hey, do you people think english is an important language to know?? because it is used a lot, some people might think learning a new language is worthless, but do you think learning any new language is??
And about the different english language accents, what accent do you find more annoying? New Zealand accent, Australian accent, or american accent? and why. Do you think american english is spoken nasally or not?
thanks
I think an American accent sounds just fine, but I suppose I'm biased. :-)
I can't really tell an Australian accent and a New Zealand accent apart. I associate them too much with tough guys playing rugby and drinking beer, so I suppose they don't sound particularly cultured to me. The British "BBC accent" sounds too cultured and "not normal", on the other hand.
Ryan
I'm biased too. Being Aussie, I don't find the Aussie accent annoying at all and the Kiwi one only slightly so. The American accent would have to be the most annoying of all. But really I don't usually get annoyed with accents.
Whether learning English is important is really up to the individual and the situation he or she is in same for any language.
for me too I think the north American accent is the best english accent to my ears at least( u can say I am biased) , and about the BBC accent as Ryan said sounds really too cultured and good, but about the Aussie one , to be honest with you, I tried so many times to understand it while I was watching the crocodile hunter ( the Australian show) , but I could not understand most of it) , but as I said it depends on your ears , once u hear that for long you will get used to it.
and about learning language is important or not, I think it is important especially the english , because it is the langusge that by using it you could cominicate with other people who dont speak the same langusge that you do, and it depends on the situation , same as my case I was forced to learn French because of my work in Quyebec, Canada
Teettoo
Yeah, I live in Northern America
From my humble and biased perspective, I find the Australian and Cockney accents a little annoying because they...
1. Sound rather sharp.
2. Seem to be spoken from the top of the mouth.
3. Have far too many glottal stops.
4. Seem to pronounce "eye" /aI/ whenever people with other accents pronounce "ei" /eI/. E.g. today, to-die.
From my humble and biased perspective, I find *Modern* Received Pronunciation (i.e. accent of present-day BBC news reporters, NOT Qn. Elizabeth II's accent) to be the accent with which I am most comfortable because it was the way my primary school teachers spoke English, therefore the type of English I was "brought up to speak". I do not believe it is overly cultured and one speaks it quite normally when one is brought up to do so.
From my humble and biased perspective, I do NOT find the American Accent nasal because I have lived in the United States for a period of time and have become accustomed to hearing the accent.
A list of many UK/US spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation differences at www.adlerma.homestead.com/files/english_differences.htm