By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - General Discussion - What does an american accent sound like to a foreigner?

insomniac17 on 11 February 2010

http://www.gazette.com/articles/state-56934-colorado-denison.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_american (I think this is the best way to put the accent here)

I don't know what accent I have. I've tried to figure it out before, but I can't tell. The way I talk just sounds like English. I don't know how to describe it.



Latest News/Discussion for Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars!


Around the Network
JUG on 11 February 2010

The first thing that springs to mind is that American accents, to an English person, generally make the speaker sound more outgoing, confident and a little bit stupider (there, I said it!).

P.S. Not nearly as stupid as the prevailing estuary English accent you hear in home counties/London schools these days.

 

Edit: On reflection, when I think of an American accent I usually think of high-school girls who punctuate their sentences with "like" and raise their tones as if they're always asking a question. So I think that's where my prejudice comes from!



Wii code: 1534 8127 5081 0969

Brawl code: 1762-4131-9390

Member of the Pikmin Fan Club

damkira on 11 February 2010
makingmusic476 said:
Khuutra said:
Louisiana is kind of emblematic of the problem: I can think of at least three major accents in that state alone, and it only has six million people.

I can think of at least five.  Typical New Orleans people like myself, that have often been said to have no recognizable accent at all, New Orleans ghetto, St. Bernard (Y'ats!), cajun/creole, then Northern Louisiana folks that sound like typical Southerners.

Its strange... New Orleans people don't.. but Slidell people sound very different from Chalmette people.. and Gretna is different, too. Baton Rouge people have no identifiable accent but they do in Lafayette or Houma...

 



outlawauron on 11 February 2010
damkira said:
makingmusic476 said:
Khuutra said:
Louisiana is kind of emblematic of the problem: I can think of at least three major accents in that state alone, and it only has six million people.

I can think of at least five.  Typical New Orleans people like myself, that have often been said to have no recognizable accent at all, New Orleans ghetto, St. Bernard (Y'ats!), cajun/creole, then Northern Louisiana folks that sound like typical Southerners.

Its strange... New Orleans people don't.. but Slidell people sound very different from Chalmette people.. and Gretna is different, too. Baton Rouge people have no identifiable accent but they do in Lafayette or Houma...

Baton Rouge does not have a single accent. It's a large mixture of other cities (depending on where you are, you'll hear some Orleans Parish/Jefferson parish stuff and driving down the road you'll hear some Acadiana stuff) and doesn't quite a single accent of its own.

 

And I have to agree with Khuutra. While North Louisiana definitely does not have the same accent as South Louisiana, it's still different from the rest of the Southeast. A happy medium between the two seems like a reasonable statement.



"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
And snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
Then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
To dance with Jak o' the Shadows."

Check out MyAnimeList and my Game Collection. Owner of the 5 millionth post.

outlawauron on 11 February 2010
Khuutra said:
Louisiana is kind of emblematic of the problem: I can think of at least three major accents in that state alone, and it only has six million people.

6 milloin?!


Hell, I didn't know we eclipsed 5 million!



"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
And snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
Then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
To dance with Jak o' the Shadows."

Check out MyAnimeList and my Game Collection. Owner of the 5 millionth post.

Around the Network
SuperAdrianK on 11 February 2010

I live in Florida so go figure....
but when I went to orlando there were some people that did Kind of talk like the southerns you guys are talking about.




              

sc94597 on 11 February 2010

Here is a nice website.

http://web.ku.edu/~idea/dialectmap.htm



toastboy44562 on 11 February 2010

only chicago accent sounds normal to me, london accent/new york accent is fine too, i just hate the southern us accents...



Squilliam on 11 February 2010
makingmusic476 said:
NJ5 said:
The strong Southern US accent sounds pretty bad (as in cowboy movies but not limited to those)... but it can be funny too. Other American accents sound much better, and are the easiest form of English to understand IMO.

The standard British accent sounds pretentious and it's not as easy to understand as most American accents. Some other British accents are almost impenetrable, such as the Sccotish accent.

Have you been listening to the VGC podcast?  We don't all sound like maxwell! 

Hell, I live in the deepest of the South, yet around New Orleans we sound nothing like the guys that live in the heart of Georgia.

You sound like a cute beaver.



Tease.

Squilliam on 11 February 2010
outlawauron said:
Khuutra said:
Louisiana is kind of emblematic of the problem: I can think of at least three major accents in that state alone, and it only has six million people.

6 milloin?!


Hell, I didn't know we eclipsed 5 million!

A leafy bug can hardly have a good view of the surroundings whilst its nourishing in a bush.



Tease.