Which is easier?

[anupumh]

Hi,

Which accent/english is more easier than the other to learn and acquire?

British English or American English

Thanks

[csheywood]

Originally Posted by anupumh

Hi,

Which accent/english is more easier than the other to learn and acquire?

British English or American English

Thanks

Hi
Interesting question since both have regional differences, as does Australian (I imagine also the same goes for New Zealand and S.Africa). As a simple answer I would suggest that whichever accent you hear the most will be 'easiest' since it will reinforce what you try. Perhaps certain sounds cause problems eg 'th', but not having experience of teaching anyone from your part of the world I can't give a more detailed comment.

[Tdol]

The accent you start with will probably be a greater determining factor for ease and speed.

[anupumh]

Originally Posted by Tdol

The accent you start with will probably be a greater determining factor for ease and speed.

Yes you are right, so if I one has Indian accent, would it be easier to acquire RP Accent?

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by csheywood

Hi
Interesting question since both have regional differences, as does Australian (I imagine also the same goes for New Zealand and S.Africa).

I cann't speak for the RSA, but NZ has been almost free of regional pronunciation differences or accents. There has long been one noted exception, a little pocket of partial rhoticity in Southland, but other than that, even Kiwis couldn't tell whereabouts in the country a fellow Kiwi was from by accent or vocabulary. Recent research suggests that this situation is tarting to change, with three main regions developing. It is early days, though, in the development of regional differences here. This is only true, of course for English. Māori has always had pronounced and obvious pronunciation and dialectal differences throught Aotearoa.

[euncu]

The most products of the popular culture has been being produced in USA.So,in your daily life, it is more likely to meet an American production (movies,music,tv serials,etc..) rather than British ones . So it is easier to learn American accent since there are vast sources for this.

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by anupumh

Hi,

Which accent/english is more easier than the other to learn and acquire?

British English or American English

Thanks

I would say that neither is easier or more difficult to acquire. Acquiring an accent simply requires prolonged exposure to it. Whichever accent is easiest for you hear and be exposed to frequently, that accent is the one you will most readily incorporate into your own idiolect. So if you want to adopt an American English accent, immerse yourself in that accent and if you want to adopt an RP accent, do likewise for that accent. My personal advice would be to stick with the perfectly delightful accent you already have - भारत की अंग्रेज़ी बहुत सुन्दर है!

[loui]

I would say, British Accent because Americans tend to look down on people with foreign accents and most of the time labeled then as "dumb" and "Uneducated" people, which is actually kinda funny if you think about it, becaouse, most Americans (like the 80 of them) only speak English and those are the people that are calling someone who can speak 2 or more languages dumb???????, How Ironic.


So here, no matter how well you speak, how deep is your knowledge of the language, etc. As long as you have a foreign accent (which you will always have by the way) you will be considered "stupid". Therefore, to have an American accent, you have to have a perfect American Accent, which is almost impossible because as good as your speech and intonation in the language is, your accent will never go away, unless you got to the US when you where a child, and have been living here ever since


So just stick with "The British accent", (at least there people won't look down on ya)

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by stuartnz

I cann't speak for the RSA, but NZ has been almost free of regional pronunciation differences or accents. There has long been one noted exception, a little pocket of partial rhoticity in Southland, but other than that, even Kiwis couldn't tell whereabouts in the country a fellow Kiwi was from by accent or vocabulary. Recent research suggests that this situation is tarting to change, with three main regions developing. It is early days, though, in the development of regional differences here. This is only true, of course for English. Māori has always had pronounced and obvious pronunciation and dialectal differences throught Aotearoa.

Hi stuart, long time no see.
Your point is also valid for the Australian accent. It is remarkably uniform for a place so large. The postulated reasons are that since our countries are so newly English-speaking (200 odd years), there has not been a time when enclaves of people lived isolated in tribes. Also, since the vast majority live near the coastline, and early transport was largely by shipping, a uniform accent developed in the ports and spread inland with little change - except for the characteristic 'broad' version which is more typical in the outback.

[anupumh]

Originally Posted by stuartnz

I would say that neither is easier or more difficult to acquire. Acquiring an accent simply requires prolonged exposure to it. Whichever accent is easiest for you hear and be exposed to frequently, that accent is the one you will most readily incorporate into your own idiolect. So if you want to adopt an American English accent, immerse yourself in that accent and if you want to adopt an RP accent, do likewise for that accent. My personal advice would be to stick with the perfectly delightful accent you already have - भारत की अंग्रेज़ी बहुत सुन्दर है!

I am sorry this is an English Language forum, still as you had posted it, so I thought I should point out.. "भारत की अंग्रेज़ी बहुत सुन्दर है!" This is incorrect Hindi construction, grammatically it might be correct, but its an improper usage of the adjective "सुन्दर", nobody use it this way..

In Hindi Language is good but never beautiful (सुन्दर)...