Random thought about foreign accents...

Something in another forum spawned this thought process...

Here in America(or at my highschool at least), students are directed to use native accents while learning foreign languages. Refusing to utilize the accent affected the student's grade. Now, I've met many a foreign person, and I've never heard so much as an attempt to speak in an American accent(or British or Redneck or whathaveyou). Sometimes, they don't even bother learning the different sentence structure.

Now, I realize in all foreign language classes, there's a distinct difference between speaking the language and speaking like the natives. Of course, there's slang, and certain dialects deforming the way certain words are said... ya-know-whut-ah-mean? But these German/Polish/Mexican/French/Arabic/etc. people I've met just seem to be like those kids I knew in German class who said "Bidduh gebben zee merr ein beer" with about as much enthusiasm as a rock.

What's worse, most American girls find it sexy. Imagine me walking into a Berlin club with my clumsy, abrupt New England accent trying to pick up girls... "Gootin Ah-bind, mine Fraw."

Comments?

I've heard tonnes of foreigners using British/American accents when speaking english. In fact, there are some people who have such a flawless accent you'd never even realize English is only their second (or third, fourth, or whatever) language.

I lived with a girl a couple years ago who for several months I thought was Canadian. Eventually I found out she was actually Swedish.

It's not easy to catch accents unless you're well-exposed to them or concentrate well on what you've got. Europeans are excellent at developing accents, because of the culture they live in; they have easy access to what they need, particularly genuine foreigners. In other places it's not so easy; there's less people with perfect accents to learn from, and less cultural and economic wealth in general.

Strangely people have told me I have a mid-west accent, when I lived in N.Y. State a few years as a kid, where I learned English the hard way by being dropped in an American elementaly school... the school was great; I mean it wasn't bilingual or anything like that; just a fine State school in a residential area. But I think I got the "mid-west" tone by messing around later and giving myself a very slight slur. I can adopt accents pretty well... I remember speaking like the characters in Braveheart on purpose for a while after seening that movie just once, and things like that.

I stayed with a couple of Dutch friends some years ago, and if I didn't know any better i would have sworn they were from the USA; their accents were flawless. Not bad for a second language.

Hmm, I think I know what you mean. In my Japanese class at DU, while they try to get us to pronounce things correctly, they don't totally drill us on it. I think it is partly due to how the Japanese language is pronounced, but we were all able to imitate the accent pretty well. There are times where we use a distinctly American accent, but they don't really make us try that much.

However, I've met people from other non-English countries who both didn't care about learning the accent, and some who really tried hard. A girl I know from Argentina has an absolutely flawless accent and dialect, and she sounds just like my friends and I do. And my Japanese teachers (who are both from Japan, different parts) both regularly try their hardest, and occasionally ask us, when it comes to words and pronunciation.

But still, some people blow it off. I think it has more to do with an individual person's intentions and enthusiasm for the language. I'm enthusiastic about Japanese, and my teachers have said I have an extremely good Japanese accent. I also intend to eventually live there.

What I've found interesting is the effect that studying Japanese has had on my ears. Before I took it, I'd listen to Japanese songs that had a few English lyrics here and there in them and could never understand them. I had a hard time in general understanding some people with Japanese accents. Now that I'm going into my 3rd year of studying it, sometiems I don't even notice it and I can make out English words better.

You tend to change accent slightly when you speak a different language anyway, trying to pronounce french or german words as if they where english sounds wrong anyway

Well, with English it's different IMO, because it's picked up from media alot more. I dunno about other languages.

ahah, funny thread.

I am french but I live in California, people tell me I just have a slight accent for a french guy :)
Most french people I met over there tend to have a real strong accent
and it's sometimes hard to understand :)

Same goes with american trying to speak french, I've met only 2
americans that only had a slight hint of accent... all the others
where hardly understandable because they were saying french word
as if it was english (seems that french teachers suck:).

Btw my parents came over there the last 2 weeks and they were
surprised that I got a slight american accent while speaking my
native french :) ... only after 10 months spent in the US

I'm Belgian and my native language is Dutch. My accent leans heavily towards American, but I try not to use any blatantly American expressions or phrases ('gonna' and the like). I'd record a sample but my microphone seems to be broken atm.

I agree that most Americans trying to speak French are pretty horrible at it. "Je parlay Francays!"

VinceDSS said:

Btw my parents came over there the last 2 weeks and they were surprised that I got a slight american accent while speaking my native french :) ... only after 10 months spent in the US

Really? That's kinda wierd. I haven't noticed my Swedish accent changing any (and I've been over here quite a while), but I've basically lost most of the Swedish phrases and figures of speech that I knew. I don't think anything of it myself, but people point out that I basically translate English phrases and use those, most of which don't work or sound odd in Swedish.

Spike said:

their accents were flawless.

Accents in themselves are a flaw.

david_a said:

Really? That's kinda wierd. I haven't noticed my Swedish accent changing any (and I've been over here quite a while), but I've basically lost most of the Swedish phrases and figures of speech that I knew. I don't think anything of it myself, but people point out that I basically translate English phrases and use those, most of which don't work or sound odd in Swedish.

I actually was not noticing it.
I guess it comes when you are deeply involved in using a foreign language and trying to speak it as good as you can. I suppose your mouth gets used to english sounds and pronounciation. This accent disappeared after a few days of speaking french with my parents :) (after all I did not speak french for almost a year)

VinceDSS said:

I actually was not noticing it.
I guess it comes when you are deeply involved in using a foreign language and trying to speak it as good as you can. I suppose your mouth gets used to english sounds and pronounciation. This accent disappeared after a few days of speaking french with my parents :) (after all I did not speak french for almost a year)

I learned English when I was fairly young, so I don't really have to think about pronounciation in either language. Also the fact that I always speak in Swedish with my parents probably keeps the language from totally eroding away from me.

I could see how conciously trying to speak an unfamiliar language might have an effect though, especially when you speak it exclusively for a long time.

I think I have a pretty good German accent, but that's not because of my three years of taking German. It's from listening to a ton of German music later on. :P

Also, someone told me (it was one of our resident Brits or Scots) that Americans don't have accents. That came as a bit of a shock to me. Anyone here in agreement, or was that person blowing smoke up my ass?

americans, brits, scots and irish all have different accent.

but there is no single american accent there are several ones.

west coast accent, east coast, redneck, mexican, chinese... so many :)

I personally have trouble to understand some rednecks (happens to people w/ only a quarter of brain) and brits (too used to american accents)

Danarchy said:

Also, someone told me (it was one of our resident Brits or Scots) that Americans don't have accents. That came as a bit of a shock to me. Anyone here in agreement, or was that person blowing smoke up my ass?

What?!

The "generic" (basically the Western) American accent still uniquely identifies someone as being from the US.

AFAIK, all European countries teach people English, not American. When I was in school in Sweden (admittedly a while ago) we learned colour, flavour, etc. The pronounciation was also decidedly English.

EDIT: Of course, TV and movies are a giant influence on people, so I wouldn't be surprised if most young people have more of an American accent than an English one.

My math teacher in college is from Kuait, we can understand him just fine.

I think I have a slight Northern accent. Pretty much the whole top of the US from Chicago to Seattle was settled by Scandinavians and as a result, people in this area pronounce vowels a little weird. It seems to be more pronounced the farther East you get (turning into the Midwestern accent) and it's basicaly unnoticable here except for in a few old Scandinavian communities around here. Yeah.

Also, I hate how people on the East coast pronounce Oregon. It's pronounced 'OR-i-gin' you silly simps, not 'OR-ah-gon'.

I suck at speaking english :(



<Jean Reno> No women, no kinds, that's the rules </Jean Reno>

Man I love it when he says that with his accent.

Danarchy said:

Also, I hate how people on the East coast pronounce Oregon. It's pronounced 'OR-i-gin' you silly simps, not 'OR-ah-gon'.

Origin? Origin?!? IMPOSSIBLENESS!!!!11

I love hearing Americans trying to pronounce English words.

Yeah, like 'fiver'. That's just hilarious.

Actually, there is a "neutral" american accent, used by national media...originated from the midwest

from wikipedia

"Like the British Received Pronunciation, General American was never the accent of the entire nation. Rather, it was derived from a generalized Midwestern accent and is spoken particularly by many newscasters--in part because the national broadcasters preferred to hire people who spoke in this way. It is sometimes promoted as preferable to other regional accents: In the U.S., classes promising "accent elimination" generally attempt to teach this accent. As the well-known television journalist Linda Ellerbee, who worked hard early in her career to eliminate a Texas accent, has said, "in television you are not supposed to sound like you're from anywhere.""

I pronounce it ORE-gone...two syllables

david_a said:

Origin? Origin?!? IMPOSSIBLENESS!!!!11

Yeah, kind of like the word 'origin' but with a hard g or possibly like 'origun'. It may sound weird, but thats how they pronounce it on the West coast, therefore that should be how it's pronounced. Any Oregonites wanna back me up? Baldy? Anyone?

or-ih-gihn is probably most common, or-ih-gun is equally accepted. or-ih-gone or or-gone are going to get you a kick in the balls here.

And Pennsylvania is pronounced "Philelphia".

Hmmm, the "e as an i" is not familiar to me, but I guess I say the rest of it correctly. Sure as hell doesn't sound like origin though :)

Oh man, I just realized that I've lived 8 years near an infamously mispronounced city: Louisville. There's widely different opinions on how to pronounce it, but "Lewisville" is wrong no matter who you ask.

There's some tourist shirt that lists "accepted" pronounciations: Looavul, Luhvul, Loueville, Looaville, and Looeyville. I guess I use Loueville myself.

Also, I hate how people on the East coast pronounce Oregon. It's pronounced 'OR-i-gin' you silly simps, not 'OR-ah-gon'.

Oh snap, really? Whoops

Then why the hell is it spelled gon? Alright then. My name is to be pronounced Gikuma from now on. Also, Fodders is pronounced Fidders (with a hard D), Boris is Biris, DJ Haruko is DJ Haruki, and Lord Flathead is Lird Flathead.

Quast said:

I pronounce it ORE-gone...two syllables

So, kind of like the word orgone. :p