[General] Native english speaker or not ???

[EngFan]

Hi Native English Speakers,

Please listen the following two audio clips, do you think he is a native english speaker? If your answer is 'no', could you please point out why you know he is not a native english speaker? If your answer is 'yes', please point out why you think he is a native speaker? Please advise, thanks a lot.

1. Content
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wilde call and a clear call that may not be denied

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2. Content
We believe that the pope, as a citizen of Europe and the leader of a religion with many adherents in the UK, is of course free to enter and tour our country.

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[susiedqq]

I am picking up an accent.

Dah for "the"

Australian?

 

[EngFan]

Anybody can give me yr answer and comment, he is native english speaker or not ??? Thanks.

 

[georgemartin22]

yes he is. I think he's British.

 

[Barb_D]

Not New England. Not from the US at all.

I hear the d sound in "the." Certainly native-speaker proficiency if not a native speaker. Irish?

 

[accentcoach]

He is most definitely not from the US. He is most likely from the South of England or possibly Wales. The passage sounds like it might be Dylan Thomas, who is Welsch.

 

[Tdol]

I am not sure that he's a native speaker- there are some strange sounds (call) that do not sound native to me and don't sound like any regional pronunciation I know. I think it might be a non-native speaker who is completely fluent. The pronunciation of some words call and seas is a bit strange to me, but the stress and everything else is perfect.

 

[robarocamel]

Good at spoken english, but agreed with Tdol, there are some strange sounds, but I don't know how to describe it....

 

[birdeen's call]

The pronunciation of some words call and seas is a bit strange to me, but the stress and everything else is perfect.

What's wrong with "seas"?

 

[Tdol]

It's difficult to describe, but the vowel sound is slightly different- as if the mouth were open too wide. Call stands out more.

 

[5jj]

The first couple of times I listened, I had him down as a native speaker, but the more I listened, the more I went with robarocamel and Tdol. My phonetics ear-training was long ago, and I can't put my finger on it, but there is something about his /ð/ (definitely) and his /r/ (sometimes) that disturbs me.

 

[lauralie2]

Hi Native English Speakers,

Please listen the following two audio clips, do you think he is a native english speaker?

Do you mean, does he have native English pronunciation? If so, then, yes, I think he has, at least in the first recording. There is a problem with the audio in the second recording: it seems cut 'n pasted. Why is that?

My native English instincts tell me the speaker sounds like a native English speaker because his speech follows the pronunciation patterns of English--not USA based, mind you, but British based.

His pronunciation of 'seas' sounds English to me, not Standard British English, but then again, there are so many dialects to take into account as well as the speaker's own idiolect to consider. On that note, and this may sound odd, his pronunciation of 'seas' reminds me of how a sailor would say it, which could mean the speaker's pronunciation is in part influenced by the text itself.