Try to copy my accent

Me   Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:41 pm GMT
Can you copy my accent?

I was wondering how easy my accent would be for people to copy. (I have an American accent). See if you can sound exactly like me! (It'll be fun ^_^). We'll see who gets the closest.

Here are the words:
"When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is , according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Throughout the centuries people have explained the rainbow in various ways. Some have accepted it as a miracle without physical explanation. To the Hebrews it was a token that there would be no more universal floods. The Greeks used to imagine that it was a sign from the gods to foretell war or heavy rain. The Norsemen considered the rainbow as a bridge over which the gods passed from earth to their home in the sky. Others have tried to explain the phenomenon physically. Aristotle thought that the rainbow was caused by reflection of the sun's rays by the rain. Since then physicists have found that it is not reflection, but refraction by the raindrops which causes the rainbows. Many complicated ideas about the rainbow have been formed. The difference in the rainbow depends considerably upon the size of the drops, and the width of the colored band increases as the size of the drops increases. The actual primary rainbow observed is said to be the effect of super-imposition of a number of bows. If the red of the second bow falls upon the green of the first, the result is to give a bow with an abnormally wide yellow band, since red and green light when mixed form yellow. This is a very common type of bow, one showing mainly red and yellow, with little or no green or blue."

Here is a link to an audio file of me reading it: http://www.zippyshare.com/v/81353591/file.html


Here is an International Phonetic Alphabet transcription of it, in my dialect, kindly provided by Lazar:
[wɪn ðə ˈsʌnˌɫɐɪt ˌstɹɐɪks ˈɹe:nˌdɹɒ:ps ɪn ði ˈɛɹ ðe: ˈækt əz ə ˈpʰɹɪ.zm ən ˈfɔ:ɹm ə ˈɹe:nˌbo: ðə ˈɹe:nˌbo: ɪz ðə dəˈvɪ.ʒn əv ˈwɐɪʔ ˈɫɐɪt ɪn.tə ˈmɛ.ni ˈbju:.ɾə.fɫ ˈkʰʌ.ɫɚz ˈði:z ˈtʰe:k ðə ˈʃe:p əv ə ˈɫɔ:ŋ ˈɹaond ˈʌɹtʃ wɪθ ɪts ˈpʰæθ ˈhaɪ əˈbʌv ən ɪts ˈtʰu: ˌɛndʒ əˈpʰɛɹ.ənt.ɫi biˈɒ:nd ðə həˈɹae.zn ðɛɹ ɪz əˈkʰɔ:ɹ.iŋ tə ˈɫɛ.dʒnd ə ˈbɔɪ.ɫiŋ ˈpʰɔ:ɾ əv ˈgo:ɫd əʔ ˌwʌn ˈɛnd ˈpʰi:.pɫˈɫʊk bət ˈno: ˌwʌn ˌɛ.vɚ ˈfɑendz ɪt wɪn ə ˈman ˈɫʊks fɚ ˈsʌm.θiŋ biˈɒ:nd ɪz ˈɹi:tʃ hɪz ˈfɹɛndz ˈse: i ɪz ˈɫʊ.kiŋ fɚ ðə ˈpɒ:ɾ əv ˈgo:ɫd ət ði ˈɛnd əv ðə ˈɹe:nˌbo: θɹuˈaot ðə ˈsɛn.tʃɚ.iz ˈpʰi:.pɫ əv ɪkˈspɫe:nd ðə ˈɹe:nˌbo: ɪn ˈvɛɹ.i.əs ˈwe:z ˈsʌm həv ɪkˈsɛp.tɪ ɪʔ əz ə ˈmɪɹ.ə.kɫ wɪˈθaot ˈfɪ.zɪ.kɫ ˌɛk.spɫəˈne:.ʃn tʰə ðə ˈhi:.bɹu:z ɪt wəz ə ˈtʰo:.kn ðə ˌðɛɹ wə bi ˈno: ˌmɔ:ɹ ˈju:.nəˌvɜ˞.sɫ̩ ˈfɫʌdz ðə ˈgɹi:ks ˌju:s.tu ɪˈmæ.dʒn ɪʔ wəz ə ˈsaen fɹəm ðə ˈgɒ:dz tə fɔ:ɹˈtʰɛɫ ˈwɔ:ɹ ʔɚ ˈhɛ.vi ˈɹe:n ðə ˈnɔ:ɹs.mən kənˈsɪ.ɚd ðə ˈɹe:nˌbo: əz ə ˈbɹɪdʒ ˌo:.vɚ ˈwɪtʃ ðə ˈgɒ:dz ˈpʰæst fɹəm ˈɜ˞θ tə ðɛɹ ˈho:m ɪn ðə ˈskɑe ˈʌ.ðɚz əv ˈtʰɹaed tu ɪkˈspɫe:n ðə fəˈnɒ:.məˌnɒ:n ˈfɪ.zɪk.li ˈɛɹ.əˌstɒ:.ɾɫ ˈθɒ:t ðə ðə ˈɹe:nˌbo: wəz ˈkʰɒ:zd bae ɹəˈfɫɛk.ʃn əv ðə ˌsʌnz ˈɹe:z bae ðə ˈɹe:n ˈsɪns ˈðɛn ˈfɪ.zə.sɪsts həv ˈfaond ðə ɪ ɪz ˈnɒ:ʔ ɹəˌfɫɛk.ʃn bə ɹəˈfɹæk.ʃn bae ðə ˈɹe:nˌdɹɒ:ps wɪtʃ ˈkʰɒ:.zɪz ðə ˈɹe:nˌbo:z ˈmɛ.ni ˈkʰɒ:m.pɫəˌke:.ɪ aeˈdi:.əz əˈbaoʔ ðə ˈɹe:nˌbo: həv bɪn ˈfɔ:ɹmd ðə ˈdɪ.fɹəns ɪn ðə ˈɹe:nˌbo: dəˈpʰɛndz kənˈsɪ.ɾɚ.ə.bɫi əˈpʰɒ:n ðə ˈsaez əv ðə ˈdɹɒ:ps æn ðə ˈwɪtθ ʌv ðə ˈkʰʌ.ɫɚd ˈbɛənd ɪŋˈkʰɹi:.sɪz əz ðə ˈsaez əv ðə ˈdɹɒ:ps ˈɪŋˌkʰɹi:.sɪz ði ˈæk.ʃu.ɫ ˈpʰɹaeˌmɛɹ.i ˈɹe:nˌbo: əbˈzɜ˞:vd ɪz ˈsɛd tə ˌbi: ði ɪˈfɛkt əv ˈsu:.pɚˌɪm.pəˈzɪ.ʃn əv ə ˈnʌmbɚ əv ˈbo:z ɪf ðə ˈɹɛɾ əv ðə ˈsɛ.knd ˌbo: ˈfɒ:ɫz əˌpʰɒ:n ðə ˈgɹi:n əv ðə ˈfɜ˞st ðə ɹiˈzʌɫts ɪz tə ˈgɪv ə ˈbo: wɪθ ən æbˈnɔ:ɹ.mɫ.i ˈwaed ˈjɛ.ɫo: ˈband sɪns ˈɹɛd ən ˈgɹi:n ˌlɐɪt wɛn ˈmɪkst ˌfɔ:ɹm ˈjɛ.lo: ˈðɪs ɪz ə ˈvɛɹ.i ˈkʰɒ:.mən ˌtʰɐɪp əv ˈbo: ˈwʌn ˈʃo:.iŋ ˈme:n.li ˈɹɛd n ˈjɛ.ɫo: wɪθ ˈɫɪ.ɾɫ ɚ ˈno: ˌgɹi:n ɚ ˈbɫu:]

Here are the features that he said I have:
"So... you appear to be low-back (cot-caught) merged, using a rounded vowel [ɒ:], possibly with some tensing before [ŋ]; you seem to use mainly monophthongal /e:/ and /o:/; you seem to have Canadian Raising, at least for /ae/; your /ae/ vowel seemed a bit backed at times; before nasals, your /æ/ vowel seemed variably lowered or raised, so I wasn't sure about that one; and you seem to have some elision of intervocalic /t/ and /d/, like in "according", "accepted it", and "considered"."


If you don't know IPA, that's fine too. You can just listen to me reading it, and then try to imitate it. Here is the audio link: http://www.zippyshare.com/v/81353591/file.html
Me   Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:36 pm GMT
Nobody?
I would try but...   Sun Feb 15, 2009 5:59 pm GMT
The audio link hasn't a file!
Me   Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:06 pm GMT
ah, yes. That link does not work. Try this one:
http://www18.zippyshare.com/v/12254131/file.html
Caspian   Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:13 pm GMT
I've tried and tried, but I really can't do an American accent - there are too many subtle vowel changes and nuances that I would never subconsciously notice, so I wouldn't be able to mimic them.
b   Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:59 am GMT
>> I've tried and tried, but I really can't do an American accent - there are too many subtle vowel changes and nuances that I would never subconsciously notice, so I wouldn't be able to mimic them. <<

So you can't even do one that would be convincing enough one for other British people? I can do a really good British accent, one that would convince almost any North American (unless they were linguists), but it wouldn't fool anyone from Britain.
Caspian   Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:55 pm GMT
I really don't think I could convince anybody lol! I'll work on it, and post a sample tomorrow.
CD   Tue Feb 17, 2009 1:25 am GMT
hey, this is not a purely american accent. it does have an american influence...but it does not sound purely american. it's either you came to the US in your teens, or if you were born here....you spoke a different language at home or spent a lot of time abroad. am I right?
x   Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:35 pm GMT
>> hey, this is not a purely american accent. it does have an american influence...but it does not sound purely american. it's either you came to the US in your teens, or if you were born here....you spoke a different language at home or spent a lot of time abroad. am I right? <<

Yeah, it sounds like someone from China trying to speak English.
Jasper   Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:53 pm GMT
A superficial guess—North or South Dakota?
Me   Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:39 pm GMT
>> A superficial guess—North or South Dakota? <<

Close. You got the latitude right, but not the longitude.
Jasper   Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:54 pm GMT
Me, I'm basing my wild guess on the monophthongization of "O", which is rather uncommon in the United States.

Could it be Northern Minnesota? I don't hear enough vowel-raising for anything more Eastern. Could be more Western, though; I don't know much about Montana-talk.
Me   Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:05 pm GMT
>> hey, this is not a purely american accent. it does have an american influence...but it does not sound purely american. it's either you came to the US in your teens, or if you were born here....you spoke a different language at home or spent a lot of time abroad. am I right? <<

What parts of it sound non-native?
+   Thu Feb 19, 2009 6:36 am GMT
It sounds native enough to me.

You have a very backed and rounded short O, but I would say you are from the United States as opposed to Canada. I want to say that you are probably from somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, but your very backed and rounded short O seems more progressive Californian or strongly influenced by the Canadian Shift.

Perhaps you are a twenty-something Oregonian or a Californian living in Winnipeg. As Jasper mentioned, I do not think you are from anywhere east of Minnesota, but it doesn't sound much like Montana or Wyoming either.

Where are you from?
x   Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:57 pm GMT
>> You have a very backed and rounded short O <<

What is a backed and rounded short O?