Also, I remember reading that the Midland is distinguished from the North in that they have a rounded vowel in "on".
My American Accent
Suzette Elgin. I seem to remember a serious of fiction books by that author where everyone spoke with an Appalachian-style dialect -- despite the fact that it was science fiction and took place on another planet. I think she was going by Suzette Hayden Elgin.
I suppose that sort of thing is fun for a writer with a linguistic bent!
I suppose that sort of thing is fun for a writer with a linguistic bent!
↑ You betcha, Uriel; that's the same author.
In addition, she invented an artificial language, that was intended to be passed along from female to female. It was done on an experimental basis to see if it would "catch on".
The nice thing about her non-fiction work is that while most of it directly relates to the topic of Verbal Self-Defense, quite a lot of it concerns related topics that are of considerable interest to the linguistics student.
Copies of the best of the series can be found dirt-cheap on the Internet. To wit:
http://snipurl.com/3q6z0 [www_amazon_com]
By the way, she LOVES hearing from her readers.
In addition, she invented an artificial language, that was intended to be passed along from female to female. It was done on an experimental basis to see if it would "catch on".
The nice thing about her non-fiction work is that while most of it directly relates to the topic of Verbal Self-Defense, quite a lot of it concerns related topics that are of considerable interest to the linguistics student.
Copies of the best of the series can be found dirt-cheap on the Internet. To wit:
http://snipurl.com/3q6z0 [www_amazon_com]
By the way, she LOVES hearing from her readers.
Oops. that was supposed to be series, not serious.
I kinda dug the telepathic, teleporting mules. And of course, she had fun with the names -- some of them permutations of state names, like Tinaseeh (there's that pen-pin merger, I guess), others names from southern history (the Traveller family features prominently as a sinister force; Traveller was the name of Robert E. Lee's horse). And of course, everyone spoke in dialect, which made for some pretty colorful dialogue -- especially when someone was getting a good piece of someone else's mind!
I kinda dug the telepathic, teleporting mules. And of course, she had fun with the names -- some of them permutations of state names, like Tinaseeh (there's that pen-pin merger, I guess), others names from southern history (the Traveller family features prominently as a sinister force; Traveller was the name of Robert E. Lee's horse). And of course, everyone spoke in dialect, which made for some pretty colorful dialogue -- especially when someone was getting a good piece of someone else's mind!
If you are interested in accents, there are a lots of really good online resources.
One is the British Library which has loads of english regional accents.http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/dialects/
Another is the Speech Accent archive which has english speakers from all around the world http://accent.gmu.edu/
If you think you are good at spotting accents - check out the online quiz at http://www.centralquestion.com/accents/
One is the British Library which has loads of english regional accents.http://www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/dialects/
Another is the Speech Accent archive which has english speakers from all around the world http://accent.gmu.edu/
If you think you are good at spotting accents - check out the online quiz at http://www.centralquestion.com/accents/
I just wanted to say that I know Ray and I can confirm that he is a pure Finn :)
And I am amazed by his lack of Finnish accent as well. I've lived in Canada for about 5 years now, and I've been studying English since i was 5, but I still have my accent. I guess Finnish people get rid of their accent more easily than many others
And I am amazed by his lack of Finnish accent as well. I've lived in Canada for about 5 years now, and I've been studying English since i was 5, but I still have my accent. I guess Finnish people get rid of their accent more easily than many others
There's no way you're Finnish. I've been to Finland and I've heard their accent. It sounds nothing like yours. How is it possible that you sound like a native American if you haven't spent any time here?
Definitely and airline pilot :) I dont care about ur accent, your voice sounds sweet
To me, it sounds like a Southern accent.
I think it's unreasonable that people disbelieve you; your accent is very good - definitely sounds native to me. But, there's no reason to believe that you're not Finnish.
If you go to this link, you can send Antimoon some info and they could add you to the page of successful English learners.
http://antimoon.com/learners/_learners.htm
I think it's unreasonable that people disbelieve you; your accent is very good - definitely sounds native to me. But, there's no reason to believe that you're not Finnish.
If you go to this link, you can send Antimoon some info and they could add you to the page of successful English learners.
http://antimoon.com/learners/_learners.htm
Ray,
Excellent! I have only met a handful of EFL learners who sound as native as you. You also have a very pleasant voice.
If I had to nitpick, I'd point out the following problems:
- you have the intonation and timbre of Bill O'Reilly and he's an idiot. :)
- you speak with an overly nasal quality. perhaps you're trying too hard to sound American?
- you seem to pronounce many of your [s]'s with a lisp (e.g. 0:15 "north square"). might be an artifact of the recording setup, though.
- you skipped syllables in an unnatural way in a few words: 0:25 "felt" 0:36 "headed", 1:02 "made", 1:44 "confirmed". on the other hand, you also skipped many syllables where
- occasional mistakes in pronunciation, e.g. 0:39 "goose" pronounced as [gu:z], 1:20 "tried" [draid].
- 1:18 definitely southern pronunciation of "DIfferent", 1:56 "five", 2:00 drawn out pronunciation of "much" (you sound like someone who voted for Bush)
I would be very interested in hearing you read a passage in Finnish. For example this one (or an excerpt):
http://donnerwetter.kielikeskus.helsinki.fi/FinnishForForeigners/ch2-en/ch2-48-matkanjalkeen.htm
Best wishes,
Tom
Excellent! I have only met a handful of EFL learners who sound as native as you. You also have a very pleasant voice.
If I had to nitpick, I'd point out the following problems:
- you have the intonation and timbre of Bill O'Reilly and he's an idiot. :)
- you speak with an overly nasal quality. perhaps you're trying too hard to sound American?
- you seem to pronounce many of your [s]'s with a lisp (e.g. 0:15 "north square"). might be an artifact of the recording setup, though.
- you skipped syllables in an unnatural way in a few words: 0:25 "felt" 0:36 "headed", 1:02 "made", 1:44 "confirmed". on the other hand, you also skipped many syllables where
- occasional mistakes in pronunciation, e.g. 0:39 "goose" pronounced as [gu:z], 1:20 "tried" [draid].
- 1:18 definitely southern pronunciation of "DIfferent", 1:56 "five", 2:00 drawn out pronunciation of "much" (you sound like someone who voted for Bush)
I would be very interested in hearing you read a passage in Finnish. For example this one (or an excerpt):
http://donnerwetter.kielikeskus.helsinki.fi/FinnishForForeigners/ch2-en/ch2-48-matkanjalkeen.htm
Best wishes,
Tom
Whoa! The God of Antimoon just showed up! You must rate pretty highly, Ray!