What's your English accent like?

César   Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:40 pm GMT
I found this to be a funny thread in another forum, so I decided to create one here.

Basically record yourself reading the text of the next paragrah and make it available to us. Then tell us a bit about yourself: what your native tongue is, what your accent's like, if it's not English when did you start learning it and how, your age, the country where you live, if you've ever been to an English speaking country, etc.

"Daisy Hamilton was a private detective. She was thirty years old and had been a detective for the past two years. Every morning she went to her office to wait for phone calls or open the door to clients needing her services. Daisy wasn't very well known yet but occasionally people telephoned her from the advertisement she had put in the local newspaper."

Here's mine...

Recording: http://www.geocities.com/cvilla_tenor/Daisy.mp3
Accent I learned: Standard American English (like the one spoken in CNN).
Country of origin: Costa Rica.
Age: 29
Native language: Spanish.
How I learned English? All by myself. I improved it by reading a book about American English Pronuncation and paying close attention to native speakers (and then imitating them).

I have been to USA only once, and that was in July this year; I stayed for 4 weeks in Maryland.

I started speaking English on a daily basis (mostly) about 8 years ago; it was then when I decided to perfect it.
Terry   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:08 pm GMT
Your English is good, Cesar, and I think this is a fun idea.

You have a slight Spanish accent but it's easy to understand. I didn't notice the accent in the first part of your reading. It became more apparent toward the end. But I like accents so it's just fine with me.

You pronounced the word "past" the way someone from that vast corn field known as the Midwest, would say it.

Yes Travis, I know, I know, they don't say it like that in Wisconsin.

Cesar, why do you want a CNN accent when there are so many accents to choose from? That one's so bland.
Ben   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:17 pm GMT
Great idea César :)

Recording:http://us.f13.yahoofs.com/bc/439b5551_130e0/bc/My+recording/Daisy+Hamilton.mp3?bfW5JoDBe0fOx7Ih
Accent learned: British - London
Country of Origin: England
Native language: English
Age:17
How I learned:From birth
Ben   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:19 pm GMT
César   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:23 pm GMT
You noticed a bit of Spanish accent towad the end? I knew there was something wrong when I recorded that thing yesterday, hahaha! It was trying not to read aloud cause my family was asleep. Usually americans tell me that I have no accent at all.

And, yeah, sometimes I tend to pronounce some words in a funny way. I like to do that, it makes people giggle, hehe. People have asked me if I come from Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio... you know, states in that area.

Why that accent? Well, basically because that is the "neutral" American English accent, which is the one that most people understand with ease. We all know that there are certain accents that are very hard to understand.

I think I will post another audio, but this time I will speak a bit about anything. That will remove the trouble that reading can cause sometimes (and I will definitely do it during the day, when nobody's sleeping).
César   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:43 pm GMT
Yo, Ben! I must confess that I'm not a big fan of Brit accents, but yours is smooth, bro!

We should initiate an audio thread! What do you guys think of it?
Kirk   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:46 pm GMT
Great job, César! Your speech is very clear and understandable :) I also noticed your pronunciation of "past" sounded particularly Midwestern to me. Anyway, here's a recording of myself reading the passage. I am a 21-year old native English speaker from California.

http://uploadhut.com/view.php/472891.wav

I see you said you taught yourself English--you're to be commended, you've done a very fine job!
Guest   Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:57 pm GMT
<<I think I will post another audio, but this time I will speak a bit about anything. That will remove the trouble that reading can cause sometimes (and I will definitely do it during the day, when nobody's sleeping).>>

Good idea, Cesar. I look forward to it.
Terry   Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:01 pm GMT
Ben, very, very English, very sexy, practically Ralph Fiennes. ;) You're going to have to tutor Pete. (See the post, "a stupid question, help" for more info on Fiennes.)

Great job. Wish I could do that accent.
Terry   Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:06 pm GMT
Kirk, you sound classically American, in fact you sound a lot like one of my brothers, except without the Boston accent. Not quite CNN, which is good by me, but not much of an accent.
Kirk   Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:24 pm GMT
<<Kirk, you sound classically American, in fact you sound a lot like one of my brothers, except without the Boston accent.>>

Oh, that's interesting---did he and/or you grow up in Boston?

<<Not quite CNN, which is good by me, but not much of an accent.>>

Haha, well I wasn't aiming for CNN :) Anyway, as happens for most people, their "reading voices" tend to use more conservative phonology than how they might speak on an everyday basis. I know that's certainly the case for me--you're not likely to hear many hints of the California Vowel Shift or other such regional features when I'm reading from a text, but when I'm speaking informally those features will come out (to the point that if I'm in another place people can tell where I'm from).

Anyway, so, Terry, now it's your turn to record (assuming you have a mic)!
Terry   Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:29 pm GMT
Oops, that last Guest was me.
Terry   Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:43 pm GMT
<<---did he and/or you grow up in Boston? >>

Yes, we both did. The good old Hub of the Universe, or so we were lead to believe.:)

<<as happens for most people, their "reading voices" tend to use more conservative phonology than how they might speak on an everyday basis. I know that's certainly the case for me--you're not likely to hear many hints of the California Vowel Shift or other such regional features when I'm reading from a text, but when I'm speaking informally those features will come out (to the point that if I'm in another place people can tell where I'm from). >>

That may be true, Kirk, that might explain why you remind me of my brother. Of course your voice is a lot like his.

Why don't just record yourself speaking informally to me. Then I could tell better about the accent.

I've never recorded online. I think it'd be too much trouble. I have a mic stashed away somewhere though.
Kirk   Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:21 am GMT
<<Yes, we both did. The good old Hub of the Universe, or so we were lead to believe.:) >>

Hehe, well if that's true, I have not as of yet visited said "hub," tho I'd love to :)

<<Why don't just record yourself speaking informally to me. Then I could tell better about the accent.>>

As a matter of a fact, I do have several recordings of myself speaking with friends on my old computer, so I'll try and access those and post them here as soon as I can.
Kirk   Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:22 am GMT
<<I've never recorded online. I think it'd be too much trouble. I have a mic stashed away somewhere though.>>

Well, if you ever decide to do a recording I think it'd be fun to listen to :)