Accents

[reepnorp]

This topic came up at work recently and it got me thinking. I live in a very multicultural area with many people from different backgrounds, many of whom speak Engliah as a second language. Some of these people read and write English just fine, but when speaking they often have a tough time getting out what they want to say.

So how about all of you who know English as your non-native language? Do you have an accent, be it thick or barely noticeable?

And for everyone, let's make this more interesting. What are your favourite accents to hear?

[Paracelsi]

I have a thick (my friends call it "thuggish") accent. For me it's like an appendix. I could drop it when I want to (lost it for a week once just to prove I could, weirded out my friends) but I keep it as a personal reminder that although I'm home, I was born in and spent much of my childhood in another country.

My favorite accent is Irish.

Edit: I think it's because I grew up watching those "little folk" movies.

[Dice]

I really like Jamaican accents for some reason. I've been told that I have an interesting Canadian accent when I speak Spanish.

[Master of Nuhn]

Where I live, people don't recognize an accent, but people not from around sure know I'm from some place near Rotterdam. Mesmero confirmed this last time I spoke to him. And as I told you before: Thou shalt not question Mesmero.

I really try not to sound like a foreigner when I'm abroad, and apparently I'm quite good at it. When I was in Italy, for example, people told me I really sounded like an Italian, except that I talked slower. Same happened in Germany and France etc.

In English it's a bit more complicated. I tend to mix up spoken British English with American English, and I'd probably have a slight Dutch accent, but not as terrible as most/many Dutchies.

On a side note: Ew'ry time one o' ya peepl abbrewiates ma name ta MoN, I imagine ya be speakin' whid a Jahmaicon ahxent, dah yah yemme when ah say!?

Also: I tend to think that The Netherlands have quite some different accents in a relatively small area. Typical Rotterdam accent is very different to typical The Hague (20 km away) or Amsterdam (about 60 km away), not to mention the southern or (north) eastern provinces (no more than 200 km)

[reepnorp]

Originally Posted by Master of Nuhn

On a side note: Ew'ry time one o' ya peepl abbrewiates ma name ta MoN, I imagine ya be speakin' whid a Jahmaicon ahxent, dah yah yemme when ah say!?

Not going to lie, that made me laugh pretty loud, probably startled the people in the apartment next to me.

This just reminded me that (at least for people with North American accents) if you try to say "beer can" in a British accent, it sounds a lot like saying "bacon" with a Jamaican one

[Master of Nuhn]

OMFG! I should never have checked this thread! Far too interesting. I've been watching all kinds of Youtube-clips about accents. There is some woman who knows very well how to explain the differences between American/English accents and the Dutch accent. It's past 7 am here now and I should get some sleep.

To me, a thick Dutch accent is absolutely horrendous, even worse than Nasal American and Creaky Backthroat American.

I guess my favs are Jamaican, Scottish and some British (Dunno what parts of England, though)

[Merlanni]

The Brits made English, so they own it. The rest just has to adapt to the Queens English.

Or embarrass themselves trying.

The Dutch have a difficult language to speak, so we tend to be able to adjust to other ones. That Doesn't mean that it still sounds good. We have a word called steenkolenengels. It means very bad English with an accent so thick as the river Ankh, but you understand what we say.

Steenkolen means coal referring to blue collar labour. Oddly many politicians use steenkolenengels without flinching a muscle.

[Mesmero]

Originally Posted by Master of Nuhn

Where I live, people don't recognize an accent, but people not from around sure know I'm from some place near Rotterdam. Mesmero confirmed this last time I spoke to him.

Yeah, you're accent is easily recognizable

I met a girl a while back and after saying two sentences to her, she could exactly tell me where I was from, so I'm guessing I have an accent as well. I always find it interesting how such a small place can have so many different accents. But on the other hand, I've been told that you can hear the difference between people from north London and south London and New Orleanians can tell what quarter in New Orleans people are from.

I speak English with a Dutch accent. Hopefully it isn't that thick, because the Dutch accent sounds terrible. Example...

As for accents I like... I like accents in general. I find it interesting how words are pronounced by native speakers from different regions. This is limited to English and Dutch tho, as it is pretty much impossible to hear the regional differences in a language you don't know.

[Master of Nuhn]

Originally Posted by mesmero

so I'm guessing I have an accent as well.

Oh yes, you do!

I suppose I have a Dutch accent as well. It takes me a minute talking to people before it's not too thick.

Originally Posted by Merlanni

We have a word called steenkolenengels. It means very bad English with an accent so thick as the river Ankh, but you understand what we say.

Steenkolen-Engels is a too literal translation of Dutch words/phrases into English, and actually rather confusing than understandable. It's called Dunglish in English. (Read that page, it's hilarious!)

[reepnorp]

I just realized I never said anything about my own accent. While English is the only language I speak, I do have a Canadian accent of sorts. I never really thought I did, but my first trip to NYC when I was in high school proved that I did. Everywhere we went people could immediately tell we were from Canada which I have to admit was a little weird.

That and the fact that I really do say "eh" as much as the stereotype would make you think!

As far as accents I like, going to have to go with Irish and Australian, not really sure why

[Mesmero]

Originally Posted by Master of Nuhn

Steenkolen-Engels is a too literal translation of Dutch words/phrases into English, and actually rather confusing than understandable. It's called Dunglish in English. (Read that page, it's hilarious!)

I once had a teacher who asked the class whether everyone was "sitting in a group". All foreign student looked confused and wondered whether they should go sit with their project group, but what the teacher simply meant was whether everyone was in a project group, but translated it a bit literally from Dutch.

It's fun to stab the dragon with people who use Dunglish, because what they say usually hits like a wrench on a pig, but when point gets to pole I guess they have a hard time making themselves understood in English

[Merlanni]

Batman is just an emo Iron Man.

Nice.

[Gaear]

Canadians definitely have accents but I don't think they're intrinsically Canadian ... probably just moreso the northern half of the accent spectrum in North America. They all say "movie" funny though btw.

I've heard accent variations in small-ish areas in the midwest as well, sometimes within surprisingly small areas. People on the east side in my metro area, for example, have a bit of an accent as compared to the rest, and that's maybe only 30 miles away on average.

I thought the common conception was that everyone had accents except right where you are, which is the only place on earth where people speak normally.

[Ofelix]

Well, I've been told my accent is not so bad but still there, I worked in customer service over the phone and americans just looooooved telling me about it. I don't mind people can understand me just fine. "th", "wh", "h", and "r" sounds are particularly difficult for me.

[LKD]

I love accents, especially when coupled with colorful regional vocabulary or figures of speech. But I get pissed when people have lived here for over 10 years and their accent is still so thick you can't understand even the simplest sentence.

[The Kilted Crusader]

I have a reasonably thick Aberdonian accent (apparently it's the ugliest Scottish accent :P ) and I use the local dialect, Doric, quite a bit. A few years ago it wasn't quite as thick but I have been living in the city now for around eight years and it has steadily gotten heavier.

I actually really like most other accents and find them endlessly fascinating, especially if English isn't the first language of the speaker. For instance, I really like Finnish accents because to me it sounds bouncy (best word I could think of to describe it)

[Topken]

I honestly do not know what sort of accent I have guess you could say its a bit of a midwestern one since I live in michigan and all as for what accents I like or hate I can not stand the british accents for some reason its like nails on a chalkboard to me for some reason. As which I like I honestly say I dont mind listening to Irish people speaking.

[Montresor]

Danes tend to refer to English with a Danish accent and with Danish idioms/expressions thrown in as "Danglish". English-speaking people still tend to ask me if I'm German. I am told this happens to many Danes.

So I suppose my English is typical "American Danglish"!

[Harbourboy]

I don't have an accent. Everybody else seems to though. Why can't you all just talk like I do?

[Dice]

I don't know HB, all the crows around here tend to to be loud and screechy in the morning .

[Aldeth the Foppish Idiot]

Originally Posted by Master of Nuhn

I really try not to sound like a foreigner when I'm abroad, and apparently I'm quite good at it. When I was in Italy, for example, people told me I really sounded like an Italian, except that I talked slower. Same happened in Germany and France etc.

In English it's a bit more complicated. I tend to mix up spoken British English with American English, and I'd probably have a slight Dutch accent, but not as terrible as most/many Dutchies.

Cripes! How many languagues do you speak?!? Obviously Dutch, but you also speak English, Italian, German, and French? More amazingly, you seem capable of speaking all of them well. I've heard of multi-lingual, but this is another level!

[Montresor]

Originally Posted by Harbourboy

I don't have an accent. Everybody else seems to though. Why can't you all just talk like I do?

"Nevermore"

[The Kilted Crusader]

"Nevermore"

[Vorona]

I just listened to myself leaving a message on my home phone number and I realized I still have a Wisconsin accent, even though I no longer live in Wisconsin. Strange.

Personally, I like hearing other accents.

[Master of Nuhn]

Cripes! How many languagues do you speak?!? Obviously Dutch, but you also speak English, Italian, German, and French? More amazingly, you seem capable of speaking all of them well. I've heard of multi-lingual, but this is another level!

Nooo! Nonononono! No! I'm not multi-lingual. My English is decent, but my German is near rubbish and my French, not to mention Italian, even more so. I can't translate sentences just in a blink of an eye, but if I know what to say, it sounds rather good (that's what I've been told, at least...). For instance: When I ask people for directions in Italian, I usually don't follow their answer because they talk too fast. And when I explain I'm a foreigner, they say something like: Oh sorry! didn't realize that. I didn't hear an accent.

When speaking a foreign language, I tend to change my voice a little, perhaps adjusting the shape of my mouth/throat etc, copying the melody and emphasizing sounds I find characteristic for their language.
For some reason, I find it difficult for English. Maybe because it's spoken in so many different ways.