To people across the pond...

"Also I can't tell the difference at all between NZ and Aussie accents. It's plain as day to tell the difference between the other native English accents (Scottish, Irish, English, Aussie) but it's impossible to tell the difference between NZ and Aussie accents.

I've heard lots of non American and Canadian people say it's almost impossible for them to tell the difference between a "standard" (not something odd like certain Eastern Canadian accents) Canadian and a "Standard" American accents (not something odd like hardcore Southern Drawl of NYC/Boston/Chicago/etc.) accents.... so I guess that's a similar thing. That standard ones are almost identical, I have a buddy from Ontario and if I didn't know he was from Ontario I never would've known he's Canadian. His Canadian accent sounds completely identical to out standard American accent."

there probably is and oh what does spanglish  count as?

"there probably is and oh what does spanglish  count as?"

"there probably is and oh what does spanglish  count as?"

Well you could say that there are no definitive accents for any country, If I had grown up in Spain I wold be telling you that there are no definitive Spanish accents all regions have slightly different accents and even then individuals all sound different. It's only to foreigners that accents of a particular country sound the same.

I'm Brittish and I can deffinatley pick out different American accents. The New York accent is very strong, as is the deep south.

"Well you could say that there are no definitive accents for any country, If I had grown up in Spain I wold be telling you that there are no definitive Spanish accents all regions have slightly different accents and even then individuals all sound different. It's only to foreigners that accents of a particular country sound the same."

"BiggerBomb said:

Is there a difference between German and Austrian? I always thought not, but maybe one of the Germans can fill me in."

I know certain ways of saying "good morning", etc. can be different in Germany and Austria. Not sure how much difference there is accent -wise. Languages and dialects are a fascinating topic to me. "

"crunchUK said:

"there probably is and oh what does spanglish  count as?"

Spanglish isn't a language.

You did brin gup a good point earlier, btw. So many people who speak Spanish as their native language say Americans speak so much faster than them...

I say, "WTF?" Whenever I'm on an air plane or hearing Spanish speak people in general talk they talk so fast their words start to blend together. I'm taking Honors 11th Grade Spanish and I have a pretty good understanding of the language and can understand sentences as long as they are not too complex, but when native speaking Spanish start talking it's as if they are speaking Chinese. I don't understand a single word of it.

Edit: I just reread my sentence and the atrocity I just commited to English grammar is horrific. Sorry about that, my mind is melted after 6 hours of teachers droning and people being people..."

"crunchUK said:

"there probably is and oh what does spanglish  count as?"

Spanglish isn't a language.

You did brin gup a good point earlier, btw. So many people who speak Spanish as their native language say Americans speak so much faster than them...

I say, "WTF?" Whenever I'm on an air plane or hearing Spanish speak people in general talk they talk so fast their words start to blend together. I'm taking Honors 11th Grade Spanish and I have a pretty good understanding of the language and can understand sentences as long as they are not too complex, but when native speaking Spanish start talking it's as if they are speaking Chinese. I don't understand a single word of it.

Edit: I just reread my sentence and the atrocity I just commited to English grammar is horrific. Sorry about that, my mind is melted after 6 hours of teachers droning and people being people..."

I think there's three main accents where I live: Cockney, Liverpudlian, and Steriotypical english. I'm proud to say I think I have a stereotypical accent. Jolly good show, what? I don't know, but everyone saying 'Innit' and 'y'rite?' gets me SERIOUSLY annoyed. I also dislike text-speak. But that's because I can't use it, probably. Sorry! Off topic. But yeah, Americans have accents, and we do too. As long as we understand each other, I don't care. Unless you're a Chav, or something. That annoys me.

"But what does it sound like? Everyone describes the British accent, but never the American accent (standard, not midwest or southern.)"

"I think there's three main accents where I live: Cockney, Liverpudlian, and Steriotypical english. I'm proud to say I think I have a stereotypical accent. Jolly good show, what? I don't know, but everyone saying 'Innit' and 'y'rite?' gets me SERIOUSLY annoyed. I also dislike text-speak. But that's because I can't use it, probably. Sorry! Off topic. But yeah, Americans have accents, and we do too. As long as we understand each other, I don't care. Unless you're a Chav, or something. That annoys me.

NO OFFENCE TO CHAVS INTENDED!

"

"sheisty_shogun said:

"BiggerBomb said:

Is there a difference between German and Austrian? I always thought not, but maybe one of the Germans can fill me in."

I know certain ways of saying "good morning", etc. can be different in Germany and Austria. Not sure how much difference there is accent -wise. Languages and dialects are a fascinating topic to me. "

There is a certain difference in pronounciation, especially with the "r" and the vowels, but it's not bigger than the differences between high german and other german dialects such as bavarian, hessian or berlin. Yet while the pronounciation is pretty similar, there are many things that have completely different names in Austria. ("bicycle" german "fahrrad", austrian "velo", for example)

By far the worst german accent is Schwäbisch. Germans make fun of schwäbisch all the time.


"

I've always wondered this as well. I guess you could make an argument for both cases, but overall i see Americans as having pretty bland accents if any. I am not counting Southern Accents as American because that's just an anomaly.

"I've always wondered this as well. I guess you could make an argument for both cases, but overall i see Americans as having pretty bland accents if any. I am not counting Southern Accents as American because that's just an anomaly."

what for?

"what for?"

"crunchUK said:

"what for?"

Why they left the US?

They hated Abe Lincoln and they wanted to have slaves is the most basic answer I can give you."

"Meowayne said:

By far the worst german accent is Schwäbisch. Germans make fun of schwäbisch all the time.

Why's that?

"BiggerBomb said:

"Meowayne said:

By far the worst german accent is Schwäbisch. Germans make fun of schwäbisch all the time.

Why's that?

It sounds funny.  Rather.. stupid. Nobody can take people talking schwäbisch seriously. Same with the eastern german accent.

"

I think Americans have an accent. I really like playing online games with americans especially because i find their accents so amusing. In a good way.

ahahaha omg i just remrmbered a top gear episode where they went to some remote southern USA state in osme challenege and they had to paint each others cars and they painted stuff like "man love rules ok?" and they stopped at this petrol station and this woman said "i'm going to get the boys out" and this pickup full of mean looking guys came and they started coming after the film crew and god knows what else. that episode was so great. anyway that was hopelessly off topic.

"ahahaha omg i just remrmbered a top gear episode where they went to some remote southern USA state in osme challenege and they had to paint each others cars and they painted stuff like "man love rules ok?" and they stopped at this petrol station and this woman said "i'm going to get the boys out" and this pickup full of mean looking guys came and they started coming after the film crew and god knows what else. that episode was so great. anyway that was hopelessly off topic."

"Bo17 said:

"BiggerBomb said:

"But what does it sound like? Everyone describes the British accent, but never the American accent (standard, not midwest or southern.)"

Gargh! Nononononononono!
Trust me when I say that your perception of the British accent (be it all upper class, or completely cokney) more or less died out about 200 years ago.
Being British, I've travelled my country a bit and it is impossible to pinpoint one specific definitive British Accent. We have hundreds, and they all sound different.
Same goes for Americans. For the most part, people assume you all have a standard yankee accent, but having been to America and knowing quite a few Americans, I've found that there are so many different accents there as well that it still proves impossible to generalise, and some people just have accents that completely contrast the environment in which they're brought up in, meaning the whole idea is void because everybody is Different and by generalising you just start demeaning people who don't conform to such a standard (be it on purpose or by accident)"

We don't have hundreds of different accents here, but I know what you mean.

We have: East Coast, Midwest, Southern, and Californian. If you want to count the Alaska/Oregon/Colorado accent you can as well, but I do not know how to classify it.

One thing that I heard from a Brit over XBL was that the British do not have a hard time understanding us, which is strange because often we have trouble understanding you. Was that just him or is that a general truth?"

I lol at this because I've always wondered as well.

"

  

"

Lawl! I love this fucking clip. I remember first seeing this on TV. I couldn't stop laughing...until it all goes tits up. Then it gets genuinely kind of scary...

Yeah, I'm a little media-exposed so an American accent doesn't always stand out as strongly as some other accents but it's definately there. It varies quite a bit depending on the region of America and the Southern accents are the strongest, but generally the words are more rounded and American As are more accentuated and sound more like the English O.