British or American?

[Casiopea]

Comparisons are odious, not to mention, serve only to perpetuate the destruction of human diginity and spirit. :(

Can you guess my accent? :wink: My father is French Canadian; His parents came from France. My mother is English Canadian; her parents came from America (Maine) and Britain (London).

[Francois]

You mean it's ok when BE is bashed, but not Canadian French? My point is there's always someone somewhere who think you're bizarre, silly or whatever. If you think X is weird, keep in mind what Y might think of you, following the same logic.
Don't take everything at face value ;)

FRC

[ako]

Originally Posted by twostep

I do not think you can prefer one of the other. It depends on your application. BE is great in London. Try it in the Bajous of Louisiana. Two people divided by one language. :wink:

Which applications? You mean the accent helps us seem native? Our feelings don't matter?

Ako

[Tdol]

Of course feelings matter; if you prefer one form, then use it, but what Twostep is saying is that the accents can be very different and that a strong regional accent might not be an asset in another area.

[Francois]

Yeah, I've even heard of tapes for native speakers to get a "neutral" (whatever it means), non-regional accent?!

FRC

Originally Posted by tdol

Of course feelings matter; if you prefer one form, then use it, but what Twostep is saying is that the accents can be very different and that a strong regional accent might not be an asset in another area.

OK. what I don't understand is what it has to do with "the amount of education". Once you are born to a family that speaks with an Irish accent, you learn to speak with that accent as you grow up. If you are born to a Texan family, you will speak with a Texan accent regardless of your education, right? I still can't see his point. Maybe he can explain himself when he is back???

Thanks

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Francois

You mean it's OK when BrE is bashed, but not Canadian French? My point is there's always someone somewhere who thinks you're bizarre, silly or whatever. If you think X is weird, keep in mind what Y might think of you, following the same logic.
Don't take everything at face value ;)

FRC

It would have been more than helpful, FRC, if you had stated that at the start. :?

All the best, :D

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Natalie27

OK. what I don't understand is what it has to do with "the amount of education". Once you are born to a family that speaks with an Irish accent, you learn to speak with that accent as you grow up. If you are born to a Texan family, you will speak with a Texan accent regardless of your education, right? I still can't see his point. Maybe he can explain himself when he is back???

Thanks

I believe twostep's comment is in reference to RP (received pronunciation) and the like. Nevertheless, I, too, would like to hear/read twostep's full account. I wonder: How does Stephen Hawkings and speech synthesizers figure into it all?

[Francois]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

It would have been more than helpful, FRC, if you had stated that at the start. :?

All the best, :D

That's what the sarcasm meant. It was shorter, too ;) Sorry you took it amiss.

FRC

Hi everyone!

My name is Saeed.

I am a first year student of English at the University of Southern Denmark.
We have a course called "English Oral Proficiency" and we were told that we have to choose which of the main versions--or dialects--of spoken English we want to use... Basically we have to choose between British English and American English. Having sort of a fake British-like accent already, I tend to lean towards "sounding English" but I haven't decided yet...

Maybe BrE is the obvious choice--since I've been taught BrE since 4th grade (as most Europeans we are taught BrE, NOT AmE in school)--but then again my vocabulary, and to some extent my spelling and pronunciation has been affected by AmE--because of all the Hollywood films and American SitComs and soap operas...

Also, it seems my wannabe-BrE accent isn't as strong as I thought. My "Oral Proficiency" professor told me that my accent was hard to place. So I guess that means it's a sort of "Mid-Atlantic" hybrid. Yikes!

I never thought that we would have a choice between the two variations... I always thought that English at an academic university level meant BrE.

Our student advisor told us that he would recommend Am to those of us who haven't spent time in England...

Could use some feedback on that whole thing.

--Saeed--