What my accent sounds like?

[kendallomf]

Hello,

I relocated to Australia 4 months ago and I have heard about 15 different interpretations of the origin of my accent. It got me curious.
I recorded myself reading a part of an article from today's New York Times.
What do you think?

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0RiMmdzofST

Thank you!

 

[cereal_chick]

It sounds to me most like a southern American accent, with a few aberrations as one would expect from a non-native speaker. It comes from your rhotic accent (pronouncing all of the Rs), your velarisation of "L" in all positions and your reduction of the diphthong /aɪ/ (the long "i" sound) to a monophthong, something like /aː/.

 

[tzfujimino]

I'm not sure about your accent, but you seem to have picked up AmE pronunciation.
I think your English is very good.:up: (You're reading the text a bit fast (for me), though.)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hey, this is a fun one!

You're using a news report involving the U.S., but you don't sound American to me: ductor, hospitoh, physeecian, ambolance. And I don't think you're European, Asian, or Latin American. How about somewhere in...Africa? Can't wait to fine out. I love being wrong!

This is like the scene in Pygmalion and My Fair Lady about the ruder pest from Budapest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvvk5n9lQF0

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

So tell us! Greenland? Iceland? Antartica? Malta? Yellowknife?

 

[Roman55]

I'm going to stick my neck out and say Lithuania. ;-)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Can't go wrong with Lithuania!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hey, come on, Kendall, don't leave us hanging!

 

[emsr2d2]

I sincerely hope it's Lithuania. If it's not, then kendallomf has put false information in her member profile.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I sincerely hope it's Lithuania. If it's not, then kendallomf has put false information in her member profile.

I respect all alter egos, pseudonyms, pseudobiographies, nommes de plume, nommes de guerre, multiple personality disorders, reorders, and new world orders.

And that explains why it doesn't sound like an English accent quite neatly, doesn't it?

 

[kendallomf]

Africa? Ok, the strangest guess I've heard so far!
American also makes little sense to me - I've never been there and I have met about 2 Americans throughout my life. I studied English in the UK and I have always been taught British English.

For the curious, I am half Lithuanian, half Russian. I grew up in Lithuania and France.

Anyway, I always thought I sound clearly and obviously Eastern European.

 

[tzfujimino]

:shock:
Your English doesn't sound like BrE at all to me.
Interesting.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Africa? Ok, the strangest guess I've heard so far!
American also makes little sense to me - I've never been there and I have met about 2 Americans throughout my life. I studied English in the UK and I have always been taught British English.

For the curious, I am half Lithuanian, half Russian. I grew up in Lithuania and France.

Anyway, I always thought I sound clearly and obviously Eastern European.

I haven't heard many eastern Europeans. You definitely did not sound American. (In a good way!)