My American Accent

Ray   Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:01 am GMT
Here's a link to my Finnish speech sample.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFr3WC8OXpE
Achab   Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:07 am GMT
Tom,

Long time no see you in this venue. It's been nice to read you once again.

I didn't remember you as being so much politicized, though.

With all good wishes,

Achab
Tom   Sat Sep 20, 2008 1:15 pm GMT
Ray,
You are either a Finn who has learned to speak English like a native, or an American who has learned to speak Finnish like a native. Either way, impressive achievement. :) Glad to have your sample on Antimoon and please stay in touch by e-mail.

Tom
Jasper   Sat Sep 20, 2008 5:41 pm GMT
Ray says he has had exposure to English since he was seven years old. If this is true, it is indeed possible that he's a native Finn who's worked very hard on his English skills.

Ray, if you're reading this, I hope you will be receptive to some constructive criticism. Two posters so far have commented on a nasal quality of your voice; I concur. Have speech lessons been a possibility for you? They will teach you how to breathe properly and get rid of that nasal quality in your voice.

If you don't mind my asking, why did you choose to speak with a quasi-Southern accent? There are many of those who believe that Southern American English is not among the prestige varieties of American English speech.

None of this criticism is meant to discourage you, Ray--you've achieved an extremely high level of proficiency in American English, and that's a most phenomenal achievement for a non-native. (I don't think it's possible except for a gifted 1% of the population.) Congratulations!
Guest   Sun Sep 21, 2008 4:44 am GMT
>> If you don't mind my asking, why did you choose to speak with a quasi-Southern accent? <<

Although his accent is quite impressive, it is not 100% native sounding. It only seems that way, because it doesn't sound like, say a Western accent, which you are accustomed to. It's the same way that I (as an American) can make myself sound British or Australian to other Americans, but not to people from Britain or Australia. When someone speaks a different dialect of a language, subtle mistakes (non-native pronunciations) are not noticed by people who are speakers of a different dialect--they simply think it is part of the dialect.
Jasper   Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:59 am GMT
[It only seems that way, because it doesn't sound like, say a Western accent, which you are accustomed to]

Actually, I'm a Southern-born transplant to the West who's lived here for twenty-eight years.

My speech has been described as a mixture of the two dialects--more or less, depending upon who's doing the perceiving.
Guest   Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:15 pm GMT
>> Actually, I'm a Southern-born transplant to the West who's lived here for twenty-eight years.

My speech has been described as a mixture of the two dialects--more or less, depending upon who's doing the perceiving. <<

Ah, ok. Well, anyway the point is that his accent would probably have sounded non-native (to me) if he spoke with a Northern (excluding an extreme sounding Upper Midwestern accent) or Western accent, as I would be able to pick out subtle differences that set it apart from my accent, and thus think he was a non-native. Adding Southern features to his speech makes it farther removed from my accent, and thus I attribute subtle pronunciation mistakes to the fact that he has a Southern accent. The Southern accent is just far enough away from my own accent to work. An Upper Midwestern accent would probably also work, as it's also pretty different, however, that would also work against him, as I (and many others) have mistaken Americans (think Travis ;)) in the far North as non-native foreigners. So I think his accent is perfect for his purposes.
Ray   Sun Sep 21, 2008 6:12 pm GMT
I want to thank you all for your comments and the criticism is more than welcome.

It amazes me that after reading a passage in Finnish there is still disbelief in the air regarding my nationality.

>>If you don't mind my asking, why did you choose to speak with a quasi-Southern accent?<<

I have always loved all Southern accents. Me speaking with a quasi-Southern accent is just something I have picked up over the years. Listening to a comedian called Ron White and he's from Texas. Plus the fact that I've heard a lot of Bush's speeches. ( Don't ask me why )
Guest   Sun Sep 21, 2008 8:04 pm GMT
Really, WHY!
Ray   Sun Sep 21, 2008 8:21 pm GMT
I told you not to ask.
Guest   Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:13 pm GMT
Probably because he works for that fool.
David   Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:40 pm GMT
I wouldn't have picked it up alone, but now that I know you're Finnish, I think there is a slight tell-tale in the way you pronounce your esses -- sort of in a slightly lispy way, or with a hint of an "sh" diphthong, consistent with a Finnish accent, yesh?

Amazingly convincing though.
Guest   Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:44 am GMT
>> a hint of an "sh" diphthong <<

A diphthong isn't simply two orthographic symbols--it refers only to vowels. For example "I" (/aI/) is a diphthong. "sh" isn't.
Guest   Fri Oct 03, 2008 6:46 am GMT
>> A diphthong isn't simply two orthographic symbols--it refers only to vowels. For example "I" (/aI/) is a diphthong. "sh" isn't. <<

how would U technically refer to this "sh" thing then?
Levee   Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:56 pm GMT
The sound is called a postalveolar fricative (more precisely, a sibilant), a single sound.

The letter combination that most commonly represents it in writing is a digraph.