American or British accent?

Well i think the British accent is much pure and compress in between two,because people with British accent are pretty loud and clear..and very easy to understand them..while people with American accent are too fast and too fluent and normally they...not pronounce full phrases and hence too difficult to understand for non American accent.

davidbendtner said:

Well i think the British accent is much pure and compress in between two,because people with British accent are pretty loud and clear..and very easy to understand them..while people with American accent are too fast and too fluent and normally they...not pronounce full phrases and hence too difficult to understand for non American accent.

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Quite the opposite for me, I find British accents harder to understand. Especially with some regional accents, I have to concentrate or sometimes even use subtitles to understand what's being said. Some are pretty irritating (like when they say oy instead of ou ex. moment pronounced moyment). Non-rhoticity doesn't really help. I don't have any trouble with American Accents, except for heavy Southern ones. Standard British English is better, but it's not that common in real life.

I find American English to be much clearer than British English, in general.

If I were in such a position, I would probably tell the students to pronounce every word properly and to feel comfortable and confident as long as native speakers can understand what they're saying.

Has anyone, who was not born and bred either in the UK or in the states, has learnt to speak in an American or British accent to such a point that people native to that country would take the person as one of them in terms of accent and pronounciation? I'm probably wrong. Some genieuses may have done so before. But I don't think this is an objective feasible for most people, esp adults, providing that they don't have luxury of time to remember the way every sound, word or sentence is said in a specific accent, as children do.

I've heard that many actors and actrees can quickly pick up an accent. Yet, even these people can't get it right all the time. Russle Crowe was pissed when Mark Lawson suggested, on a BBC Radio 4 programme, that there were tinges of Scottish accent in Robin Hood's voice, and left the scene. And they're prefessionals, people who're briliant at their native language and trained to do another accent.

Another thing is, there are so many American and British accents. People from Manchester speaks differently from those blokes of London. In gigantic cities, such as New York or London, people, I guess, don't pay much attention to try to find out if one grows up locally, for there are probably as many accents as they can get. But I seriously doubt, say, after a person spends a couple of months in a lesson, people from any part of the UK, after a short conversation or a while, will not think that this guy is, at least, not from their area, accentwise.

After all, one who has invested lots of money and time will very likely end up speaking an American or British accent, which no one in the states or the UK would do. If the purpose of learning a foreign language is to communicate with people, why should some one pay much attention to speak like a person from a particular part of the UK or the states, letting alone the fact that it's nearly a mission impossible.

Say, I am Chinese. There are thousands of accents in China. My father, who was a Chinese language teaher before his retirement, forbad me from speaking my local accent when I was a kid. I can't do it at all. And I don't have an accent that can help people identify where I am from. Two years ago, I was recognised as a non-local guy in a real estite agent in my hometown, for I couldn't speak my local dialect and had hints of southern accents, after I had spent roughly a third of my life in the opposite part of China. But, people in the south think I have a northern accent. I learnt Beijing dialect from Telly but people there believe my accent is from a neighbouring province. I am just lucky to belong to the half of Chinese people whom most people can understand.

So my point is that having a specific accent is not that important. What's more important is the way one expresses themselves and whether one delivers their words properly, pronounciationwise.

Some interesting points of view on this thread – and a few suggestions of prejudice.

The original question was: How would you advise a learner who asked: “Should I try to speak (and spell) like an American or like a British person?

The answer that seems fairest to the student would be: The one the better teacher uses. I am sure that most students would sooner have a good teacher who speaks one of the dialects rather than a bad teacher who happens to speak the other.

There are parts of the world where one of the two main dialects appears to enjoy more prestige than the other, but prejudice for or against is often restricted to native speakers of those languages.

Thanks to the influence of radio, film and TV, what we might call General American and Southern British dialects are more universally understood by non-native speakers than some of the regional dialects, and so it would seem to be more useful to study with a teacher who can produce one of those two.

Now to digress a little. Ouisch writes: I must emphasize the importance of Indians learning the proper cadence and emphasis of either British or American English.

Why?

According to David Crystal, some 350,000 Indians speak English as a first language, and some 2220 million people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh speak it as a second language. The fact that some American and British native speakers find it hard to understand some Indians (including native speakers) is irrelevant. I am sure that some Indians find it hard to understand some British and American native speakers.. ALL immigrants to any country need to learn to communicate effectively with natives if they are to succeed in becoming part of the local communities (if that is what they wish). But ‘Indian English' is widely and successfully used as a means of communication in many parts of southern and south-east Asia and the Middle East. There is even some discussion in India as to whether Indian writers should make efforts to develop the regional variety into a standard. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? (As the Indians would not say).

Speakers of the language that first developed as recognisable English originated in part of a small island in north-west Europe, but the English or British do not ‘own’ the language, any more than Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Irish people – or Indians, and none of these has any right to impose their version on other speakers.

konungursvia said:

I would agree if you mean migrants to the US. But India as a whole has no duty or obligation either to American or British people or their language, I feel sure.

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I agree, but if the person in India is working at a call center as a customer service representative for HSBC, I would expect fewer communication problems than I have experienced.

Ouisch said:

India as a country has no obligation to the American or British people, but the original question was asking about which accent to use when speaking English. Tone, pronunciation and cadence have as much to do with the English language as they do in Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish, etc. People in France quite often openly mock non-native speakers who pronounce words incorrectly or who put emphasis on the wrong syllables when attempting to speak French.Every language has its own rhythm, vowel pronunciations, etc. It has nothing to do with allegiance to one nation or another; the main objective in speaking any language is to be understood.

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But Indian English is a form of English. It is widely used and easily understood by millions of people throughout an area extending from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Speakers of this variety have what some British and Americans rather derogatively call a 'sing-song' intonation - but then so do many native speakers of English from Wales and north-east England.

I think we need to be careful that we do not confuse our frustration at being unable to understand clearly a person with whom we are trying to communicate with the belief that certain British or American rhythm, vowel pronunciations, intonation patterns, etc are superior to others.

There may be an argument for saying that doctors and call-centre employees should speak with the dialect of the area in which they are working. There is no argument for saying that Indians (or anybody else, for that matter) should learn to speak with a British or American intonation pattern if they want to use the English language.

You write:' Every language has its own rhythm, vowel pronunciations, etc.' That is simply not true. It may be true that every dialect has its own rhythm, pronunciations, etc. It may also be true that in some multi-dialect countries or regions such as England, Wales, New England, etc there is a generally accepted set of rhythm, etc. But it is not true of languages, except possibly those spoken in very small areas. General American and Southern British English spoken with Received Pronunciation are dialects.

I wonder how British and American people would feel if they were told that they would have to acquire a sing-song intonation pattern if they wished to work in India.

In my opinion a person trying tolearn English should try to learn it without a specific accent. This is why English changes its accents depending on the different area it is speaked. I'm trying to learn American English accent because I like it, but it's just my personal choise. Apart from this the only important thing is to understand and be understood from English people.

same confusion here

Aeneus23 said:

In my opinion a person trying tolearn English should try to learn it without a specific accent. This is why English changes its accents depending on the different area it is speaked. I'm trying to learn American English accent because I like it, but it's just my personal choise. Apart from this the only important thing is to understand and be understood from English people.

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Now that's not possible.

Sure, in the beginning, the student will be unable to achieve any particular accent, other than the erroneous one imposed by his interferences between the mother tongue and English.

But as an advanced student, you can't aim at nowhere. You choose, either one sort of English, or another.

konungursvia said:

But as an advanced student, you can't aim at nowhere. You choose, either one sort of English, or another.

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It's not entirely true. I agree that an advanced student shouldn't aim at nowhere but it happens. I'm an example. I do consider myself an advanced student of English and I don't speak any of English accents other than my own. The way I speak is to some extent random and to some extent depenent on the place I'm at. It's because I listened to different dialects throughout my life and none of them ever dominated others in my mind. It can be irritating, that's true.

This question is all over the place... quite a paradox, I may say... :-?

I think it is just a matter of fact that predilections and preferences are inherent here. As for me there's no such thing as better or superior. As long as we can be understood, who cares about which variant ones use I do find, Australian accent/English quite intriguing though

So, when faced with the word "controversy" how do you pronounce it? And "laboratory?" What about "here?" To utter any of these you have to choose British, American or some other variety, quite consciously.

konungursvia said:

So, when faced with the word "controversy" how do you pronounce it? And "laboratory?" What about "here?" To utter any of these you have to choose British, American or some other variety, quite consciously.

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Do you mean that I have to contemplate my pronunciation before uttering anything? I don't. Your examples are very good. Whereas I do pronounce "controversy" always the same way (I believe), I know I stress different syllables in "laboratory" on different occasions. I don't know exactly on what it depends in my speech...

Same with "here". While I think I always pronounce it as a two-syllable word (which I believe is the British way), I sometimes pronounce it in a rhotic way and sometimes in a non-rhotic way. Just whichever comes out.

I think it does depend partly on where I am and to whom I'm speaking. But only partly.

Let's see..

UK /ləˈbɔrətri VS US ˈlæbrətɔːri/

UK /ˈkɔntrəvəːsi/kənˈtrɔvəsi VS US ˈkɑːntrəvəːrsi/

I can't see much difference there except for the vowels and the stress. The consonants are still the same...

I know there are some big differences between both variants, but I do believe if you are 'tolerant' enough whilst speaking to others who came from a different corner of the world, everything shall be fine...

Okay, I've just never met any advanced language learner who didn't come to feel it was time to choose a distinct set of norms.

konungursvia said:

Okay, I've just never met any advanced language learner who didn't come to feel it was time to choose a distinct set of norms.

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I don't know if I can consider myself as an advanced learner since sometimes I do make ludicrous mistakes. (especially the singular and plural stuff that give me headache all the time eg: the staff is nice VS the staff are nice yada yada)

But I've been starting to sort things out and stick with only BRe (fundamental linguistics items eg: grammar and vocabulary) since 2 years ago. But I don't mind listening to different kinds of accents.

Sometimes I do try my best to sound British (imitating not mocking). And it sounds quite convincing as I heard from others. Having said that, I can't wait to go to the UK to practise the 'authentic accent'. Perhaps I am an Anglophile in this sense... ;-) but it doesn't mean I am bias it is just a matter of predilection..

I have a Swedish friend who speaks more or less RP English. Once, at lunch, he said

"You're pulling my leg, I reckon." The last two words were pronounced somewhat like a Texan would say it.

He immediately laughed at himself and rephrased, feeling he had mixed his Chardonnay with his Carmenère.

konungursvia said:

Okay, I've just never met any advanced language learner who didn't come to feel it was time to choose a distinct set of norms.

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What a blissfully sheltered life you lead.

It is common for native speakers to misunderstand one another. In high school, for example, I met a Scot. He and his brother had lost their Edinburgh accent in Canada. However, they had to repeat to me what their parents said. I simply could not understand them for the first four or five years they lived in the States. Their parents understood me well because of their exposure to American accents in films. An English friend (Lancashire) said that in his travels in the UK he would have problems understanding various accents. He, his wife (also from Lancashire) had no trouble with our accents, but I did find it difficult at times to understand their teen sons.

On the other hand, have you noticed that non-native speakers often understand one another than native speakers understand them? I remember overhearing some Korean EFL teachers talk about beavers. Beavers? What does a beaver have to do with an English class? Eventually, I realized they were talking about "be verbs".

What is an English accent? What is an American accent? There are English acccents and there are American accents. To say one is better than another is a bit provincial. This business of "My English is purer than yours" or "My English is better than yours" gets tiring.

I live in Costa Rica, a Spanish-speaking country. The same argument is heard in Latin America but with the exception that it is about Spanish. "The Spanish of Country-X is closer to that of Spain than Country-Y." Give me a break. In Brazil, one region makes fun of the accents and regionalisms of other regions. I don't recall hearing anyone compare his brand of Portuguese with that of Portugal. (Yes, many Brazilians have trouble understanding the Portuguese accent.) The grammars and pronunciations are so different that a comparison would be most difficult.

fivejedjon said:

What a blissfully sheltered life you lead.

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Wow, normally it takes psychics and magicians at least 15 more minutes to determine what kind of life I lead. I'm impressed.