My accent - please rate and comment

Brother   Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:31 am GMT
Hello, here is the link to my accent clip.

http://www14.zippyshare.com/v/11438781/file.html

[url=http://www14.zippyshare.com/v/11438781/file.html]clip audio.wma[/url]

I would be grateful if you could post your thoughts. I realize I have a strong accent but I would love it if you could help me specify what Im doing wrong. Intonation?

Appreciate any input.
Robin Michael   Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:24 am GMT
Hi

I could not come to any conclusion.

Try livemocha.com to get help improving you accent.


They have Speaking Exercises that people comment on.



I did not think your accent was particularly strong. If you use Livemocha.com you can also post the text from which you are speaking.


See

http://www.livemocha.com/submissions/review/2878407?utm_source=livemocha&utm_medium=message&utm_term=rev_submssn_req
post owner   Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:45 pm GMT
Thanks for you comment. Im originally from Russia and moved to the US when I was 15 (4 years ago). The reason I posted it here is because people keep commenting on my accent when I talk to them and they quickly recognize where Im from. I kinda feel alienated at times.

Thanks again
Almond Bread   Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:47 pm GMT
I'd comment, but I can't access your video; it seems Zippyshare doesn't like me. You might want to try Rapidshare, which Zippyshare seems to be a knockoff of.
Doon   Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:05 am GMT
Hello, Brother from another land.

I don't feel qualified to do so but since you've asked for input I will offer what I can.

I've a native of the midwestern US and I would classify your accent as very mild, it's identifiable but doesn't present any problems. I presume you are trying to eliminate your accent entirely but I don't think that's a worthwhile goal (I like accents).

I suspect that a reading sample will not be as useful for criticism as natural speech would be** (in part because you are not forming the sentences), and that picking apart this one sample may lead to some misdiagnosis. For example, I was thinking that some of your S sounds turn into Z sounds when they should not ('crozz border travel'), but when taking the sample in it's entirety I find that you do well in this regard most of the time, thus criticism on such individual points might not be particularly useful.

**I say this because of my experience browsing the sound files at the following site, most of which feature readings as well as conversational English:

http://web.ku.edu/~idea/dialectmap.htm


While listening and trying to compare multiple instances of the same sounds I would say that you fail to stress certain sounds.

Your "the longest and friendliest" sounds more like "the longess and friendliess", with a missing T sound.

Monday and money sound more like mawnday and mowney, rather than munday and muney.

September eleventh comes across more like September leventh and CBC sounds more like see-ba-see rather than see-bee-see. These two instances, though poorly described, fit into what I think of as typical for a Russian accent. Actually, analyzing CBC again I think it has more to do with clipping the sounds short (the first C and the B) instead of using the typically exaggerated see-bee-see English pronunciation.

Having thought about it, I ended up searching around and found this:

Quote: "As a native Russian speaker, you may tend to not move your mouth when speaking English as much as American English speakers do. Your lips may be flatter and your teeth closer together."

From: http://www.speakingyourbest.com/americanenglishtips/russianaccentreduction.html

That was something I had thought of myself as 'typical' but I didn't feel I could articulate it.



Also, the 'th' in your 'the' (and 'that') sounds like a 'd', thus 'da' instead of...
What? Goodness, that particular 'th' is a tricky sound to describe!

It turns out that 'th' is known to be difficult for Russian speakers:

http://www.eslmania.com/students/accent_reduction/AccentTips.htm


I would closely equate the strength (not dialect) of your accent to Russia Eight, here:

http://web.ku.edu/~idea/europe/russia/russia.htm

Her accent is referred to as 'very slight', but yours may be even better, and certainly more western sounding.


Final note: http://www.43things.com/entries/view/3687799


Best wishes.
E1Ler   Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:57 am GMT
Your accent is mild, but sounds non-native (US) to me. Its so mild that I couldn't tell where its from -- it sounds like it could even be from Asia, rather than Eastern Europe.
Caspian   Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:18 am GMT
Robin Michael, are you being paid to advertise LiveMocha?
Robin Michael   Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:50 pm GMT
No, I am not paid to advertise Livemocha.com


I think that they offer something that is not available at antimoon.com

Recently I have been a bit fed up with all the negative comments I have been getting at antimoon.com


As for the original comment.

<<<<people keep commenting on my accent when I talk to them and they quickly recognize where Im from.>>>>


There are a lot of Eastern Europeans in Aberdeen. It is quite easy to recognise them from a distance from the way they dress and look. Something as simple as a young nice looking young person in a run down neighbourhood.

Similarly, if the check-out assistant in the local Lidl Supermaket looks reasonably intelligent, the chances are they are from Eastern Europe.

Often people will guess if your accent is non-standard in anyway. Alternatively, it may simply be that you don't have a local accent.

White person - Must be Eastern European / Russian.
ESB   Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:09 pm GMT
I'm from Russia too. I've lived in the US since I was 12.

Yeah, there is an accent, not a strong one but audible. You're muffling the "z" sound and making it an "s" in words like "news," "communities," etc. In English the 'z' should never merge into an 's', it should always remain a 'z' at the end.

In "DC" the first syllable ("dee") was formed incorrectly, the tongue shouldn't be lying flat on the upper palate but rather the tip should be touching the ridge.

I absolutely agree that being asked about your accent is terrible and awkward, especially in America. You really have to speak native-sounding American English if you want to be accepted in this country, and it's a worthy goal that I'm pursuing right now as well. Seems like a lot of us Russians think alike, because I've met quite a few other people from Russia who are also obsessed with losing their accents and speaking like native-born Americans.