An American and a British accent sample

Tee   Tuesday, April 06, 2004, 03:36 GMT
This Sample w on the web.

"Dear Mom and Dad: Hi! How are you? Well, here I am in the big city. Although the weather is nice at the moment, the forecast is for hail, but that should soon clear. I bought a new coat yesterday because they say it gets really cold. I have to stay at Aunty Deb's house for now, but I'm hoping to get a flat soon. The trip up was great, even though it took ten hours. Well, I must go. You know how rarely I write, but I will try to do better this year.

http://www.otago.ac.nz/anthropology/Linguistic/Sounds/Sounds6.html

http://www.otago.ac.nz/anthropology/Linguistic/Sounds/Sounds8.html
Elaine   Tuesday, April 06, 2004, 05:13 GMT
The American accent audio sample is close to GenAm, but it's a bit too twangy to be considered GenAm. The guy sounds like a Midwestern rube.
mjd   Tuesday, April 06, 2004, 07:50 GMT
Yeah, his accent is pure Midwest.
Tee   Wednesday, April 07, 2004, 19:32 GMT
Boratt   Thursday, April 08, 2004, 12:08 GMT
The "British accent" is a posh southern English(England) accent.
Boratt   Thursday, April 08, 2004, 12:12 GMT

pronunciation of "Aunt"

Northern England = Ant
Southern England = Ahnt
Danger Mouse   Thursday, April 08, 2004, 14:29 GMT
Why do Americans think all Brits speak posh? Are they that thick? About 10% of the 60 million of Brits there are have REGIONAL accents. Get it?
as   Thursday, April 08, 2004, 14:39 GMT
They use that sample Danger Mouse, because in Britain there is an accent called "recieved pronunciation" it is the only standard British accent in England even though 3% (official) of the population speak like that. It's called snobbery, and it will remain if the UK continues to be centralized to London (where most RP (posh) speakers live) (where most British national newspapers headquarters are)....and when there finally won't be a standard English accent and regional accents will be taken more seriously.

It's not Americans fault, it's what Britain exports. The monarchy and the rich upperclass still influence our politics, while the middle classes and working class don't bother taking an interest, if it were the otherway around Britain would be a hell of a lot different and would probably be a Republic by now.
Barry   Friday, April 09, 2004, 00:26 GMT
Hey I'm from Michigan and the American speaker sounds nothing like I talk or any of my friends do!
Lainie   Wednesday, April 14, 2004, 23:41 GMT
I loved the British guy. He was too cute.
But the American one? It sounded so fake, so "twangy" as Elaine said, and so painful to the ears. I wished they had picked a better American guy to represent the American male's accent.