CANADIAN and AMERICAN accent, whats the difference? - page 2

i hate canadians, almost as much as americans

bob, get a life. english is english where ever.

Someone said there is no 'correct way of speaking' - well, there is.

The only way to speak without an accent would be to speak Received Pronunciation. Here are some reasons why RP is the genuine, and 'only' true way of speaking English

- People sing in RP

- Everyone English speaker understands RP

- RP is the oldest accent

- RP is perfect, crystal clear English

- 3% of English speakers around the world speak it. 1% of those in England.

The British Royal Family speak RP, and from the 14th century, people have been 'strictly' brought up to speak this way.

You write "The only way to speak without an accent would be to speak Received Pronunciation." and then you write "RP is the oldest accent". Do you mean to say RP is or is not an accent?

I have nothing against RP but it is, none the less, an accent. Sure, "People sing in RP". Some people do, others might sing in a Jamaican accent, others still sing in the Italian language.

Sure, RP is clear and easy to understand but if you came from Newfoundland then a Newfie accent would be clearer and easier to understand to you.

3% isn't exactly impressive. You write "people have been 'strictly' brought up to speak this way". You mean "some people" or maybe "3% of native speakers".

If you believe that "RP is the oldest accent" I afraid that you're very much mistaken. You would do well to study the history of the English language.

I'd support your decision to abopt the RP accent. It is a good accent but I don't agree that RP is "perfect" nor that it "is the genuine, and 'only' true way of speaking English".

There are typos above: "...I afraid..." should be "...I'm afraid..." and "abopt" should be "adopt".

RP is a very British thing. It stands for "received pronunciation", which gives you an idea of the elitist philosophy behind it. For years, people in the United Kingdom were encouraged to drop their local accents in favour of more 'acceptable' RP. However, there has been a backlash against this in recent decades and regional accents are more and more in use, e.g. on tv. Indeed it turns out that the most popular accents (and ones that people trust etc.) are Scottish and Yorkshire. I come from London and it's true that lots of people there sound like they're trying to rip you off the moment they open their mouths.

RP is a bit of an invention too - It originates from the English spoken in private schools of the last centuries, where people would be brought together from different parts of the UK. As a result it's probably not historically the most interesting. If 19th Century novels are to be believed, some areas even retained 'thee' and 'thou' for 'you' and 'you' until comparatively recently.

To my knowledge, the early English colonists in America came from the West Country of England, East Anglia and the East Midlands. RP came along after they'd already left. This may be one reason (among the billion others) why the stereotypical American accent sounds so different from British RP.

RP from the 14th century????

the 't' thing is a northern thing dimwit. we have our own thing and you have yours so stick to it.

Canadians are gay, americans are not

Well all I can say aboot Canadians is that they aint got no [American]southerners!!!!!!

What in the sam hell are ya'll talkin' aboot! There is too sounthereners [americans] in Canadia!

P.S. Where the hell is Canadia anyway?

Is that you cousin Billy-Bob? Y'all knows you aint supposed to bes a typin this late. Besides you is wrong aboot there ain't being southerners in Canadia: weve got cousin Elk, cousin Billy-Mae, Billy-Jo, Billy-Jo jr, Billy-Jo Jr Jr, Ant. Patty and Uncle Anita. There's at least...well I aint got 'nuf fingers to be countin that many...hangon...let me get mybelt out and give y'all a can ov woop-ass...shee-yit...I cain't whoop y'alls asses over this here dag-gon pees of compyuter teknology.

I do not know who you are, but I bet you are a stupid person. I am from Canada, and I am proud to be Candian. I do not have any American relatives, nor would I want any American, back-woods, in-bread relatives in my family.

Get a life--move out of the trailer park, eh?

I spelled my nationality wrong. But I can assure you that I do not have any of your back-woods, in bread relatives in my family! My family tree has LOTS of branches on it!

I suppose Canadians and americans ae very similar in some ways and different in others. As soon as you land at a canadian airport, like in the usa, you get sniffer dogs hounding you out searching for food, containing so called diseases. If the food contained diseases don't you all think we'd be eating it and bringing it in? They say it's to protect agriculture.. hah!! I'm sure it's for another reason.
Canadians are different however in a way that they still have the Queen as head of state, while america has a president. Canadians have the 2nd largest country in the world, with under 30 million people. America has the fifth largest I think and a population of over 260 million.

I think the canadian accent is like the american, but not as strong and with a french influence.