What do I have to improve on my General American accent?

[Azera]

https://soundcloud.com/iownuall/english/s-vtOSg

https://soundcloud.com/iownuall/community/s-fgROp

Two audio files.


Well, the rules I talk about are not from this forum, but I chose to upload it here anyway.

Guess where I'm from! I thought this'd be a fun thing to do!

 

[Amigos4]

I bet you are from Sweden! Am I correct? ;-)

 

[Azera]

Yes, but I bet you only said that because you checked my profile lol. Cheating is no fun!

 

[MikeNewYork]

Cheating is great fun!

 

[Azera]

Haha, maybe... But the question remains, what do I have to improve?

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

By the way, I didn't check your profile and I thought you're from Scandinavia. :-D
I understood it, because a friend of mine, who lives in Sweden, speaks like you.

 

[Amigos4]

If I had to guess where you are from, I would say western Canada! Where did you study English?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Your spoken English is great! I would lose the "ums", most of the "likes", and all of the "fucking" adjectives.

 

[Azera]

Hmm, alright! I studied English in elementary school here in Sweden lol. Never been to the States. I find it funny how this guy above you says "I can hear you're from Scandinavia". Some other americans said my accent was totally convincing and that I had no trace of Swedish accent in it.

 

[Azera]

Your spoken English is great! I would lose the "ums", most of the "likes", and all of the "fucking" adjectives.

Weird... Some American said I had an authentic general American accent but I lacked 'ums' and fillers like 'like' which kind of gave me away on another audio file I uploaded , where I left out the vocalized pauses. Do I make a convincing American accent then?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I would not say it was authentic American, whatever that is. There are many accents in America. That said, if I ran into you in a bar, I would ask what country you were from.

 

[Azera]

Really? I'm really confused, because on another forum, Americans said "Yes, yes I would guess you were American! I habitually analyze people's pronunciation, like, to the point where i forget to actually listen to what they are saying. And i couldn't find anything unusual about your accent. Even the R's and the diphthongs sound American to me, while most people can only come so close."

and "Honestly, if I didn't know it was a put-on accent I would have assumed you were American, probably from either the northeast or California."

"I pretty much agree with the rest of the comments, sounds pretty damn good to me, especially for someone whose never been here. I do get a bit of a New York/New England accent, but hardly. The "general" American accent is supposedly the Mid-West accent, but at this point I think it's more the West Coast accent due to Hollywood. Essentially, if you can't place exactly where someone with an American accent is from, you have the general accent."

Why were they saying this?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I was born in Chicago and have lived in New York for many years. I am half Danish and have been to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark several times. You certainly are closer to an American accent than any native Scandinavian I have ever met. However, having lived in New York for a long time, I have met people from almost everywhere on the planet. It is difficult to completely capture a foreign accent. When I was in college, the "standard" American accent, taught to radio announcers, was from central Michigan. That was considered "accent neutral". I don't know where it is today. Some of your pronunciations of certain consonants was not typically American, in my experience.

 

[Azera]

I was born in Chicago and have lived in New York for many years. I am half Danish and have been to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark several times. You certainly are closer to an American accent than any native Scandinavian I have ever met. However, having lived in New York for a long time, I have met people from almost everywhere on the planet. It is difficult to completely capture a foreign accent. When I was in college, the "standard" American accent, taught to radio announcers, was from central Michigan. That was considered "accent neutral". I don't know where it is today. Some of your pronunciations of certain consonants was not typically American, in my experience.

I'd say I'm even closer than Alexander Skarsgård and the Swedish Hollywood actors. Can you give me an example fo what consonants? I want to know exactly what I am doing wrong, because I want to be able to replicate a "general american" accent perfectly. I mean, I guess you could say most people wouldn't really think I'm from another country if I were to indulge in a random conversation with someone in one of the accent neutral cities, right? Obviously many of these Americans thought I made a very convincing accent so yeah...

 

[MikeNewYork]

The most important thing was your s's. You land on your s's harder than most Americans. They seem to hiss when you speak them. I am not great with phonetics, but that was the biggest thing I noticed. I think your accent is great. It is better than most people from Boston or South Carolina. Yet, I detected a bit of foreignness in your tapes. One of the things that I am most impressed with are actors and singers who can lose their accents for a part or a song. Cases in point: Hugh Laurie in "House" and Susan Boyle doing "Les Miserables".

 

[Azera]

The most important thing was your s's. You land on your s's harder than most Americans. They seem to hiss when you speak them. I am not great with phonetics, but that was the biggest thing I noticed. I think your accent is great. It is better than most people from Boston or South Carolina. Yet, I detected a bit of foreignness in your tapes. One of the things that I am most impressed with are actors and singers who can lose their accents for a part or a song. Cases in point: Hugh Laurie in "House" and Susan Boyle doing "Les Miserables".

Hmm, alright, fair enough. I guess if I were to live in the States for a few months I'd probably perfect it. I just can't pin-point exactly what I'm lacking...

 

[MikeNewYork]

I wouldn't worry about it. There are many things in life more important than an American accent, whatever that is. :-D

 

[5jj]

Really? I'm really confused, because on another forum, Americans said "Yes, yes I would guess you were American!" [...]
Why were they saying this?

If so many people had told you that you sounded American, why did you bother asking the question in this forum? Unless you were prepared to accept some comments that your accent might not be perfect, then there seems little point.

Mike has been at pains to assure you your accent is very good indeed, and said "You certainly are closer to an American accent than any native Scandinavian I have ever met." Boris explained how he came to the thought that you were Scandinavian.

When I listened to the recordings, my first reaction was that you were American and, if I met you in a bar, I would probably begin by thinking you were American. (Unlike Mike, I am not American.) However, on re-listening, I noticed the hardher /s/ sounds that Mike referred to, a couple of /ð/ sounds that verged on /d/ and a couple of /p/ sounds that struck me as not completely devoiced. I also thought that one or two of the vowels did not ring quite true but, not being very knowledgeable about American dialects, I could be mistaken.

 

[Barb_D]

So here's one more little tip: Do NOT drop the "f-bomb" as casually as you did. There are a lot of people who find this quite offensive. It changed you from "eager learner" to "cocky jerk" in my mind when I heard it.