Hello, a lot of us--learners-- are confused about the type of accent to cultivate, because English is so wide!. I will recommend British and American accents, for one reason: They are clearer, though Canadians know that British accent is the sexiest, as they put it .One up for the people of Great Britain.
On a slightly different note, Jim, my Australian friend, once said(above) that he fancies African accent and his native . For me I think different. I believe that if any one wishes to learn a language, shim(she or him)ought to adoptthe best accent, as clearity permits: the Ameri-anglo accent, if you will, my dear Jim.
Port Harcourt
Goran:
London IS very multicultural. Half the world seems to want to come to the UK but nowadays the Government is making it much more difficult, especially if you come from outside the EU. Even from within the EU free benefits money is no longer being doled out by the UK Government to all and sundry.
Why jeopardise your health and, as you put it, perhaps risk premature death as a result of being subjected to "snobbish" British accents? You say you have adopted an American accent when speaking English (which is great in writing BTW). Why not go to the USA instead? There you will have no problem being understood, and your American accent will be considerably more appreciated than in the UK. I guess you want to join your brother in London, where I saw it once stated that over 300 languages are spoken in Greater London. That seems very hard to believe, but on the other hand, maybe not when you go there.
It does make me feel resentful to be stopped in the street, as I was once both in London and in Edinburgh (my home town) and asked if I speak English. I am blond and blue eyed so maybe they think I am Swedish or something! I can think of a variety of responses to that question, but I usually just smile (or scowl depending on my mood) and say "Yes". I feel tempted sometimes to pretend I don't and just wave my arms about, but I've never had the courage to do that yet.
I'm from Florida too, but I'm from South Florida where I don't think our accent is Southern at all, but Cuban in many areas. I do think the more northern people get from South Florida till around virginia, the more southern they sound. I admit it is true many people from South Florida call the rest of Florida "Hicksville". I myself think I speak with the standard american accent - no one has ever told me that I have any type of accent (this is from other Americans).
Cot and caught - sound mostly the same to me except that caught has a slight inflection of the au for me sometimes - it's lower than the "o" sound.
Mary, merry and marry are also very close. Marry is most distinctly different for me out of the three in that I pronounce marry with a short "a" like the a in baritone. Mary and merry are the same for me.
Route is pronounced differently according to situation. In america, there are many signs saying "Route 1" and things like that. I always pronounce the word on the sign as "root". However, when I am taking about taking a path, I tend to say "rout" as in a router for you computer.
Hello, Damian,
On several occasions, even when not provoked or prompted by any stimulus, I have succesfully pretended that I do not speak English.
In California, most people do not speak French and those who do speak it very poorly. Hence, it is relatively easy to do a passing impersonation of a Frenchman. I was once in an Italian restaurant and attempted to order my meal in French. When the waiter told me he did not understand a word I said, I tried a bit of German, a bit of Russian, and a bit of Mandarin Chinese. Finally, I reverted to sign language and pointing. Not once did I say a word of English or Spanish, not even "thank you" or "gracias"! (I wasn't being impolite though; I said "merci", "danke", "spaseeba", and "xie xie".)
You sound like world-class jerk. Why do you want to make things difficult for the poor man taking your order? If I were him I would've hocked a loogie into your soup before serving it.
"Why do you"
Why WOULD you...
I am from chicago. Grew up in the north side til i was 14 than in the south side till i was 23. When I was 23 I moved to the suburbs where people thought i was from a different country...Mexico or something. I grew up in spainsh nieghborhoods but assured everyone that I didn't speak any spanish. At first I was bothered by this because I never in my life was ever told I had an accent til I moved to the suburbs. I now realize that I do have a Chicago accent and am proud. Accents makes us more interesting to the rest of the world who consider themselves not to have an accent...which I agree with the person who said "everyone has an accent"
Well, I try very hard the American accent, but for sure I have this pretty charming Brazilian one. No problem because I can communicate what I mean very easily!
Hey Ci ! Howre do?
Perhaps ´Ci´ from ´Cicília´..?
Moro no Rio de Janeiro. You?
I just speak with a Calfornia accent, which is pretty much the same, if not totally the same, as the Standard English accent. Nothing fun here.
I know that I don't have a good ear for accents though. It's one of the reasons that I have so much trouble with foreign language study. Once I hear it a lot then it's okay, but in the beginning it totally throws me off.
Hi
Im a New Zealander and believe me, trying to speak with an american accent is the last thing on any kiwi's mind. We love our accent, its nothing like it and its has close similarities to the Aussie accent. Like someone mentioned above their is a difference between NZ and Aussie accents. Ie. An Aussie saying the number "six" sounds like (sex to us which might explain why we get confused and smirk when they say that). Secondly, an Aussie who pronouces "hill" sounds like (heel) to us.
Catchya
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Steve once suggested to send our accents to his site.
I think it is a good idea, bcs to listen to accents and to have a good feedback could be interesting.
I will send my Russian accent to him.