|
|
Yeah, I was born, brought up and have lived in Yorkshire for the 17 years of my life. And still, I hate the Yorkshire accent and can not understand it one bit. My accent is very clear and easy to understand. But like Liz said, there are so many accents randing from the plain stupid "Baarhnsley" accent to the "Queens English".
|
|
|
Hey Johnny, don't beat yourself up. your accent is the hottest in the English Language, for men anyway. At this point, its even outranking Scottish (any variety) for me.
|
|
|
Try understanding what a Creole is talking about.
|
|
it's better to put on an American accent if you want to work and/or live in UK since:
1. people will laugh at you if you put on a fake RP accent; I'd say
ordinary Britishers prefer standard American English accent to the RP
[therefore there are no British singers using RP...exception to the rule...Sophie Elis Baxtor... singing in RP is very cold and distant]
2. it's not very easy for a foreigner living abroad to master another regional accent (Geordie, South Wales, Devon accent...)
|
|
''Maybe. But not as nasalized as the americans or aussies.''
WestCoast American accent are not nasalized...
Great Lakes accents are nasalized, Southern accents too.
|
|
|
British people write better than Americans, that's for sure!
|
|
***British people write better than Americans, that's for sure!***
I'm a Brit (SCottish version) but no...sorry - I don't think that's true - if your meaning is what I take it to be. Just read through some of the internet forums in which there are many American contributors. All in all I think their standard of writing of the English Language is very high, both in content and presentation. So - I cannot agree with your statament.
|
|
|
Whenever I read the Financial Times, I am throughly embarrassed by the facility and wit in which Brits write compared to my nasty, staccato style of writing. I bet above sentence doesn't make much sense. don't feel like correcting it.
|
|
|
I don't know.... I am an American and I make the worse writing crime, at least according to all of my English teachers through school, with my constant habit of writing long long sentences. I try like mad to take one sentence and just make three short sentences out of it, but it feels so wrong. It doesn't feel like my thought is flowing smoothly the way I want it too if I break it apart with periods. : (
|
|
Could be worse.
You could break up your short sentences into small paragraphs.
Unto themselves.
For no apparent.
Reason.
And eschew subjects while you're at it.
Might as well write the way you talk, I think!
|
|
I don't see the reason for this world-wide aversion towards long sentences. Like Karen, I'm often accused of this "deadly" crime.
Of course, if you are trying to emulate Cicero in a spoken conversation, you certainly give your partners a hard time, but most people don't speak exactly the way they write.
|
|
"Try understanding what a Creole is talking about. "
Yeah, like Geordie.
|
|
<<WestCoast American accent are not nasalized.>>
Guess, yes they are, too, from the viewpoint of a UK citizen. Americans speak with a more-closed soft palate, which makes them sound more nasal to UK citizens.
|
|
|
Will the Americans stand to say they speak better English +than the British? The whole truth is it depends on who speaks on both sides of the pond. Are they well educated or just a spool of corner boys? When you are talking about educated speach, don't include written English. That's the mistake most of you make here, and painfully enough, some of you are native speakers. Hey! A well educated Brit speaks with such precision that you would think you are listening to Alice In Wonderland being read to you -- it sounds very refined; free from taboo and too much base, common words like 'get'. However, a well educated American speaks freely and like as if she or he has all the words in the world to use. What I mean here is that a well educated American use more unusual vocabulary than a British. If you listen to him or her you'd almost think they speak other language other than English. That brings a rather odd beauty to the language. You'll love it! There's beauty in variety. So accept those on both sides of the pond. I'm a Nigerian myself.
|
|
I'm an American, but I would still say that the lingo and dialects within Britain are very diverse and enriched with character. Speech is a flexible thing, it doesn't have to be entirely accurate or correct provided that it is atleast comprehendable. This debate is silly, at the end of the day, we judge a countries level of english from what we have seen from a goup of people and when an American represents themselves on television or in person we tend to speak at a very monotone, slow pase, almost to the point where we sound retarted. It's ugly and does not compare to the passionate, extasy driven discussions you would see in the House of Commons or even within a conversation amongst British youths.
- American in London - never going back.
|
