How to learn an accent?

[matilda]

your situation is much MORE better than me and the ones like me, that are living in a place that people even don't know how to say each other hello,
and we have difficulty in finding our english books



Matilda

 

[SunnyDay]

I'm yet to come across someone with strong "Hindi Accent" however, you might like correcting yourself by seeing it as strong "Indian Accent", instead.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4328733.stm

To me, it SOUNDED like she had a thick accent and tried to train it out by learning British vowels and stress. Maybe it was an accent I've never heard before.

Beside, merely stressing on vowel or words or sentences, doesn't make anyone sound "British", however, such is the widely held belief

What does make someone sound British, or anything, then, if not the vowels and stress?

 

[j4mes_bond25]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4328733.stm
To me, it SOUNDED like she had a thick accent and tried to train it out by learning British vowels and stress. Maybe it was an accent I've never heard before.
What does make someone sound British, or anything, then, if not the vowels and stress?

An interesting news article, but I rather see "Hindi" as a language itself, as opposed to "accent", after all, you would HARDLY hear anyone saying he's an "English" accent, since "British/American/Australian" accent would've made more sense.

On the other hand, American pronounce the same vowel as British do & they stress the same syllable in a particular word, as the American/Australian/Indian themselves, since the "stress" pattern in a particular word is to do with the "English language" itself & not with the individual accent. Afterall, word like "heart" has LONG "a" vowel, which is pronounced by ANY English speaker, regardless of their accent.

I rather see the "vowel" (and consonants, course) articulation i.e the sound articulation itself, as a factor that distinguish between accent.

Sound articulation involves:

>> Manner of Articulation: vibration of the vocal cords, whether there is airstream passes through the nasal cavity in addition to the oral cavity (American accent's sound involves more "nasal" cavity, making it sound "American")
>> Place of Articulation: position of tongue, lips, teeth, etc.

However, having said that, of course, in many cases, the "pronunciation" of a particular word in itself could make it easier to judge of its location, for example, the word "poor" is pronounced as "pO:" in Britain but "pUr" in America, the word "module" pronounced as "mod.ju:l" in Britain but "mA:.dZu:l" in America, "privacy" pronounced as "prIv.@.si" in Britain but "praI.v@.si".

By the way, since you're American yourself, would you have any idea as whether it's MORE easy for an American accented person to grasp British accent OR for a British accented person to grasp American accent ???

 

[rewboss]

An interesting news article, but I rather see "Hindi" as a language itself, as opposed to "accent", after all, you would HARDLY hear anyone saying he's an "English" accent, since "British/American/Australian" accent would've made more sense.

It depends, actually. There are many different languages spoken in India -- Hindi is only one of them. It doesn't make sense to say "an Indian accent" because there are so many to choose from.

However, English is spoken in many different places, not just England. But you can still talk about someone having an English accent -- that would be "English" as opposed to "Welsh" or "Scottish", for example. For example, when Desmond Llewellyn -- a Welshman -- was first cast in the role of Q in the James Bond films, the directors wanted him to use a Welsh accent. Llewellyn, however, disagreed, saying that Q is supposed to be a stereotypical civil servant, and insisted on an English accent.

 

[j4mes_bond25]

It depends, actually. There are many different languages spoken in India -- Hindi is only one of them. It doesn't make sense to say "an Indian accent" because there are so many to choose from.
However, English is spoken in many different places, not just England. But you can still talk about someone having an English accent -- that would be "English" as opposed to "Welsh" or "Scottish", for example. For example, when Desmond Llewellyn -- a Welshman -- was first cast in the role of Q in the James Bond films, the directors wanted him to use a Welsh accent. Llewellyn, however, disagreed, saying that Q is supposed to be a stereotypical civil servant, and insisted on an English accent.

Being an avid fan of James Bond myself, its worth getting enlightened about this fact about "first Q" in the James Bond series.

As far as actor's accent is concerned, Mike Myer's British accent is fantastic & of course so is Bridget Jones', however, NO ACTOR has yet managed to hold candle to the broad Home Counties & doubtlessly lovely accent of Hugh Grant.

As far as American accent is concerned, George Clooney's one is quite an attention-grabber.

 

[rogusx]

I would like to know how NOT to "learn" an accent. I find that, living in an area where all my peers are native speakers of American English, it has become impossible for me to retain my original (consciously acquired) British accent. Then again, I don't sound entirely American (especially when I become aware of my speech and try to change it back to the way it used to be), so it often has a confusing effect on people. I guess it has to do with my own prejudice, but I always thought of RP as better for us foreign learners.
My favourite accent to hear is southern Irish, and I often listen to rte online just to enjoy those Irish tones.
As an example of a Briton (and a Welshman at that) doing great American accents: Christian Bale (American Psycho, Batman Begins) nails it.

 

[Tdol]

I know what you mean- I find my accent becomes more Cockney when I'm in London as I used to live in an area with that accent all around me.

 

[SunnyDay]

An interesting news article, but I rather see "Hindi" as a language itself, as opposed to "accent", after all, you would HARDLY hear anyone saying he's an "English" accent, since "British/American/Australian" accent would've made more sense.

Fair enough. (As a side note, I've gotten myself into the habit of saying "Hindi" as opposed to "Indian" because I've had several people ask me before if I ment India Indian or Native American. I'll make an effort to say Indian instead of Hindi when referring to the accent, though.)

It depends, actually. There are many different languages spoken in India -- Hindi is only one of them. It doesn't make sense to say "an Indian accent" because there are so many to choose from.

I hate to sound ignorant, but as I don't know those various languages, and there's a very small chance that the people I talk to know them either, the general "Indian accent" works for me.

On the other hand, American pronounce the same vowel as British do & they stress the same syllable in a particular word, as the American/Australian/Indian themselves, since the "stress" pattern in a particular word is to do with the "English language" itself & not with the individual accent. Afterall, word like "heart" has LONG "a" vowel, which is pronounced by ANY English speaker, regardless of their accent.
I rather see the "vowel" (and consonants, course) articulation i.e the sound articulation itself, as a factor that distinguish between accent.

I see; I confused vowel sounds and articulation. My mistake. ^^;

By the way, since you're American yourself, would you have any idea as whether it's MORE easy for an American accented person to grasp British accent OR for a British accented person to grasp American accent ???

Eh, that's kind of hard to say, especially since there's people that can pick up any accent with fairly little work, no matter what their origonal accent is. Then there's the people that can't do any sort of accent. I'm sure someone with a New York or Boston accent would have an easier time of immitating a Britsh accent and vise versa, while someone with a Southern accent would have a harder time doing a British one. (I've been told that when British people try for an American accent, they usually go for a Southern one . . . .)
I think the harder part would be the lingo - it seems like Britsh people have more exposure to American lingo than American people have to British lingo. For instance, I could start up a (sort of bad) British accent, but I would still be using Southern American words - with the possible exception of "y'all." Unless I was really thinking hard about it, I would still use "elevator" and "stand in line" out of sheer force of habit.
And I'm curious, too: if you started talking in a Southern accent, would you remember to use "y'all?" =P

 

[rewboss]

it seems like Britsh people have more exposure to American lingo than American people have to British lingo.

I think that's beginning to change. Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Austin Powers -- British English appears to be "cool" at the moment; it's certainly being heard more often now in popular culture than it used to be. I've even noticed some anglicisms creeping into Americans' speech lately; for example, one or two Americans are beginning to say "bum" to mean "butt", when just a few years ago it might have just confused them.

 

[SunnyDay]

British English is the ultimate cool over here right now - we just had a British kid move here and within three days he became the most popular kid in school.

But even in those movies, British slang is kept to a minimum - I don't believe I heard any apple and pear references in Harry Potter.

 

[j4mes_bond25]

British English is the ultimate cool over here right now - we just had a British kid move here and within three days he became the most popular kid in school.
But even in those movies, British slang is kept to a minimum - I don't believe I heard any apple and pear references in Harry Potter.

I've heard of Americans penchant for British accent & Britons often fancy the "lovely" Irish accent

In fact, I came across hardly few movies where British slangs are used in it:

>> In Ocean's Eleven, one of them was a Cockney guy responsible to turn the lights off of the entire city for a short while (if you know who am I on about), when coming out of the gutter, he uses one of the cockney rhyme slang for "trouble" saying "we are in barney" & when the others don't get it, he says the whole rhyming slang saying "barney rubble" & when the group still doesn't get it, he says "trouble".

>> In Bend It Like Beckham, during a football match, when Jass faces an ethnic slur, which she responses back saying "sod off"

>> In Austin Powers' Goldmember with Elizabeth Hurley, when he's with her sharing a room in a hotel in Japan, Austin refers to his private parts as "wedding tackle" when he showers all his corny lines on Elizabeth Hurley

>> In Notting Hill, when Anna Scott gets invited to William Thacker's (Hugh Grant) little sister's birthday party, she empathetically says "arse". Interestingly, both "arse" (ONLY if pronounced in British accent) & "ass" (whether pronounced in British or American accent) are pronounced exactly the same, i.e. "A:s". However, Anna pronounces "arse" as "A:rs" (in her American accent where the sound of "r" occurs, unlike in British accent, where sound of "r" is ALWAYS quiet, unless followed by a vowel sound)

>> In Bridget Jones' Edge of the Reason, Hugh Grant, when in Thailand he says "there's been absolute cock-up" when a Thai girl enters the room when Hugh & Bridget are there

>> Lastly, in quite a few James Bond movies I remember hearing American English as opposed to British one. In one of the James Bond movie, I've heard James Bond saying "Where there's smoke, there's fire" however the British equivalent of it would be "There's no smoke without fire"

Any more examples of American/British slang used in the movie, especially, if such slangs are NOT understandable by someone outside the country from where the movie is originated, such as British slang NOT understandable to Americans & vice versa ???

 

[rewboss]

I don't believe I heard any apple and pear references in Harry Potter.

That would have been inappropriate. That's an example of Cockney rhyming slang, which is used only in certain situations by Cockneys, i.e. Londoners, although a few of the more common expressions have since found their way into the speech of other people. But Harry and his friends are pretty much typical middle- to upper-class and would never use such expressions.

It would be a bit like watching an American movie set in Beverly Hills and wondering why nobody ever says "aw, shucks!" or "there ain't room in this mansion for both of us, partner". (The classic comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies, of course, did do something like that, but for comic reasons.)

 

[rewboss]

Interestingly, both "arse" (ONLY if pronounced in British accent) & "ass" (whether pronounced in British or American accent) are pronounced exactly the same, i.e. "A:s". However, Anna pronounces "arse" as "A:rs" (in her American accent where the sound of "r" occurs, unlike in British accent, where sound of "r" is ALWAYS quiet, unless followed by a vowel sound)

That's actually untrue. Firstly, the "r" is sounded in many dialects of British English (my own, for example), sometimes very strongly; it just happens that in the standard RP accent, it isn't pronounced but merely lengthens the vowel. It's worth remembering that RP is an artificial dialect, but based on certain south-eastern dialects. Secondly, the vowel sound in the standard US accent is very different than that of the standard British accent: it's shorter and pronounced further back.

 

[j4mes_bond25]

That's actually untrue. Firstly, the "r" is sounded in many dialects of British English (my own, for example), sometimes very strongly; it just happens that in the standard RP accent, it isn't pronounced but merely lengthens the vowel. It's worth remembering that RP is an artificial dialect, but based on certain south-eastern dialects. Secondly, the vowel sound in the standard US accent is very different than that of the standard British accent: it's shorter and pronounced further back.

Well, so far, since developing interest in Phonetics, I only delved into RP accent, since it's widely seen as a Standard British accent, however, I haven't a chance to explore other British regional accent, as much as I've looked into RP.

However, having said that, I don't think I've heard "r" sound by anyone having British accent on British television/movie, as yet. And, on television, course, I often hear people from different region having varied regional accents but don't think I could say that I've heard "r" sound in any of their speech, as clearly audible as I could hear in American movies, for example.

For example, words like cordon, arse, honour, order, etc., as far as I've heard has ALL BUT ALWAYS has "r" sound "silent", except in "Scottish or Irish/Northern Irish" accent (but course, they are not strickly "English" accent, as in from "England").

Are you quiet certain about the possibility of some English regional accent (be it be York, South east/west, Brummie, North, Midlands, etc.) actually pronouncing the "r" sound (except when the "r" sound is exclusively followed by a vowel sound) ???

In my case, course, the "r" sound is pronounced but ONLY when it follows a vowel sound, but it's highly unlikely if you'll hear the "r" sound in my accent in words like "Ireland", "corner", "corn", "peter", etc.

If I may ask, which regional English accent in particular do you have, where you tend to pronounce the "r" sound, even when a vowel sound DOES NOT occur straight after the "r" sound ???

 

[SunnyDay]

That would have been inappropriate. That's an example of Cockney rhyming slang, which is used only in certain situations by Cockneys, i.e. Londoners, although a few of the more common expressions have since found their way into the speech of other people. But Harry and his friends are pretty much typical middle- to upper-class and would never use such expressions.

I see. Sounds like Cokney would be the equivilant of, say, ghetto slang here?

 

[rewboss]

If I may ask, which regional English accent in particular do you have, where you tend to pronounce the "r" sound, even when a vowel sound DOES NOT occur straight after the "r" sound ???

Westcountry. Specifically, Somerrrrrset, the land of ciderrrrr. Not very far, in fact, from Bristol, where Long John "Arrrrrr Jim Lad" Silverrrrr comes from.

Have you seen The Curse of the Were-Rabbit? Mr Growbag has a Westcountry accent, and at one point says, "Kiss my arrrrr-tichoke!" And who could forget the Wurzels with their number one hit I've Got a Brand New Combine-Harvester, every single R clearly audible?

 

[rewboss]

I see. Sounds like Cokney would be the equivilant of, say, ghetto slang here?

Except that Cockneys are perceived as being helpful, decent, generous people with a sense of humour and very long heritage. They may indulge in crime, but crime of the harmless sort -- selling stuff at market that should have gone to the dump, for example.

That's a stereotype, of course, and a rather condescending one at that, but the Cockney dialect is generally associated with positive characteristics.

 

[j4mes_bond25]

Except that Cockneys are perceived as being helpful, decent, generous people with a sense of humour and very long heritage. They may indulge in crime, but crime of the harmless sort -- selling stuff at market that should have gone to the dump, for example.
That's a stereotype, of course, and a rather condescending one at that, but the Cockney dialect is generally associated with positive characteristics.

Del boy of Peckham portrays a perfect picture of "Cockney sorts" & as far as spoken English is concerned, one only needs listening to David Beckham :lol:

 

[charlenee]

I think different people have different conditions and their own ways of picking accents. Some of them only take a few months, but others may spend years to get it. It really depends on your potential and the environment where you live. Don't worry! there will be a moment that you suddenly realize: "where did I get this accent from? When? How..."

I am kinda "changable" person though (???). In my home country, I used to have a clear-enough American accent 2 years ago, but when I've moved to New Zealand, after 6 months, I realized that I lost my American accent without knowing it :lol: Once, I talked to an American teacher, he said: "you have a lovely British accent" (NZer accent is totally different from Brit) :roll: unbelievable :shock:

 

[Margarita_hu]

Hey everyone, Im new to here

Having lived in the UK for around 6 years now, I am still finding it hard to speak english with a clear british accent. Although I have got rid of my chinese accent, people often ask me to repeat my speech when I'm speaking which is very frustating as I really am trying my hardest to speak clearly.

As time goes, speaking with an british accent have become a dream of mine which doesn't seem to me that I am reaching it. I watch the British Television and am living with naitive speakers. I am disheartened by the fact that people seems to pick up the accent so easily when they moved over at a young age. I've came to the UK when I was 13-14 which I think is considered too late to learn the new accent.

I would be extremely grateful if any of you people can give me some advices!
:-?

Hi Newbie,

I think you should record some extracts from a BBC website where you can find listening exercises and you can find the script as well (News and Vocabulary section or Breaking News English Lessons | FREE ESL Lesson Plans | Listening). Listen to it twice and try to record your own pronunciation on another tape recorder. Have a close examination at what details you have to work out.

Bye,
Margarita_hu