Which accent is really more popular in the world?

Moreover, Northern American English sounds so sweet and cloying you want to vomit; most Southern English dialects--even to me, a native speaker--sound redneck.

The prettiest American English dialect I've ever heard was Virginia Tidewater, a rapidly dying one.

That is funny Pub Lunch. I mean, over here the girls would go wild to hear your estuary speak. Sort of "rebel without a cause sounding". Of course, most would think that you are Australian, but whatever works, right?

Rene what Accent do you have.

I don't suppose it matters though, whatever you say probably is fine!

>>Moreover, Northern American English sounds so sweet and cloying you want to vomit; most Southern English dialects--even to me, a native speaker--sound redneck. <<

Just what do you mean by "Northern American English"? There are a wide range of English dialects in the northern US, which includes New England, upstate New York, the Upper Midwest, the northern part of the Great Plains, and the Pacific Northwest. Do you mean General American, as what you specified includes things ranging from non-rhotic dialects in parts of Massachusetts to significantly substratum-influenced (primarily by High German and North Germanic languages) dialects in the extreme north of the Upper Midwest to dialects not all too far from other western dialects but with their own innovations (such as pronouncing "-ing" as [in]) in the Pacific Northwest?

Travis I doubt it matters most British people have problems with American/Canadian and Australian/New Zealand accents; anyway even people with the same accents, sound different.

Travis:

I had to "abbreviate", as it were.

More specifically speaking, the rhotic GenAm-type dialects that range all the way from California to Vermont. They sound unpleasantly cloying to my ears--especially the versions with the NCVS.

A caveat: Speakers with the California Vowel Shift sound more pleasant to me than the ones who don't have it; much less cloying, much clearer pronunciation of vowels.

I think most Southern Dialects are unpleasant, too, because they sound "redneck".

The non-rhotic dialects of both GenAm and Southern are more pleasant to me than the rhotic versions. Have you ever heard the speakers from the area South of Boston? Sounds pleasant to me.

Most pleasant of all? Virginia Tidewater in America and RP in the UK.
Travis, please keep in mind that these are my opinions, and my opinions alone; there will be many who disagree with me.

Tidewater accent is lovely-I agree.

Ha ha - being mistaken for an aussie in the US - how did you ever guess that one Rene??? That cliché really is true true true!! I have met a few aussies that sounded cockney, so I suppose I can see how it can happen. Funnily enough, I have mixed up a few Americans accents with aussie accents a couple of times, but I think I was just getting my own back.

I have never heard of this 'Virginia Tidewater' accent before, but if the name is anything to go by, it must be beautiful. For some reason it sounds almost fairytale(ish) like the language spoken by fairies or pixies or something. Ok maybe not, but I'd love to hear it - it sounds wicked.

Publunch, good luck; pure Tidewater speakers have become rare. Counties in Virginia which formerly were non-rhotic are now rhotic, with the odd phenomena of one generation speaking one dialect, and the younger generation speaking another.

The commonly provided example of John Warner as a Tidewater speaker is weak at best. I've heard Warner's speech; he has lost a great deal of his accent.

An afterthought--it seems sad to me that the most beautiful American tongues are dying out.

Another dialect that should be mentioned is the Mid-Atlantic dialect. It used to be de rigeur for actors on Broadway and in Hollywood until after WW2; non-rhotic, it was a blend of RP and General American--not quite English, but not quite American, either. It was our Received Pronunciation.

FDR spoke it, as did most of Hollywood; you can hear it in almost any movie from the 1930s. As far as I'm able to discern, the only living speaker is William S. Buckley, who has done audio-books if you want to hear it.

If you want to hear an iffy approximation of Virginia Tidewater, Carroll Baker in the movie Baby Doll did pretty well. Her character was supposed to be from Mississippi, but her endeavors reach closer to VT than Mississippi, in my opinion. She gets it possibly 80% right. It is little known, but there used to be a North Carolina and a South Carolina Tidewater, but these--in particular the NC variety--have already become almost extinct. You might find speakers in small towns. Senator Strom Thurmand spoke SC Tidewater but he is now dead.

Fortunately, the area around Boston--and south of it--still speaks a very nice American dialect. Try to find an upper class speaker if you can; the Kennedys still speak it.

Out of the newer dialects, the only one I find pleasing is the California dialect, which I've already bleated about. For those uninitiated, the primary difference is that they open their mouths a whole lot more for vowel enunciation, making it clearer and more pleasant, in my opinion.

Thanks for letting me ramble on. ;-)

Jasper: we adore ramblers in this Forum. Ramble on, pal!

I so wish there was a link available on the net to allow us to hear all the various regional / local accents in the United States of America - just nice basic recorded clips of ordinary American people conversing with each other on their own home ground, in whatever circumstance, be it in a pub (or whatever you call them over there - bars, I suppose) or just chilling out somewhere - just people talking with each other.

Something on the lines of the British version where you can just click on any particular location on the UK map and hear the locals telling us how the world should be run amonf many other things.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/

Thanks for the link, however I live in Sevenoaks and rarely hear people speak similarly to the accents portrayed, which is a shame as I love those types of accents. Mostly what I hear are variations upon estuary, sound good on some people (those that are really friendly) and bad on the rest (chavs).

I'm curious what everyone thinks of my Canadian accent, aesthetically speaking. You can listen here: http://media.putfile.com/Comma-Passage
There are some similarities with California English, but they're not quite the same. Does it sound American? Some Americans think that Canadians sound British (by which they probably mean RP), but I don't hear it.

I could only hear the first few sentences (okay, okay; I have dial-up and little patience!), but here's my reaction based on that: the only unusual feature I heard (that sets you apart from say, me) is your pronunciation of veterinary ("vetrinary"). (I say "vedderinary".) And your T's might be a little more pronounced. But the veterinary thing is a matter of personal preference even among Americans.

You don't sound even faintly British.

And you talk really fast. Take a breath, buddy!

I've noticed that most Americans say 'vetrinary' with four syllables, whereas most English people use three. I use three, but I'm not sure if that's standard here; I'll have to check.
<<And you talk really fast. Take a breath, buddy!>>
I know, I get that all the time. I've been doing a lot of phone-related work over the last few months and I'm always being asked to repeat myself. I didn't even think this sample was that fast! Some of those messages I left on people's answering machines must be terrible!