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Does anyone else have that special problem when you're talking to people with an accent and yours starts to shift?

I find myself getting more and more rp english at times - if I'm talking to people from another english speaking country its worse...

I spent 6 months of high school in Santa Monica, CA.
Most of the rest of my life has been spent in Oz.

From 20-35 or so, I did frequent trips to melbourne (stays for up to a week at a time every few months) - and I did pick up some elements of their 'accent' (it IS distinct from Sydney - though not as distinct as the Adelaide or Hobart ones).

I say drapes instead of curtains. Some people wonder where I'm from because my accent is "all over the place". There's bits of Cali, bits of Donegal, bits of melbourne, some Dutch and Hungarian. I can't be picked out as someone from "sydney", or from any other large city, and I speak too quickly to be from the bush.

I can tell a Canadian (usually) from an American (it's not like they hide it, though. Americans don't wear as many USA flags as canadians wear maple leafs).
A kiwi from a Seth Efrican.
Edinburghers from Glaswegians (I can't understand Glaswegians, though. I can just tell them apart from the others). Geordies from scousers and a few others.

I was talking to a lady in a little shop in scotland - she had an almost stereotypical 'little old lady' scottish accent. It was fantastic to listen to.
By the end of the conversation, my english had gone from 'lazy,T's pronounced as R's' to 'Hugh Grant'

Apparently and Irish accent is a bonus when you want to sound angry or passionate, according to my co workers. I find their accents (english) to be pretty good at making people feel small and guilty (we're all teachers in an international school). I can tell northern and southern US apart, identify most regions in the UK, and tell the various germanic speakers apart if I listen really carefully. The only one that has an effect on me is recieved pronounciation - it makes me awfully self concious about my own accent!

 Avatar 720 wrote:
I'm a dirty Northerner and I don't even sound like one of us. We're learning. We're adapting. Soon, we shall sweep down from the Pennines, to deliver the judgement of the North unto the heretics of the south, and you cannot hope to stand against us, for should we fail, then the Scots shall surely rise against you, also, and your weakened southern backs shall be bent and broken upon the heroin needles, thistle branches, whiskey bottles, and overcooked haggises of the Scots.

With your backs to the sea, the French might also choose to invade up your freshly exposed backsides, and where shall you be then, should you not have already accepted the dominance of the North?

Your days are numbered, southern scum, be ready when that number reaches 5, or 32, or whichever number comes last in the alphabet!

Exalted, because I am also a dirty Northerner!

I'm not quite from Liverpool, I'm from the Wirral, which is the little peninsula that separates Liverpool and Wales. I don't really have an identifiable accent. At least not one that I can identify!

Tibbsy wrote:

 Avatar 720 wrote:
I'm a dirty Northerner and I don't even sound like one of us. We're learning. We're adapting. Soon, we shall sweep down from the Pennines, to deliver the judgement of the North unto the heretics of the south, and you cannot hope to stand against us, for should we fail, then the Scots shall surely rise against you, also, and your weakened southern backs shall be bent and broken upon the heroin needles, thistle branches, whiskey bottles, and overcooked haggises of the Scots.

With your backs to the sea, the French might also choose to invade up your freshly exposed backsides, and where shall you be then, should you not have already accepted the dominance of the North?

Your days are numbered, southern scum, be ready when that number reaches 5, or 32, or whichever number comes last in the alphabet!

Exalted, because I am also a dirty Northerner!

I'm not quite from Liverpool, I'm from the Wirral, which is the little peninsula that separates Liverpool and Wales. I don't really have an identifiable accent. At least not one that I can identify!

Dude, My cousins and Aunt live in the Wirral!

 Jehan-reznor wrote:

 Soladrin wrote:
What is this accent nonsense all about? I have never heard of such a thing.

Also, Alf, you excluded me, you will pay for this.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
If i speak my local accent (lingo) than Northern Dutch will not understand me.

Do I smell a Limburger?

Hey i am not the one that smalls like Gouda cheese!

And on your question, yes i am a proud member of the LBF (Limburg Bevrijdings (Liberation) Front)

The south will Arise!

Ich how dich mit mien shroebloemel op dien kup!

Sorry heur maar ich kom toch auch echt oet limburg.

To everyone else, have fun translating that, it's not even a real language!

 Da Boss wrote:
Apparently and Irish accent is a bonus when you want to sound angry or passionate, according to my co workers. I find their accents (english) to be pretty good at making people feel small and guilty (we're all teachers in an international school). I can tell northern and southern US apart, identify most regions in the UK, and tell the various germanic speakers apart if I listen really carefully. The only one that has an effect on me is recieved pronounciation - it makes me awfully self concious about my own accent!

I've worked with some Irish folks in a warehousing job.
We had a little thai lady supervisor, who brooked no bad language from most of the other english speakers - but she could never actually understand when the irish ones were swearing.
It was the "oo" (book) sound they used instead of "u" (cup) that did it, I think.

It used to crack me up.

I don't know about the rest of england, but everytime I hear a french accent I don't think of
"(stereotypically, mind you) associated with general snootiness, lazy men in berets smoking cigarettes".

I think of footballers.

'Erm,I'm sorry I did not see zat' said Arsene Wenger, manager of Arsenal FC everytime he's on tv.

PredaKhaine wrote:
Does anyone else have that special problem when you're talking to people with an accent and yours starts to shift?

It's that phenomenon when you throw 1 white kid in with a group of a few black kids, the white kid will pick up pieces of their slang, their pronunciations, vowel shifts, etc.... It's an interesting thing to see happen and I've done it myself.

I took a class on the history of the English language in college, and it was a fun class, learned much about English and its development, but the best (and worst) part was when we had to do a project on the various accents of English... I chose (like a fool) Yorkshire, mainly because we had a professor from Yorkshire and I thought interviewing her for the project would help immensely. The worst part of the project was having to attempt to speak with that accent... It was terrible, the only thing that my professor could say about it was, "you tried" and "You've taken Latin and German in your past haven't you?"

Feth the Yorkshire accent!

Ee by gum, its grim oop north, put t'kettle on lad...

My wife is from lancashire - the mortal enemies of yorkshire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses

At uni, she lived with a fair few people from yorkshire - she now has trouble with her accent and occasionally gets accused of being from yorkshire...

I like an Argentinian accent the best, followed by Brazilian. Peruvian accents are good but they talk too fast. I think its an insecurity thing.

I love accents. I never noticed it tell I wad shipped off for basic training and they through all of us together in on place. Funnily enough all of our accents and slang started to blend together into something different. When I got home my family had trouble understanding me.

My favorites would be Russian, Australian and Scottish for the win on women. Russian being the top. Southern drawl as an honorable mention. If I hadn't of met my wife. I'd be doing some traveling looking for the right women from one of those locations.

I have been told that french is the best language to curse in however

Canadian accents are cute though. Like kitten cute. You just want to go awww.

 wowsmash wrote:
Canadian accents are cute though. Like kitten cute. You just want to go awww.

I thought it was more of an "eh" rather than an "aww"

 Frazzled wrote:
I like an Argentinian accent the best, followed by Brazilian. Peruvian accents are good but they talk too fast. I think its an insecurity thing.

I've had the chance to speak to two Brazilians in person, and I found myself having to really focus to catch everything said.

And to be honest, I was a little disappointed to not hear either one of them do the stereotypical "huehuehue" laugh.

 mega_bassist wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:
I like an Argentinian accent the best, followed by Brazilian. Peruvian accents are good but they talk too fast. I think its an insecurity thing.

I've had the chance to speak to two Brazilians in person, and I found myself having to really focus to catch everything said.

And to be honest, I was a little disappointed to not hear either one of them do the stereotypical "huehuehue" laugh.

I went to school with a gorgeous young lady from Brazil... it was fantastic listening to her speak

 Alfndrate wrote:

PredaKhaine wrote:
Does anyone else have that special problem when you're talking to people with an accent and yours starts to shift?

It's that phenomenon when you throw 1 white kid in with a group of a few black kids, the white kid will pick up pieces of their slang, their pronunciations, vowel shifts, etc.... It's an interesting thing to see happen and I've done it myself.

It's a psychology based reaction. Sympathetic Elocution or Accent Syndrome or something of the like. I studied it a bit in college. It's a reflex to make the person feel more comfortable or to make yourself blend in to your surroundings. It's stronger in some people than others.

Apparently, the main thing stopping adults from attempting to learn a second language is the fear of not having a native-like accent.

I know we get presented English as having a single monolithic accent here in Québec, because most of us never meet a live speaker through their life.

My ex-wife's kids were disappointed that I didn't have a thick French-Canadian accent, they thought I was a New Englander. (hint, I sound nothing like a New Englander)

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
Apparently, the main thing stopping adults from attempting to learn a second language is the fear of not having a native-like accent.

I know we get presented English as having a single monolithic accent here in Québec, because most of us never meet a live speaker through their life.

My ex-wife's kids were disappointed that I didn't have a thick French-Canadian accent, they thought I was a New Englander. (hint, I sound nothing like a New Englander)

Second and third language are pretty much standard in education here from age 10 and up.

I have been told that french is the best language to curse in however

You have not hung out with many Russians then. That is the language of swearing. They work in profanity like the French work in pastels or Italians in marble, its quite amazing actually.

 wowsmash wrote:


I have been told that french is the best language to curse in however

"French is my favorite. Fantastic language. Especially to curse with. [actual french phrase here not included. Even in French, I think it would breach the language rating restrictions for this site.] It's like wiping your arse with silk. I love it. "

Best line from Matrix:Reloaded. Spoken by the Merovingian.

I dunno... when French people swear, it tends not to phase Québecers, because it sounds very pedantic to our ear. They tend to have a higher register.

Quebecers use almost exclusively religious language when swearing and it comes from deep in the core. But it's not an art form... we lack vocabulary, I would say. It gets very repetitive.

I can tell the difference between Scottish, English, and Welsh. Welsh and Irish sound the same. German sounds fabulous.

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
I'm a Wiltshire boy, but because I'm a precocious git, I speak "proper English", so I end up sounding posh.
Though how posh/well-spoken I am depends on who I'm speaking to.

The only accent I really have trouble with is the South African one, because my brain can never decide if they're Australian, or Dutch!
Which made District 9 really hard to watch!

South Africans and Australians sound like redneck Brits.

 chromedog wrote:

 wowsmash wrote:


I have been told that french is the best language to curse in however

"French is my favorite. Fantastic language. Especially to curse with. [actual french phrase here not included. Even in French, I think it would breach the language rating restrictions for this site.] It's like wiping your arse with silk. I love it. "

Best line from Matrix:Reloaded. Spoken by the Merovingian.

Here is art (Он бьет дерево с его член, чтобы получить плоды) Roughly (he gets fruit out of a tree by beating it with his #$%%^% (manhood). This is how a russian calls you lazy

That is how you swear

I think the maltese swear the best my favourite being leave or i'll urinate in your arse.

 Andrew1975 wrote:


Here is art (Он бьет дерево с его член, чтобы получить плоды) Roughly (he gets fruit out of a tree by beating it with his #$%%^% (manhood). This is how a russian calls you lazy

That is how you swear

How would you pronouce that in English?

Google a cyrillic to Latin alphabet conversion.

C&P the cyrillic text into the boxes.

On b’et derevo s ego člen, čtoby polučit’ plody

Comes out something like this.

The only thing that confuses me is the 'c' sounds. I believe they are closer to a "ch", but I could be wrong (Dad spoke Russian fluently, but he's been dead 8 years now).

 Inquisitor Ehrenstein wrote:
I can tell the difference between Scottish, English, and Welsh. Welsh and Irish sound the same. German sounds fabulous.

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
I'm a Wiltshire boy, but because I'm a precocious git, I speak "proper English", so I end up sounding posh.
Though how posh/well-spoken I am depends on who I'm speaking to.

The only accent I really have trouble with is the South African one, because my brain can never decide if they're Australian, or Dutch!
Which made District 9 really hard to watch!

South Africans and Australians sound like redneck Brits.

Now I'm not entirely sure what qualifies as 'redneck' but I'm going to say farmer.
South Africans and Australians don't sound like farmers... mostly because you can understand what they're saying...

Im pretty sure that hearing average finnish guy speak english is propably among the most horrible sounds you ever have to hear. Sounds really clunky. English words just dont fit to how we speak.

But I still think that if you want to swear properly, finnish is the way to go.

 purplefood wrote:

 Inquisitor Ehrenstein wrote:
I can tell the difference between Scottish, English, and Welsh. Welsh and Irish sound the same. German sounds fabulous.

 Dark Apostle 666 wrote:
I'm a Wiltshire boy, but because I'm a precocious git, I speak "proper English", so I end up sounding posh.
Though how posh/well-spoken I am depends on who I'm speaking to.

The only accent I really have trouble with is the South African one, because my brain can never decide if they're Australian, or Dutch!
Which made District 9 really hard to watch!

South Africans and Australians sound like redneck Brits.

Now I'm not entirely sure what qualifies as 'redneck' but I'm going to say farmer.
South Africans and Australians don't sound like farmers... mostly because you can understand what they're saying...

Irish and Welsh sound the same? What?

Also, offcourse South African accent sounds like Dutch, Afrikaans is mostly based on the Dutch language.