British English or American accent?

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bhaisahab

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To go back to the original subject, accents of English (sorry for diversifying). I like all the accents of English and I don't have too much trouble ubderstanding any of them. I speak with the semi-mythical standard English accent, that is to say uninflected, probably as a result of education. I come from south London and my ancestors were Scottish and Irish, most of my extended family speak with a south London accent.
My favourite accents are west of Ireland and Indian.:)
 

SUDHKAMP

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To go back to the original subject, accents of English (sorry for diversifying). I like all the accents of English and I don't have too much trouble ubderstanding any of them. I speak with the semi-mythical standard English accent, that is to say uninflected, probably as a result of education. I come from south London and my ancestors were Scottish and Irish, most of my extended family speak with a south London accent.
My favourite accents are west of Ireland and Indian.:)
Dear Bhaisahab, will you please specify about the Indian accent? I wish to know more, as living in India, I cannot compare them with any other, as you can do with your varied experience and travel.
 

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I used to have trouble understanding most of the accents, well, now I started listening to radios (worldwide) and can understand all of them as long as people speak correctly...haha some people have trouble pronunciating some words which have an L or an R on them. Then it's not so uncommon to hear, "I would like some flied flies".:lol:
 
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bhaisahab

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Dear Bhaisahab, will you please specify about the Indian accent? I wish to know more, as living in India, I cannot compare them with any other, as you can do with your varied experience and travel.

It is very difficult to describe the sound of something. I think that the Indian English accent is melodic, it has a sort of sing-song quality. I'm afraid I can't do better than that, sorry.:)
 

thod00

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I do a (poor) Indian accent by pressing my tongue into the top of my mouth between every word and speaking slightly too fast.:)
 

hanky

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I personally have a bit trouble with Indian accents, Indians speak too fast and quite unreachable.
 

Offroad

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I personally have a bit trouble with Indian accents, Indians speak too fast and quite unreachable.
Fully agreed. However, working on it.
 

stuartnz

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I disagree that Indians speak too fast. The key to understanding a strong Indian accent, as with most accents, is finding the natural rhythm of the accent. Once you have tuned into the rhythm or flow, the words are easy to distinguish, and you'll see that most Indians do not have a high "words per minute" sort of speed in English. Part of the problem is that Indic languages (I can't speak for Dravidian) do not have the same use of stressed and unstressed syllables as English, which can make it challenging to find that rhythm. New Zealanders and Australians speak English much, much faster than most Indians, and we don't open our mouths properly either. The native English accent I find hardest to decipher is Belfast Irish - that can be almost impenetrable to my ears.
 
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bhaisahab

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I disagree that Indians speak too fast. The key to understanding a strong Indian accent, as with most accents, is finding the natural rhythm of the accent. Once you have tuned into the rhytm or flow, the words are easy to disctinguish, and you'll see that most Indians do not have a high "words per minute" sort of speed in English. Part of the problem is that Indic languages (I can't speak for Dravidian) do not have the same use of stresses and unstresses syllables as English, which can make it challenging to find that rhythm. New Zealanders and Australians speak English much, much faster than most Indians, and we don't open our mouths properly either. The native English accent I find hardest to decipher is Belfast Irish - that can be almost impenetrable to my ears.

Thanks for your comments on the Indian accent, I agree. The Belfast Irish accent, while it's not one of my favourites, I don't have any trouble understanding.
 

hanky

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I disagree that Indians speak too fast. The key to understanding a strong Indian accent, as with most accents, is finding the natural rhythm of the accent. Once you have tuned into the rhythm or flow, the words are easy to distinguish, and you'll see that most Indians do not have a high "words per minute" sort of speed in English. Part of the problem is that Indic languages (I can't speak for Dravidian) do not have the same use of stressed and unstressed syllables as English, which can make it challenging to find that rhythm. New Zealanders and Australians speak English much, much faster than most Indians, and we don't open our mouths properly either. The native English accent I find hardest to decipher is Belfast Irish - that can be almost impenetrable to my ears.

Well, I guess you are right because never do I have heard Belfast Irish accent.
Yesterday I watched "Eurotrip 2004" film and I hardly heard what have been spoken by those soccer hooligans whom are fan of Man United while I perfectly understood Mieke's father who is German. :cry: I guess those MU's fan are from Manchester (but in the movie this fan club is in London, but I dont think they are Londoners). Can anyone of you who have seen this movie confirm this for me? Thanks.
 

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Hahaha... I have seen that movie before... it gave me an enormous belly-laugh. Well... I noticed their accent is a little ... strong but it was not that hard to get. However, that drunk guy on the bus to Paris...hmm... quite strong accent.
I have looked for this movie for months...:-D Eurotrip.
 
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Pheebs

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I was born and bred in New England, US. My niece just married a Brit and lives in the UK.
I like the British accent, but sometimes in the US, anyone with an accent of any kind is regarded as an "outsider". Yes, sad but true.
 

hanky

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I was born and bred in New England, US. My niece just married a Brit and lives in the UK.
I like the British accent, but sometimes in the US, anyone with an accent of any kind is regarded as an "outsider". Yes, sad but true.

I think it happens not only in the US but also in the others places: anyone who doesn't have the accent that any others have is considered as an "outsider".
 

SUDHKAMP

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I think it happens not only in the US but also in the others places: anyone who doesn't have the accent that any others have is considered as an "outsider".
True, but I think places like London and New York also adjust, ignore any differences in accents and respect the true talent of any person.
 

IvanV

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True, but I think places like London and New York also adjust, ignore any differences in accents and respect the true talent of any person.
I'm afraid it has little to do with talent (though I follow this reasoning when looking toward the learners - work it always applauded to, at least in those circles where I am). It's simple - if you don't fit, you're 'out'. Ones may find your difference appealing, especially if they are generally fond of the accent you speak with, while the others may dislike it. It's probably a tad harsh to say that, but it's most likely that you'll be considered an outsider as someone mentioned earlier.

p.s. To draw from personal experience, I think that American women like that old, classic British accent. :usa :mrgreen:
 

Kevinaya

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I am an American residing in the County of San Diego in Southern California. Hearing someone here with an accent is nothing new here as a huge percent of residents here have Mexican/Spanish accents...I feel that it is a breath of fresh air to hear an accent other than Mexican. I am also fluent in German, I went to Germany this summer with a group of students from all over the United States we were exchange students in houses of our own and being there for a month I realized the difference in the English from Tenessee, Chicago, and even Washington...my host brother even pointed out to me that his favorite was the Tenessee accent, although the accent was not a Southern drawl it was still very different from the accent here in California...I also have to say that my favorite accents are the New England accent and the Birmingham accent in the UK.
 

alawton

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Hello,

I am an ESL teacher living in Austin, TX. I believe that here in the US we tend to find the English accent to be very formal. It sounds like a distinguished person is speaking. I could see a British accent as being a positive in terms of speaking English for business.




Andrew Lawton
ESL Lessons and Exercises for English Fluency by Drew
 

ramanan92

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Hi,
What you have asked is absolutely true:tick:. I am Ramanan Thiagaraj from India. Even here also british english is used and more preferred than american english, this is because british english is the original english and others are just derived. So be confusion in that.
ALL THE BEST:up:
 

alawton

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Hello,

Besides teaching ESL, I teach Spanish at the local community college. I have a student from India and we love to talk about accents. Her accent is British. She learned English in India. She is very curious about how she sounds compared to others in our class, or in the US for that matter. She is trying to lose the English accent so as not to stand out so much. I keep telling her that she sounds great speaking the way she does. Her grammar is perfect and the British accent sounds great. Do you get exposed to the American accent in India at all?


Andrew Lawton

 
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