.  That is, like national news broadcasters or Hollywood actors would talk.  But, sometimes I unintentionally slip into a southern accent.  I'm not even sure why I do it nor am I always aware that I'm doing it until other people comment on it.


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## El Hondureño

VenusEnvy said:
			
		

> Bas: I am so glad that you asked this question. I wonder the same thing all of the time! For example, if I try to imitate a Frenchman speaking English, I replace the "th"'s with "z"'s, and I throat my "r"'s. If I were to imitate an Italian speaking English, I would add a whole bunch of "e"'s before every word. lol I hope I don't offend anyone.
> 
> I'd like to know, too: How to people from other countries imitate English accents???


Yeah! I always did that too when I wanted to imitate French(sorry). I do have  experiences where one of my friend's mothers(who is from Brazil) tries to talk English and it's like she speaks out of her throat(no offense).


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## mjscott

Regardless of the newsperson and the "generic" accent--none of us has accents when we are among people who talk like us! If someone _doesn't_ talk like us--and they say their vowels a little differently than _we_ do--don't you suppose that _our_ vowels sound a little differently to them? (Thus, to _them_ we have an accent!)

Anyway, regardless of the newsperson "generic" accent, the word that most newspeople have trouble getting out is _nuclear. _Most times it's pronounced NOO-cue-ler
--when it should be
NOO-clee-yer


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## te gato

OKay...I give..UNCLE..I have a Canadian/Albertan accent. 
How it sounds I don't know... 
te gato


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## El Hondureño

I pronounce it New-Clee-er
I always thought people from the South had accents because I thought they could always understand me but I couldn't understand them as much
I learned something today(no offense)


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## El Hondureño

how does a Canadian accent sound?


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## mjscott

te_gato-

Would it be offensive to tell El Hundurano to rent the movie, _Strange Brew_? (with the McKenzie brothers....)


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## El Hondureño

What iis this "Strange Brew" you speak of? lol


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## Benjy

mjscott said:
			
		

> Regardless of the newsperson and the "generic" accent--none of us has accents when we are among people who talk like us! If someone _doesn't_ talk like us--and they say their vowels a little differently than _we_ do--don't you suppose that _our_ vowels sound a little differently to them? (Thus, to _them_ we have an accent!)
> 
> Anyway, regardless of the newsperson "generic" accent, the word that most newspeople have trouble getting out is _nuclear. _Most times it's pronounced NOO-cue-ler
> --when it should be
> NOO-clee-yer



surely nuclear -> new-clear 2 sylablles? see what john kerry says about nuclear
and listening to it he has 3 syllables too =[


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## te gato

mjscott said:
			
		

> te_gato-
> 
> Would it be offensive to tell El Hundurano to rent the movie, _Strange Brew_? (with the McKenzie brothers....)


He can rent it if he wishes..Sorry I am killing myself laughing  
The problem is that we don't talk like that..
That movie was a satire..but SURE!! I would like to know what El Hundurano would say about it...
Other than "TAKE OFF AY"
te gato


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## mjscott

It is a movie made in 1983 by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis. I think the entire title is, _The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew_. It really is a satire on beer-drinking local yokels from Canada. I would never recommend it for its content, but both Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis are Canadians. Because they overdo the stereotype and Canadian nuances in speech, you get the idea of what a Canadian accent sounds like....

....A good comparison (and excellent movie) would be _Fargo_, where you can hear some of the same nuances in voice patterns with a little variation. Fargo is the capital of North Dakota, which borders Canada.

A good actor's dialect book will walk you through the slight differences heard when various cultures speak English--including if you were from the educated side, or rough side of your town.

It is an interesting subject.


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## El Hondureño

Oh thnx now I PMed te_gato for nothing I had the wrong idea about the movie I thought it was directed at the Americans lol sorry


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## gaer

DesertCat said:
			
		

> In regards to accents, people may use more than one accent. As someone who has always lived on the west coast I usually talk in that generic west coast way. That is, like national news broadcasters or Hollywood actors would talk. But, sometimes I unintentionally slip into a southern accent. I'm not even sure why I do it nor am I always aware that I'm doing it until other people comment on it.


So right, and I believe you are right that announcers tend to use a "norm" representing the west coast. Actors, on the other hand, I'm not so sure about. They are not pushed in the same way to conform to the accent of one area. 

Gaer


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## gaer

badger said:
			
		

> Hi te gato.
> 
> I lived Australia for a number of years (a long time ago) and didn't have much contact with Irish people. During that time I mistook Canadians for Irish on a few occasions, although I can't remember what part of Canada they came from.
> 
> badger.


Canadians sound like the Irish? So you would confuse the accent of Michael J. Fox for that of an Irishman? There are many people who are from Canada who don't sound to me much different (if at all) from people in the US. Hmm.


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## gaer

egueule said:
			
		

> Ok so there's the "r" thing, most English speakers I've met were unable to pronounce the French "r", what Whodunit says about the way it sounds in German also applies to French, also the vowel sounds like French "u" seem hard to grasp and our "é" sound tends to sound too much like "ay" in the mouth of English speakers.
> But I must say I find English accents quite charming in French, if they are not too strong.


Interesting. I am aware of the "r" problem, which I can SOMETIMES produce properly. What's interesting is the the "r" is rolled here and there in German in certain areas, but that may just be a special case for those who are actors. I need to ask about this.

Gaer


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## gaer

mjscott said:
			
		

> It is a movie made in 1983 by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis. I think the entire title is, _The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew_. It really is a satire on beer-drinking local yokels from Canada. I would never recommend it for its content, but both Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis are Canadians. Because they overdo the stereotype and Canadian nuances in speech, you get the idea of what a Canadian accent sounds like....


What do you mean by "a Canadian accent"? It's a big country. That's like saying "an American Accent". Your generalizing too much, I think…


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## basurero

Interesting so far. But what I originally wanted to know was how it sounds when English speakers speak your language. You said that they have a hard time with the French 'r' etc, but how does this sound? Stupid, monotonous, harsh, angry, romantic....?


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## duder

basurero said:
			
		

> Interesting so far. But what I originally wanted to know was how it sounds when English speakers speak your language. You said that they have a hard time with the French 'r' etc, but how does this sound? Stupid, monotonous, harsh, angry, romantic....?



Yes, I would be interested to know as well. For example, as a native english speaker I find that most foreign accents are pleasant to my ears and rarely have problems understanding them (although in a university environment I find that other students complain about foreign professors "not knowing how to speak english").

However, as someone who speaks Spanish as a second language I have spent a great deal of time trying to perfect my pronunciation so as NOT to sound like a gringo. I think for this reason a heavy american accent while speaking Spanish sounds awful to me.

What I have always wanted to do was imitate a stereotypical thick american accent with a new Spanish-speaking acquaintance as a joke and then eventually switch without warning to my real accent in order to get their reaction.

edit: spelling!


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## gaer

basurero said:
			
		

> Hi
> I was interested to know how English speakers sound when they speak foreign languages. In English some foreign accents sounds harsh, romantic etc. Some have stronger accents while other people have no problem adopting good English pronounciation. What do people think of the Englsih accent in your language?
> 
> Hola
> Me interesa saber cómo suenan angloparlantes cuando hablan otros idiomas. En inglés algunos accentos suenan ásperos o románticos etc. Algunas personas tienen accentos muy fuertes pero otras pueden aprender la pronunciación inglesa con toda facilidad. ¿Qué piensa la gente en el accento inglés en tu idioma?


 
One person already answered your question:



			
				egueule said:
			
		

> Ok so there's the "r" thing, most English speakers I've met were unable to pronounce the French "r", what Whodunit says about the way it sounds in German also applies to French, also the vowel sounds like French "u" seem hard to grasp and our "é" sound tends to sound too much like "ay" in the mouth of English speakers.
> 
> But I must say I find English accents quite charming in French, if they are not too strong.


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## Nsonia

Hi Basurero,
Your question on English people’s accent is very interesting. I think there is no secret; in speaking and pronouncing correctly foreign languages, people are driven by NECESSITY and by the initial chance their mother language gives them. 
If in your mother language you have a large variety of phonemes, like in Arabic, you’ll have an easy start (you will seem gifted but it’s your language which enabled you). And if you have no choice but to communicate with others in their own language, you will tend to speak like a native.

I live in Tunisia where French (as a second language) is spoken by almost everybody. Well, we notice that French people make no effort to learn or speak it correctly.  The French never feel that necessity in a French speaking country. They communicate easily with everybody in French. That’s why their Arabic accent is so “thick” (à couper au couteau comme ils disent). 
On the opposite Americans who have to live in our country or are married to Tunisians show a particular gift to learn even everyday Arabic with a perfect accent!! The Russians are the most “talented” of all because they are familiar with all the Arabic phonemes and have little chance to find a Tunisian to speak to in Russian!!


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## Isis

Here in the Philippines, our tongue habits, formed by our klnowledge of other dialects and languages make it difficult for us to pronounce English correctly. Generally, we tend to pronounce words as they are spelled.

Literal pronounciation or what we call "Tagalizing" is prevalent here. take the word "JOHN". If we spell it as pronounced, it would be more accurate, though not really technically correct to write "JAHN". We know that they have diffirent meanings and different pronounciation but we are affected by the idiosyncrasies of language. we have no alternative but to conform.

Also, some of us here approximate the way Americans speak because majority says that American English is the correct pronounciation, the reason why we have "americanizing" as a term here.

When one "americanizes," he pronounces words in the manner that he thinks an American would pronounce them, but actually Americans do njot speak that way. The result is artificiality. Such person must be moer perceptive to correct pronounciation.

The pronounciation of specific words shows the quality of cultural level. With just one mispronounced word or two, observant listeners learn about your background and the type of eduaction you have received and what is bad here in our country is the notion that a person's poor manner of pronouncing words shows low intelligence level, though may not be the fact.


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## Outsider

basurero said:
			
		

> Interesting so far. But what I originally wanted to know was how it sounds when English speakers speak your language. You said that they have a hard time with the French 'r' etc, but how does this sound? Stupid, monotonous, harsh, angry, romantic....?


LOL.
You sound like you're speaking with your mouth full.  
It's a cute accent, in an amusing way. And you speak slowly, which is good.
Usually you can tell an English accent by the way people (mis)pronounce the "r". Also, they tend to be forgetful with genders, and say things like "o amiga" or "a amigo".


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## gotitadeleche

gaer said:
			
		

> Canadians sound like the Irish? So you would confuse the accent of Michael J. Fox for that of an Irishman? There are many people who are from Canada who don't sound to me much different (if at all) from people in the US. Hmm.




I agree. I don´t notice much accent from the Canadians I have heard, except in words like house, which I think they pronounce like people from Maryland do. So I wouldn´t know a Canadian from a Maryland resident.


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## VenusEnvy

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> I don´t notice much accent from the Canadians I have heard, except in words like house, which I think they pronounce like people from Maryland do. So I wouldn´t know a Canadian from a Maryland resident.



How do we say house? . . .  (just curious)


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## gaer

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> I agree. I don´t notice much accent from the Canadians I have heard, except in words like house, which I think they pronounce like people from Maryland do. So I wouldn´t know a Canadian from a Maryland resident.


That was exactly what I was thinking.


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## gotitadeleche

VenusEnvy said:
			
		

> How do we say house? . . .  (just curious)



Well, I don't know how to write it phonetically. Something like heoos (instead of howse). I lived in Maryland for a few years and the only accent I noticed was in words that rhyme with house, and also I remember my best friend pronounced "that" differently. I can't remember if that was typical, or just her way. She pronounced "that" as if it had two syllables--theat. Of course they seemed to think I had an accent!


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## VenusEnvy

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> Of course they seemed to think I had an accent!



A Texan (pronounced tee-ax-in)???     Noooooo  . . . . .


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## gotitadeleche

VenusEnvy said:
			
		

> A Texan (pronounced tee-ax-in)???     Noooooo  . . . . .




Hehe...

When I was growing up we moved around a lot, so I did not have a strong accent (some people said I had one, some said no). But since I have been back here about 20 years now, I guess I have unconsciously absorbed a stronger accent. One day I called home to leave a message and when I got home to listen to it I heard "...1234 Kwhy-el (Quail) Run." Jeeeese!!!


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## zebedee

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> I agree. I don´t notice much accent from the Canadians I have heard



Accents are all relative to who's listening. The fact that you don't notice one doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, it just means that it's similar to your own. 
The further you travel, the more you realise just how much of an accent you actually have.

zeb


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## ~PiCHi~

When mexicans speak english and it sounds... not very fluid, we say they speak "Pocho"


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## cuchuflete

VenusEnvy said:
			
		

> How do we say house? . . .  (just curious)



The 'o' is said with the mouth forming a circle, just like an 'o'.  It's even more distinctive in Philadelphia.  And Marylanders have other distinctive ways of speaking, such as  Bawl mer and Ball tee mower  for Baltimore.

But, of course, it's all the people from other places who really have the accents.

Cuchu


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## funnydeal

~PiCHi~ said:
			
		

> When mexicans speak english and it sounds... not very fluid, we say they speak "Pocho"




We say we mexican speak "pocho" when we mix spanish and english words for instance:  I'm going to school  =  Voy a la school (I know it sound terrible)

That is pocho too


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## funnydeal

Javier-Vega said:
			
		

> First, english-speaking people are usually unable to pronounce 'rr' and the strong 'r' at the beginning of a word, so they pronounce it as a weak 'r'. For example, when they say "burro" sounds like "buro" to us. (Well, this is probably more universal, not limited to english-speaking people, since the spanish 'rr' is quite difficult).
> More particular of english-speaking people is that they tend to say the 'o' at the end of a word like an 'ou'. For example, 'amigo' sounds like 'amigou'.
> 
> Apart from that, there is a lot of very typical phrases in bad learned spanish ('No problema' or 'No problemo' instead of 'No hay problema', and so on).




I completly agree with Javier-Vega.  I also have to add that some americans speaks in syllables, for instance "Me gustaría" some sound like 
"me  gus-taría".  I guess it is normal until they get fluent ... but the most are the "rr" and the"o" as "ou" .


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## gaer

funnydeal said:
			
		

> We say we mexican speak "pocho" when we mix spanish and english words for instance: I'm going to school = Voy a la school (I know it sound terrible)
> 
> That is pocho too


I think mixing languages is very common when two people talk who know both languages. I have heard the word "Spanglish" for a mixture of Spanish and English. Is this different?

Gaer


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## te gato

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> Well, I don't know how to write it phonetically. Something like heoos (instead of howse). I lived in Maryland for a few years and the only accent I noticed was in words that rhyme with house, and also I remember my best friend pronounced "that" differently. I can't remember if that was typical, or just her way. She pronounced "that" as if it had two syllables--theat. Of course they seemed to think I had an accent!


 
Sorry guys, I say "house" the same way I would say "Mouse"...
I say "That" the same way I would say "Cat"
This is so funny 
te gato


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## gotitadeleche

te gato said:
			
		

> Sorry guys, I say "house" the same way I would say "Mouse"...
> I say "That" the same way I would say "Cat"
> This is so funny
> te gato



Yes, the people living in Maryland also pronounce house and mouse, and all other words that rhyme, the same way. But they pronounce all of them in a way that is different than standard American pronounciation. 

So, do you pronounce Cat as ke-at?


----------



## VenusEnvy

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> Yes, the people living in Maryland also pronounce house and mouse, and all other words that rhyme, the same way. But they pronounce all of them in a way that is different than standard American pronounciation.



I know what you are saying. I don't carry this accent. But, I know people that have lived here (in Baltimore particularly) for over half a century, and boy is their accent strong! It sounds like a Canadian with a twang. 

And then, some Baltimorians invent their own words: 
"Downy asian" = down to the ocean
As in, "Where are you going this weekend?"
-"Downy asian, hun!"


----------



## te gato

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> Yes, the people living in Maryland also pronounce house and mouse, and all other words that rhyme, the same way. But they pronounce all of them in a way that is different than standard American pronounciation.
> 
> So, do you pronounce Cat as ke-at?


Hi gotiadeleche;

No I pronounce Cat as--- K-A-T... 

Venusenvy;
I know what you are saying. I don't carry this accent. But, I know people that have lived here (in Baltimore particularly) for over half a century, and boy is their accent strong! It sounds like a Canadian with a twang. 


Could you please tell me what Canadian with a Twang sounds like??? 



te gato


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## elaine_hollywood

Well I don't really know why at all but in fact, I think it's easier to me to understand a Canadian speaking English than someone from the USA.
I think Canadians speak a bit slower and have some kind of "soft" accent in English.
It's somehow ok saying "house" the same way that "mouse", but I can't understand how to say "that" the same way that "cat"!


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## VenusEnvy

te gato said:
			
		

> Venusenvy;
> I know what you are saying. I don't carry this accent. But, I know people that have lived here (in Baltimore particularly) for over half a century, and boy is their accent strong! It sounds like a Canadian with a twang.
> 
> 
> Could you please tell me what Canadian with a Twang sounds like???


I wish I could, hon.    You just haveta hear it . . .    Another instance when I wish I could record my voice, and play it for you!

A true-Baltimorian would pronounce cat as ke-at. (As Gotita said) I hope this paints an image for you.


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## catira

hi, very nice thead.  I'm native spanish and I have been studing acents and articulation in the mouse to produce sounds, either in spanish as in english, which is the one I'm most interested and, comment if you don't agree that.   consonants, first of all in english are very hard, I think to pronounce in english require more effort than in spanish; also our vowels are plain, in spanish a vowel has only one sound most times, but in english if you check in a phonetic diccionary you are gonna find out that most times a vowel in phonetic have more than one simbol that actualy looks very similar -not allways- and sounds similar too.

tell me what you think, or doubts of what I wrote, ok.

bye, 
catira


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## Andræs

Hello:

In spanish there are a lot of different accents. In Argentina consonants Y and LL sound like an english "sh" or a german "sch" and there is no difference between C (in front of a vowel), S and Z, wich in Spain exists. Normaly I don´t have any problem to understand other spanish speaking countries people but some time ago I watched "Amores Perros" (from Mexico) and I had a hard time trying to understand everything the actors said when they were speaking fast.


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## chica11

Hi,
Ok I just have to say that accents should be celebrated and not criticized. We all sound different and that's a great thing!  I'm from California but I have spent time/lived in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico and England and I have enjoyed listening to everyone in each country speak English and Spanish!  I must say that I am one of the lucky gringas who can roll my rr's really well.  I think it may have come from doing it as child. I distinctly remember making the double rr sound as a child when making noises. When it comes to accents, while it may be impossible to completely sound like a native speaker (depending on when you learned the language), it is not impossible to come pretty damn close.  It depends on how long you spend in the "native country" and how much you want to sound like the people from there.  I have a friend from Belfast who has lived in California for over 10 years and he sounds like he just arrived.


----------



## RussUS

catira said:
			
		

> hi, very nice thead. I'm native spanish and I have been studing acents and articulation in the mouse to produce sounds, either in spanish as in english, which is the one I'm most interested and, comment if you don't agree that. consonants, first of all in english are very hard, I think to pronounce in english require more effort than in spanish; also our vowels are plain, in spanish a vowel has only one sound most times, but in english if you check in a phonetic diccionary you are gonna find out that most times a vowel in phonetic have more than one simbol that actualy looks very similar -not allways- and sounds similar too.
> 
> tell me what you think, or doubts of what I wrote, ok.
> 
> bye,
> catira


 
I also have studied, informally and without academic discipline, accents and articulation. See if you would agree that the target language always requires more effort than one's native language. 

I find my Spanish gets worse when I get lazy, tired, or am drinking. In English, we form many consonants with our tongue moved toward the back of the throat--R and L most notably. We (or at least I, based on what native speakers have told me I sound better or worse) always need to maintain awareness to keep our tongue forward. 

I also kinda feel when I speak Spanish that I maintain always more of tightness everywhere in my mouth and tongue. Otherwise, my vowels also move toward the back of my mouth and I form those dipthongs others have commented on hearing in the speech of native English speakers speaking Spanish.

I would be extremely interested in hearing more of your thoughts from your study.

Best,

Russ


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## solecito

basurero said:
			
		

> Hi
> I was interested to know how English speakers sound when they speak foreign languages. In English some foreign accents sounds harsh, romantic etc. Some have stronger accents while other people have no problem adopting good English pronounciation. What do people think of the Englsih accent in your language?
> 
> Hola
> Me interesa saber cómo suenan angloparlantes cuando hablan otros idiomas. En inglés algunos accentos suenan ásperos o románticos etc. Algunas personas tienen accentos muy fuertes pero otras pueden aprender la pronunciación inglesa con toda facilidad. ¿Qué piensa la gente en el accento inglés en tu idioma?


*Not trying to ofend anyone at all, but if you ask Mexicans how does the English speaking person sounds to us, we would probably say: FUNNY ! again no offense ! but they do. And I'm refering to people from U.S. they just have this funny accent and they try so hard to pronounce the "r" and they mix the plural with singular, sin mencionar masculino y femenino que todo el tiempo confunden, lo cuál es entendible. But on the other hand , I have noticed that "pochos" or mexicans born or raised in the U.S. have a very sexy accent at least I love it!!!
Now that I remember, I 'd be surprised when I lived in the U.S. because people would ask me where I was from, and I would ask them to take a guess, to me it was obvios that my accent would tell all, but they would ask if I was from diferent parts of Europe, they used to say I had a lovely accent, but they almost never guessed right, and would seem surprised to know I'm from México, funny ah? Of course I don't have that lovely accent anymore since I have live in my own country for over ten years, speaking of accents, I used to work in a hotel where truck drivers would spend the night, my god I almost cried!!!! Now, that is difficult! specially the guys from texas, or far east . I swear of God I almost thought about quitting , but with time I got good at it and the truckers were more than pacient with me, they were very nice guys.

P.D. By the way "pochos" is not always derrogatory, it depends the way you use it, I live at the border with the U.S. and to us it is only a way to describe someone who is of Mexican heritage, but is either born in the U.S. or lives there since childhood, so please don't write to me saying I'm wrong, most of my nephews and nieces are "pochitos y pochitas" not to mention my own son who was born there also and lives and goes to college in San Diego. Thank you I hope this post wasn't too long, good day you all !
*


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## chica11

De una persona que viene de los Estados Unidos y que estudiaba y todavía estudia el Español en la universidad, puedo decirles que si uno quiere mejorar su acento ( de cualquier idioma) sí se puede!!  Es solamente cuestión de conocer su fonética y pasar tiempo en un país donde hablan el idioma.  Mucha gente que son nativos de paises angloparlantes tienen dificultad con los vocales en español.  Por ejemplo, la palabra universidad o en inglés university.  Cuando un angloparlante dice university, suena como un-uh-vers-aty.  Generalmente pronunciamos nuestros vocales en una manera más relajada.  Sin embargo en español, no es así, hay que pronunciar cada vocal.  Sé que hay una palabra lingüística para este fenómeno pero, no la recuerdo ahora.  La doble rr, solamente hay que practicarlo. En algunos países, la r singular también para los angloparlantes suena como un doble rr.  Sin embargo, si se va a Costa Rica, la r singular es más fuerte como la r en inglés y en Puerto Rico, mucha gente se pronuncia la r singular como L.  Por ejemplo, se dice velda en vez de verdad.   Para decir la doble rr, hay que relajarse la lengua y la boca y pone la lengua enfrente de la boca para hacerlo.  La manera en que alguién habla el idioma probablemente tenga que ver con el tiempo y el esfuerzo que esa persona ha puesto en conocer y hablarlo.


----------



## touaregsand

I've met a lot of non-native speakers of Korean and most of them had pretty good if not excellent accents. But Americans in particular make what I call 'round' sounds. They struggle in particular with the short vowel sounds. Spanish speakers, especially Mexican and Central American Spanish speakers have very good accents when speaking Korean. Of course this the topic of the thread is what do English speakers sound like... eh.


----------



## chica11

Someone probably already said this, but doesn't it depend on what accent you have if you are a native English speaker.  Within each English speaking country there are a wide array of accents.  So someone who is from Tennesse is going to sound different speaking a foreign language than someone from California or Colorado.  Same between someone originally from Bath, England vs Edinburough, Scotland.  And by the way, when people who are not from the United States, say stuff like "I like or don't like the American accent,"  what are they referring to????  There is more than one accent in America!!


----------



## touaregsand

Depends on the language that is being spoken also. I have a pretty good ear for accents and I know that it would be nearly impossible for most to figure out that my husband is a native speaker of French speaking Korean. OTOH he does have a heavy French accent when he speaks English, but it's not apparent when he speaks Korean.

I don't speak Japanese at all, but when I've repeated phrases in front of native speakers I have been told that I have a perfect accent, I suspect that it has to do with fluency in Korean. I do know that I have an American accent when I speak French.


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## Outsider

chica11 said:
			
		

> And by the way, when people who are not from the United States, say stuff like "I like or don't like the American accent,"  what are they referring to????  There is more than one accent in America!!


Yes, but all (or most) American accents have a few features in common.



			
				chica11 said:
			
		

> Someone probably already said this, but doesn't it depend on what accent you have if you are a native English speaker.  Within each English speaking country there are a wide array of accents.  So someone who is from Tennesse is going to sound different speaking a foreign language than someone from California or Colorado.  Same between someone originally from Bath, England vs Edinburough, Scotland.


When speaking a foreign language? I'm not so sure. I've never noticed any differences, although I hadn't thought of that before...


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## nanel

Well, I don't know how it sounds to me because I have heard English since I was very young, but my mother (who doen't understand it) sais that American English sound like someone with a chewin gum in his mouth LOL!!! A lot of Spanish people love britanic English but don't like much American English (maybe because we study britanic English), I like both, but I don't like too much Irish (sorry) because they have an accent similar to the one we have, and I prefer to hear something different, but it's easier for me to understand Irish people...

Nothing to tell about Canadian or Australian, I've never heard those accents.


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## chica11

I lived in England for a year and as an American (from California) I actually had a hard time with some English accents, mostly from the north part of the country.  Scottish was sometimes difficult to understand depending on how thick it was.  To me, the Irish accent (from the Republic/not Northern Ireland) was the easiest to understand and the most comfortable to hear.  And look we were all speaking English!!  

Para los que son hispanohablantes, hay algunos acentos que ustedes no le gustan/ o son dificiles a entender?  Por ejemplo, tenia una amiga mexicana que tenia dificultad con el acento Cubano.   
Perdoname por la falta de tildes diacriticos en las oraciones. En este ordenador es dificil usarlos, yo se como usarlos.


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## PSIONMAN

I've just read this thread so I hope I'm not repeating

To the British Americans and Canadians sound the same  I'm just learning to pick out Canadian (it might just be the eastern quarter) but there seems to be a 'lazy' or depressed 'a' sound - I don't know how to define it

A lot of British people have trouble with some Scottish accents. There was a TV series in the 80's (?) called Rab C Nessbit, in which a Glaswegian layabout got into various scrapes and half the fun was not being able to understand a word he said

One thing I've noticed (as a student of Spanish), is that I can understand English speakers speaking Spanish much better than Native ones (and it's not just down to vocabulary) . It must be something to do with the way vowels are formed or something.

Lastly, on my course we have to listen to Spanish speakers from all over the world and I find Cuban and Argentinian the most difficult. I hasten to add that they are all beautiful though 

Jeff


----------



## chica11

I second that Jeff!! I like all Spanish accents (no matter where you are from) but I think that the cuban and argentinian accents are really beautiful.  However, I feel most comfortable with the central american (I know it's more than one accent) and the Mexican accent. 

And in terms of English I could hardly understand people from New Castle!! 

Anyway,  I was wondering what country(ies) everyone thought was the most tolerant of foreign accents.  I don't think Americans are very tolerant with foreign accents (unless we like them) but we are tolerant with foreigners speaking incorrect English (at least where I have lived in the states: California and Washington) and usually let it slide.  I found that Mexicans were extremely tolerant of foreign accents and seemed to be pleased/happy that a foreigner (no hispanohablante) was speaking Spanish.


----------



## Julz

I do apologise for the six-digit word count of the post that follows:



chica11 said:


> Hi,
> Ok I just have to say that accents should be celebrated and not criticized. We all sound different and that's a great thing!  I'm from California but I have spent time/lived in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico and England and I have enjoyed listening to everyone in each country speak English and Spanish!  I must say that I am one of the lucky gringas who can roll my rr's really well.  I think it may have come from doing it as child. I distinctly remember making the double rr sound as a child when making noises. When it comes to accents, while it may be impossible to completely sound like a native speaker (depending on when you learned the language), it is not impossible to come pretty damn close.  It depends on how long you spend in the "native country" and how much you want to sound like the people from there.  I have a friend from Belfast who has lived in California for over 10 years and he sounds like he just arrived.


I don't see any criticism against any accents. I would appreciate it if you pointed out posts that do, because I am now interested to know your idea of criticism against mine 

As a non-native speaker of English, I find Irish accents very beautiful, and also Canadians. To answer several questions about "house" in Canadian, I find it similar to Scottish (a bit like "hoase"... saying "about" would be similar to "a boat"). Atleast in my opinion...
I've always had problems understanding many British accents (ones like Hugh Grant, and similar registers, are easy...but Cockney and nothern accents give me problems). I think the southern US accent sounds cute, if I understand what it being said, but find that most Eastern US accents of New York region are very strong and almost intimidating... I understand Los Angeles region accents a bit better, but I generally have very few problems with many American accents.
To this day, after eight years of living in Tasmania, I have problems with the Australian accent. It is so "oi" and "ay" sounding (if you can make sense of that ). It seems slack and to me sounds like a word is never finished. Tasmanian accent sounds a bit different, but much the same. Atleast the words end 
As a native speaker of Russian and French (mainly Quebec), due to my parents, I can mention some of the things that are typically anglophone:
*Russian* - it seems most English speakers have problems with the r (surprise! ) and also with some of the combined consonants (for example "da vstrechi" (see you later), anglophones often add another syllable so they sound like "da vestrechi"). Obviously, the Cyrillic alphabet is a bit of an obstacle for anglophones at first, as there are also some letters in Cyrillic which look the same, but sound different to the latin alphabet. This same situation applies to most speakers of languages using the latin alphabet, I guess... I also find that anglophones often seem to have problems adopting to more "harsher" throatiness (real word?) of Russian, so some anglophones can also sound like young children learning it- even if they are a full grown adult! It's hard to describe the anglophonic accent in Russian, but it's definitely unique and very distinguishable  But it sounds kind of cute to me, nevertheless.
*French* - as I think I read earlier in this post, anglophonic accents in French seem to have a more sophisticated sound, rather than a real "foreigner" tone (even though it is, of course, foreign). The r once again is a real problem, and many of the vowels (as before mentioned). I also find that an anglophone either cannot produce the nasal sounds, or overdoes them. This is find funny when they do, because it's like a rip-off of the accent  I do French at school as a subject (for easy points- we have to accumulate so many "points" from each subject to total an entrance score for university. This will often require almost 90% results in every subject). Most of the students speak French with a broad Australian accent, and even the teacher has a hint of it. There is one girl who has spent 6 months (in the past 12) in France. She now has an almost flawless Parisien accent. It's very nice to hear, because I don't like the Australian-accented French (British on the other hand, sounds nice).

In general, I don't like American accents in foreign languages, I find they almost always sound completely different to the actual language, sound quite aggressive, and very loud. I am impressed, however, with how many Germans speak English with almost no distinguishable accent (about 30% of our population here consists of Germans).

After I learnt English, I tried very hard to speak with no accent, but eventually managed to adopt an accent which, to me, is very easy to use... This accent is probably the easiest one for most non-English natives to adopt, but I'm not sure why. That's the reason that, upon meeting someone new, I'm often asked whether I'm from North America. Those who can distinguish the accents well often suggest I sound more Canadian, but those who are more oblivious think I am American.

That's an hour of reading and 40 minutes of typing that I've spent, time which I could have spent doing other things, but I thought it may be useful for someone if I contribute my ideas too 

Please feel free to correct me if I get something wrong


----------



## übermönch

IMHO, AEnglish sounds indeed funny and cute as a foreign accent, be it in German or, as it can be understood from the thread, other languages, most probably because of the prolonged syllables, relatively vivid intonation and softer constants in general.


----------



## Wilma_Sweden

I can but confirm what others have been saying about native English speakers trying to speak a foreign language: The Rs and the tendency to dipthongize vowels are a dead give-away, but also the Ts and the Ls!  Swedish is also a language with pure vowel sounds, i.e. no dipthongs, and 'trilled' R like the Spanish or Scottish ones, with some exceptions. It's conceivable that someone who is very gifted in both languages might be able to tell an American from a Briton from an Australian by the way they speak Swedish, because it works the other way: If a Swedish person speaks English with a strong enough Swedish accent, I can usually identify roughly what Swedish dialect they have, i.e. Southern, Northern, Stockholm or Fenno-Swedish, by the way they speak English, because they carry their intonation into English. Swedes also generally tend to over-use the w phoneme, prounouncing whisky correctly and very as wery. If you're working behind the bar at a London pub hearing a sing-song order for a 'wery large strong beer' without saying _please_, you can bet it's a Swede - the words pint, lager and please seem to have unanimously been taken off English tuition in Sweden, for some reason...  

Since I mixed with a lot of Swedish people in London, I got very good at picking them out as Swedes even when they had only a hint of an accent, and I only ever met one Swedish person there who sounded 100% genuinely English without the slightest hint of a foreign accent. I never managed to sound genuinely English, but I don't sound typically Swedish either - native English speakers who ask at all usually take wild guesses when trying to pinpoint where I'm from based on my English, and have placed me just about everywhere in NW Europe, but also in Shropshire and South Africa...   

Moving away to a remark made by DesertCat, I'd like to elaborate on that:


DesertCat said:


> The one thing I've noticed that many non-native English speakers have trouble with s words. Example: especial rather than special.


I'd say this is typical of native speakers of Spanish, and it doesn't matter what foreign language they speak, whether Swedish or English, they consistently add this E-phoneme in front of initial consonant clusters beginning with S: SP, ST, SK: 'eSpain', 'eStockholm', 'eschool', etc. I've heard even very fluent speakers fall into the 'e-trap' when tired, but it's hardly strange since these consonant clusters always have a preceding vowel in Spanish. I can't think of any other typical Spanish phonetic habits.

/Wilma


----------



## Zsanna

The situation in a Hungarian context is quite similar to the one Wilma was explaining above: the most obvious sings are the diphtongs appearing (which we don't have) and some of the consonants pronounced as if together with an "h" (esp. t and p).

Making the difference between an AE or BE speaker (others couldn't be identified easily) would probably happen more according his/her gestures, general style (anything from clothing to behaving), however. 

I'd say (exaggerating a bit): an American English speaker sounds loud, agile, sort of "ready to fight" (intending to prove he's right with a lot of enthusiasm) or (over) friendly, in any case, very "open"...
... as opposed to a British native speaker who tends to speak softly, giving the impression almost as if being "much too delicate", "polite", "choosy", "undecided", "aristocratic" - sometimes all at the same time. 
(Yes, it can be very confusing. )

But all in all it happens still quite rarely so we are grateful if we hear anybody speaking in Hungarian and would not complain.

P.S. Four pages for this topic already! Where's Mateamargo?!


----------



## NotTheDoctor

I like all sorts of accents. I know some people switch to English when they detect a "gringo" accent. I almost never do that, unless the person asks me if I speak English. Or if he really can't speak Spanish and just knows a few words. Otherwise, I stick to Spanish. I figure you've made an effort to learn Spanish and you are eager to practice with a native speaker, and I'm more than happy to oblige. There is, however, a kind of situation where I find accents extremely annoying. It's very common (a little less nowadays) in American series or movies to have latino actors, playing latino parts, who speak Spanish with incredibly thick "gringo" accents, not to mention that what comes out of their mouths hardly ever sounds like something a Spanish speaker would say.


----------



## katie_here

This is a very interesting thread.  At the moment I'm trying to learn a little Polish, but I find the lack of vowels hard, rolling the "r", which I can do at the beginning of a word, but find it difficult in the middle.    My brother and I have been brought up in different countries with one parent each, and so he is Danish and I have real difficulty speaking Danish because of the "throaty" sound.  He on the other hand, at first, spoke English with an Australian accent, because he'd learnt some English from an Australian.  I know a lady from Sweden who has lived in England now for about 10 years.  In her quest to lose her accent, she had done really well, but it also sounds strange to me because she is speaking like a deaf person.  One who doesn't have any accent at all, just sounds, if you understand what I mean.  I must admit that I find it difficult to talk to her, because I'm always aware of her "lack of accent" and strange way of saying things, whereas listening to a foreigner speak English with their own accents is better and easier to listen to. 

One of my best friends is French and I was talking to her about one of my Polish friends, who couldn't say "froth"  only "troth". She said that she found the word impossible to say as well. 

My attempts to speak Serbian gave a few people the impression that my friend and I were Russian!!  I don't know how that could be, but there you go.   My own accent is Northern English, and if you've had the fortunate luck to watch Coronation St., or heard Oasis or seen the film "East is East"  that's my accent.


----------



## Wilma_Sweden

katie_here said:


> I know a lady from Sweden who has lived in England now for about 10 years.  In her quest to lose her accent, she had done really well, but it also sounds strange to me because she is speaking like a deaf person.  One who doesn't have any accent at all, just sounds, if you understand what I mean.  I must admit that I find it difficult to talk to her, because I'm always aware of her "lack of accent" and strange way of saying things, whereas listening to a foreigner speak English with their own accents is better and easier to listen to.


Hehe, I know exactly what you mean - it sounds flat and unnatural because the intonation is off, or missing completely - like it was an artificial computerised speech synthesizer - and there is no regional 'colour', it just doesn't sound truly English, does it? I remember hearing Ulrika Jonsson and Britt Ekland having similar speech at some stage - they had better intonation but you could still tell they weren't native English speakers. I don't know how they'd sound speaking Swedish, i.e. whether they mix in English sounds into their Swedish, something which does happen to some expatriates when they've spent too much time speaking English... 



> My own accent is Northern English, and if you've had the fortunate luck to watch Coronation St., or heard Oasis or seen the film "East is East"  that's my accent.


Right, OK, I haven't watched Corrie for decades and I've never heard Noel Gallagher speak, but I found a dialect sound sample from Salford - is that what you mean? (To be honest, I had a wee spot of bother understanding the man in that link, and there's no transcript...)

/Wilma


----------



## katie_here

Wilma_Sweden said:


> Right, OK, I haven't watched Corrie for decades and I've never heard Noel Gallagher speak, but I found a dialect sound sample from Salford - is that what you mean? (To be honest, I had a wee spot of bother understanding the man in that link, and there's no transcript...)
> 
> /Wilma


 
Yes, that is kind of what I sound like (except I'm not an old man nor a bricklayer!!! ) but I do have quite a strong local accent.  More so in recent years because I've been isolated from people with other accents on a daily basis.  

I had a bit of trouble understanding all of the conversation, but I don't mind doing a transcript. It would be good practice.  I'm not sure how I go about doing one though, do I write it how he says it?   for example,  we have a habit of saying  "din't" for didn't, and cun't for couldn't, or do I write it down properly?  

"I din't want t'go t'shop, so I din't".   (I didn't want to go to the shop so I didn't go).


----------



## Wilma_Sweden

katie_here said:


> I had a bit of trouble understanding all of the conversation, but I don't mind doing a transcript. It would be good practice.  I'm not sure how I go about doing one though, do I write it how he says it?   for example,  we have a habit of saying  "din't" for didn't, and cun't for couldn't, or do I write it down properly?
> 
> "I din't want t'go t'shop, so I din't".   (I didn't want to go to the shop so I didn't go).


The dialect samples that do have transcripts have all been written with proper spelling and standard contractions, it seems, and with all er's, ah's and uhm's written into the text, too. You can check the other samples from the dialect home page - there are quite a few available.  I haven't explored it in detail so I don't know whether they want people to send anything in or whether they've omitted transcripts for pedagogic reasons (see Activities tab). Still, it's a wonderful collection of UK dialects, and if you do decide to write any transcripts, I wouldn't mind a copy! 

/Wilma


----------



## Stumpy457

zebedee said:


> Accents are all relative to who's listening. The fact that you don't notice one doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, it just means that it's similar to your own.
> The further you travel, the more you realise just how much of an accent you actually have.
> 
> zeb




Exactly! I went to a film school for a month last year, and it was with people from all over the country, and some from other parts of the world (two of my best friends there were Irish and Brazilian!) Anyway, when we got there, most of us realized we have some sort of accent! I was accused of a Northern accent (which I am proud of!); but it was two girls from Minnesota who swore they hadn't any accents who had the STRONGEST! _Bag_ came out like _beg _(I wasn't sure what to do when told to _Pass me my beg_), _o_s were SUPPPERRRR pronounced ('Minnes*O*ta'), for example.

I have a strange mix of a Southern and Northern (mostly Northern--conscious effort on my part there). My WHOLE family comes from Long Island, so they ALL have accents, so I learned to speak with that intact. As I grew up here in North Carolina, their accents and mine sort of faded till we were left with a 'general American with a hint of Long Island'.


Also, I say 'bolth' for 'both' and I don't know why. Someone pointed it out to me one day...and my life has not been the same since. XDD


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## Chaska Ñawi

This is a very old thread, and the rules of the Cultural forum have changed a couple of times since it was opened.  It has now run its course and is closed.

Thank you, everyone, for your contributions.


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