Hi, I am posting this recording to see if anybody thinks that I have an accent. I will not tell anybody anything about me, except my age, so that an unbiased conclusion may be reached. I am 17 years old, reading from a book, do I have an accent? If so, please state what kind of accent it is.. Thanks. For fun, try to guess where I am from :)
Do I have an accent?
Sorry, I thought I posted it on :embarrassed:
Anyway, here it is..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfDcLe4Mds8
Anyway, here it is..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfDcLe4Mds8
In my own opinion, it's an excellent sample. Not 100% accentless, but pretty darn close--I'd say 90-95%; even the intonation is good. It's obvious that you have worked very hard at this endeavor. I'm wondering how many years of grueling study have you done?
If I might posit a guess, I'd say you're Asian (possibly Chinese) because of sometimes-poorly enunciated Rs. To be specific, some of the Rs are "swallowed".
I'd get as many opinions as you can in order to get a consensus.
If I might posit a guess, I'd say you're Asian (possibly Chinese) because of sometimes-poorly enunciated Rs. To be specific, some of the Rs are "swallowed".
I'd get as many opinions as you can in order to get a consensus.
Hi, thank you for your kind response... I slurred some words in there and that is not how I usually naturally talk. Would you say that I sounded like a foreigner? Or guess where I am currently living/how long I have been living there :) Thanks!
I'd definitely say that you are from the Orient too, and that you appear to have modelled your Engish speaking accent on one that is TransPacific - ie from some place several thousand miles due east crossing the International Date Line about half way along the way and probably hitting land somewhere in the region of the Golden Gate Bridge.
For 17 you sound very mature....with a nice deep voice. I am 9 years older than you are but you make me sound like I'm still in the third year of secondary school.
I'll leave it to others to hazard reasonable guesses as to where you are now living and for how long. I'll be a wee bit flippant and say something obvious like Shanghai, but you could have been living there for 17 years or 17 weeks, who knows until you tell us.
I'm just wondering what it was that made you slur your words at 17, but that's none of my business is it.
For 17 you sound very mature....with a nice deep voice. I am 9 years older than you are but you make me sound like I'm still in the third year of secondary school.
I'll leave it to others to hazard reasonable guesses as to where you are now living and for how long. I'll be a wee bit flippant and say something obvious like Shanghai, but you could have been living there for 17 years or 17 weeks, who knows until you tell us.
I'm just wondering what it was that made you slur your words at 17, but that's none of my business is it.
Hi, do I speak with an obvious Orient accent? Yes.. I am born from the Orient.. However, I moved to Canada when I was three years old and I do not know a single word of Chinese. So therefore, it makes me wonder why I would have an accent.. Coming to Canada when I was three years old, will I ever have an accent-less tongue? Or since I do not, and I am already 17 years old, it is already too late? When I moved here, I couldn't speak anything but gibberish.. My parents tried to send me to Chinese school but I skipped all the classes :P So technically, English was my first language.. and I can't even speak it perfectly, will this change as I grow older?
Anyway, I have funny speech, sometimes I slur and sometimes I do not.. I have never been a good speaker or a very social person..
By the way, I found someone else doesn't know any Chinese, but I think he has an accent.. Do I sound like this guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyZWRz2cKAM
Thanks
P.S. Damn, you guys are good!
Anyway, I have funny speech, sometimes I slur and sometimes I do not.. I have never been a good speaker or a very social person..
By the way, I found someone else doesn't know any Chinese, but I think he has an accent.. Do I sound like this guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyZWRz2cKAM
Thanks
P.S. Damn, you guys are good!
Maybe the reason you have an apparent Oriental touch to your voice/accent, irrespective of the length of time you have spent in Canada, and your inability to actually speak Chinese, may well have something to do with the issue of distinctive racial overtones occurring in the speaking voices of people from various racial groups, as discussed in another thread.
No, I personally don't think you sound too much like the guy in your second link, although his accent was also very Americanised, or should I say North Americanised?
PS: I suppose I should have upped the TransPacific flight path for you just a wee bit and suggested that you made landfall somewhere in British Columbia!
No, I personally don't think you sound too much like the guy in your second link, although his accent was also very Americanised, or should I say North Americanised?
PS: I suppose I should have upped the TransPacific flight path for you just a wee bit and suggested that you made landfall somewhere in British Columbia!
Hi, I moved to Toronto when I was 3 and I have lived here all my life.. My older brother came here when he was 6 years old and I believe that he has perfect English.. It isn't fair :( Do you think the guy on the youtube video has a stronger or weaker accent than mine? By the way, do you think I could ever achieve "perfect English"? Or should I already been speaking perfect English by now, and therefore it is too late? Thanks
[For 17 you sound very mature....with a nice deep voice. I am 9 years older than you are but you make me sound like I'm still in the third year of secondary school. ]
I hope the moderators will allow a small digression.
Damian, in old Hollywood, actors with too-high voices were sent to the desert to shout at their highest volume until the vocal cords broke. This caused the speaker to speak in a deep, husky voice. Both Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall did this therapy.
I don't know anybody in person who has tried this, but it would be interesting to hear from them if they exist.
I hope the moderators will allow a small digression.
Damian, in old Hollywood, actors with too-high voices were sent to the desert to shout at their highest volume until the vocal cords broke. This caused the speaker to speak in a deep, husky voice. Both Rock Hudson and Lauren Bacall did this therapy.
I don't know anybody in person who has tried this, but it would be interesting to hear from them if they exist.
So you moved to Canada when you where 3? then you should speak it natively, so it makes me wander why is it that you DO have a accent...
Hi, will somebody please answer my question? Am I hopeless? Can I ever achieve "perfect English" or native sounding English? or is it too late..
Scav, you're being much too hard on yourself. Your English is both easy-to-understand and near-native.
Do you want absolutely perfect English? You might have to go to a special speech class. With this thought in mind, I once knew a woman who'd been to the Juilliard School of Music. Her goal was to speak a perfect General American English "accent", while her native tongue was SAE. She succeeded admirably at this endeavor; only the barest trace of her former accent was detectable, and then only if you listened to her closely.
If this level of native English is your goal, such a class might be necessary. Just be prepared: the "therapy" is pure torture. I ask you--is it really worth it?
Do you want absolutely perfect English? You might have to go to a special speech class. With this thought in mind, I once knew a woman who'd been to the Juilliard School of Music. Her goal was to speak a perfect General American English "accent", while her native tongue was SAE. She succeeded admirably at this endeavor; only the barest trace of her former accent was detectable, and then only if you listened to her closely.
If this level of native English is your goal, such a class might be necessary. Just be prepared: the "therapy" is pure torture. I ask you--is it really worth it?
Hi Jasper, thank you for the response.
Well, the notion of attending a special speech class has not come to mind yet.. I was asking if I could achieve native English by just living longer (speaking English, as I will, longer).. Or is this too late? and by the time I am 17, the accent I have will be ingrained and forevermore? Thank you.
I just dislike how I have an accent.. It is phony. English is my first and only language, and I cannot even speak Chinese. The accent I have does not reflect who I really am! It is not fair... I know some people who started speaking English at an older age than me... and they speak perfect English..
English speaking natives will think that I am a "FOB" or foreigner... and the Asian people will think that I am "washed".
Well, the notion of attending a special speech class has not come to mind yet.. I was asking if I could achieve native English by just living longer (speaking English, as I will, longer).. Or is this too late? and by the time I am 17, the accent I have will be ingrained and forevermore? Thank you.
I just dislike how I have an accent.. It is phony. English is my first and only language, and I cannot even speak Chinese. The accent I have does not reflect who I really am! It is not fair... I know some people who started speaking English at an older age than me... and they speak perfect English..
English speaking natives will think that I am a "FOB" or foreigner... and the Asian people will think that I am "washed".
I've not yet listened to you audio sample, but as a Chinese I cannot help wondering why you skipped your Chinese class in your childhood? Your parent didn't complain about that? As far as I know, many Chinese immigrants still wanted their children to learn at least a little bit of Chinese