Accent samples - Guofei Ma

My accent is artificial. No one in Hong Kong or southern China speak this accent. I daresay that this is a step in my evolution toward speaking like a native speaker. You just don't call an ape a human being.

I have made up my mind now. At first I didn't like criticisms. But it turns out that what I need most is criticisms.

wingyellow:

I hope you don't mind, your accent is very fake and not pleasant to hear. You try too hard to cover your real accent. You want to speak like a native but pleasea be nature, not artificial.

I once met a Japanese guy, who fake a terrible American accent, I hated to talk to him and he was so proud of his accent and kept telling me no one in Japan can speak as good as him. His accent made me sick.

A faked accent is as bad as a broad accent.

Don't worry, Wingyellow. With your strong determination, you'll improve in no time.

I'm an Estuary English speaker and I'm part of the British Chinese community.

I think Guofei speaks a little more posh than I do- more like RP- but also with more Asian influence. Can't blame him though, he was born in Hong Kong whilst I lived all my life in the UK.

Is RP the only British Accent that overseas English speakers are exposed to?

Few Britons speak RP now.

By the way, Richard Li is my cousin. He is currently on holiday and staying in my house. We are participating in the Antimoon discussions together.

Hello everyone, I've been reading some topics in this forum and I like the way people discuss here, I am a beginner in the English language and I've seen the term "RP accent" now I am wondering what does that mean? Could anybody explain that to me? I know it's silly, but I have no a clue of what that means. I hope somebody can make an explanation.
Thanks and I am sorry for the inconvenience.

See you around.

RP stands for Received Pronunciation and is the term used to describe the accent based on the way English was taught in "public" schools in the 19th Century. It is an accent favored by the upper classes and is only spoken by about 3% of the population in the UK now as more and more people now speak with their regional accents instead of a standard English/British one.

Ryan

Guofei,

Actually, your ´then´ sounds pretty much like mine.

Thank you very much Ryan, Now I do understand how that works.
Do you know where I can find RP accent samples in audio? I'd really like to hear how it sounds. =)

Thanks again.

Ryan, Estuary English- that's what I speak- is becoming the most popular accent in Britain. I think it's losing its roots as a local dialect and becoming a more general middle-class accent. In many places, it has replaced the local dialect as the dominant accent. Well, I think the future will be more Estuary E. and less RP and local dialects.

I think Estuary with regional variations will be spoken in England everywhere south of Birmingham eventually, although places like Cornwall and Devon might not adopt it. I can't imagine people in the cities north of the West Midlands ever wanting to speak Estuary as most of them don't like Londoners much.

I can't believe what copycats so many Brits are. None of this "accent imitation" thing would ever go on in the USA. We are all pretty proud of our regional accents, and much more tolerant of each other's use of them.

Ryan

Wow, I could not understand you Guofei. I'm sorry. I'm a native speaker of English too. That was some weird hybrid Chinese British thing you had going on.

Nice, Guofei Ma. I find the British accent very pretty. Besides, your voice is very pleasant to hear. I'll send my file but I think my diction isn't so good.
I think my accent is more American.
Please, when it's posted, tell me about the linking and rhythm, that are things particularly difficult for me and that I've been focusing my efforts to improve lately. Thanks.