Hey! You've been there?!! :wink:Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBee
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Hey! You've been there?!! :wink:Quote:
Originally Posted by RonBee
I think Kathryn hit the nail on the head. I feel exactly the same way. I grew up almost everywhere in the U.S. (Illinois, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and finally, but most unwontingly, Ohio). I think my accent, if I can call it an accent, was shaped mostly by the speakers in Illinois (very close to Chicago). Perhaps it's a Midwestern accent, but I here myself, my accent that is, when listening to people from Chicago speak. It's kind of scary.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kathryn
I totally agree with Kathryn about the fluidity and aesthetic qualities of the British accent. It really does sound more refined and proper.
There are dozens of British accents! Can you tell the difference between them? I've found that most Americans can't. Some British accents sound like honey, other sound like a visit to the dentist. 8)Quote:
Originally Posted by Will
Iain
The British accents you hera on the TV might not reflect the full diversity of spoken English. here's an attempt to give you a taste of the English you might here in a London pub:
Oright me ol' china? Wherya bin?
Artnabart, innit.
Wanna bevvie.
Nah, gorra gedda moveon, etc.
While I like the regional varietires, many of them would not strike many as the correct and proper. London grammar includes:
He don't (pronounced wivou' the 't')
I says
Innit
And that's before we move onto the joys of Cockney Rhyming Slang. ;-)
Cor blimey guv'nor, thas swee' as a nu', tha' is! :wink:
Righ' proper innit?
Mest o' yez hivnae a klo aboot ene ither axent ither thin the sooth o' Inglnd. E think e'll rite lyk this fir a wile jist so yiz hae a chanz tae si a difrent akzent.Quote:
Originally Posted by tdol
Iain
I was just wondering whether you guys, British, think you have an accent. I know that when I was growing up I didn't think I had an accent. I mean, that's the way everyone talked.
I come from a place about 50 miles north of London, and there the accent is quite neutral, so yeah, I always thought that I did not have any accent.
People here in China are always telling me I have a very 'standard' British accent (i.e.I sound like the BBC :wink: ), but when I went back home last year, friends & family told me I have a slight new Zealand accent!! This I guess, is down to the fact that all of the other foreign teachers at my school were (at the time) Kiwis.
The teachers we have now are from England, Ireland, Sweden & the US, so I have no idea how my accent is going to sound in a few months' time! :?
Shane
Ok, wait. Are Kiwis New Zealanders? I'm a tad confused.