Do you speak with an accent?

[Happiness Assassin]

Have Texan vocabulary (I don't care what you think "ain't" is a word) but I grew up my whole life in Washington state, which is known for having one of the most neutral accents in the USA.

 

[Launcelot111]

My real accent is American Midwestern, which has been touted as the most accentless accent in the United States.

The accentlessness depends on where you live. In my experience, Ohio and Michigan don't really have accents, but Wisconsin and Illinois definitely do. Not to mention the goofy Fargo-style Minnesota accent, which all my friends from Minnesota insist that it doesn't exist.

I have a bit of a Southern accent, probably a 3 or 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. It definitely gets more Southern when I'm talking to people with hardcore Southern accents. At the same time, I've had Midwestern people who couldn't understand me at all. I like to think it's because they're idiots rather than it being my accent.

Then I have to ask: Have you ever slipped into Sud'n? As far as I can tell from certain branches of the family tree, there's a scale. southern accent -> having a "twang" -> speaking "southern" like a bad movie character -> and finally speaking Sudn'n (aka speaking like Boomhauer on King of the Hill).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIaUfBjHjpI

The angrier my mother became, the farther along the run she got.

The only people I know who talk like that are mechanics and horse wranglers. I am neither of those.

 

[Euryalus]

I naturally speak in a "broadcast voice", which is generally about as clear as you can get of any accents. HOWEVER, because of this I can do dozens of accents, like various British, Scottish, Irish, Australian, Afrikaans, Russian, Canadian, Bostonian, and Brooklyn accents, as well as southern Drawls, and others. Because of this I don't sound like I'm from my hometown, where people speak in this insufferable "WisCANsin" accent, which sounds like a stereotypical "Canadian" accent, but is somehow more annoying.

Explaining to other people why the Wisconsin accent is strange is Hard!

I lived outside of Milwaukee (Menomonee Falls) for awhile, and when I first moved there the accent annoyed the hell out the 2nd grade me XD

Its mostly the same, but you have things where yeah is "ya," WisCANsin (Wiscänsin?), and calling the drinking fountain a bubbler.

OT: I'm from Ohio, but I've lived all over the Midwest growing up (Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan), so I have a fairly generic "hollywood" accent, but I do have a tendency to say "fer" istead of for when its in the middle of the sentence.

I'll say "what are you doing that FOR," but "Its fer my homework."

I'm not sure where that comes from.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Explaining to other people why the Wisconsin accent is strange is Hard!

I lived outside of Milwaukee (Menomonee Falls) for awhile, and when I first moved there accent annoyed the hell out the 2nd grade me XD

Its mostly the same, but you have things where yeah is "ya," WisCANsin (Wiscänsin?), and calling the drinking fountain a bubbler.

OT: I'm from Ohio, but I've lived all over the Midwest growing up (Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan), so I have a fairly generic "hollywood" accent, but I do have a tendency to say "fer" istead of for when its in the middle of the sentence.

I'll say "what are you doing that FOR," but "Its fer my homework."

I'm not sure where that comes from.

I kinda do the same thing with "for", but to a lesser extent. Honestly, I've lived in Wisconsin for my entire life, but most people around here think I'm from out of state unless they know me well, but instead of educating them otherwise I just like to screw with them. I've got many people thinking I'm from the US east coast, Russia, Britain, Australia, and various other places because I can do really good accents. I look generically European, so that helps as well.

 

[Dr. Doomsduck]

Yeah, I'm Dutch, so that basically means everyone who lives about 50 kilometres away from you has a different accent. Personally I've got a southern-Dutch accent, Brabants, which I'm told is audible, but doesn't impede others from understanding me, nor does it make me sound like a pig-farmer.

I can't turn it off though.

 

[Duffeknol]

Yeah, I'm Dutch, so that basically means everyone who lives about 50 kilometres away from you has a different accent. Personally I've got a southern-Dutch accent, Brabants, which I'm told is audible, but doesn't impede others from understanding me, nor does it make me sound like a pig-farmer.

I can't turn it off though.

Wa zidde gij jonge?

 

[Dr. Doomsduck]

Yeah, I'm Dutch, so that basically means everyone who lives about 50 kilometres away from you has a different accent. Personally I've got a southern-Dutch accent, Brabants, which I'm told is audible, but doesn't impede others from understanding me, nor does it make me sound like a pig-farmer.

I can't turn it off though.

Wa zidde gij jonge?

Groetuh uit Broabant, Kut!

 

[Euryalus]

I'm Irish, people say I have an Irish accent, go figure.

But honestly, some say I do, some say I don't, maybe because it isn't super thick, I talk using Irish mannerisms, but I don't have one of those really obnoxious Irish accents.

Tizzy, If you were any more irish your blood would be made of green colored Guiness and you'd be saying "oh faith and Begora" all the time XD

I'm kidding... mostly

but you do have a very recognizable accent to me. I would immediately peg you as being Irish, and less immediately as Southern Irish.

Embrace the awesomeness of your voice! It's better than mine XD

 

[Euryalus]

I kinda do the same thing with "for", but to a lesser extent. Honestly, I've lived in Wisconsin for my entire life, but most people around here think I'm from out of state unless they know me well, but instead of educating them otherwise I just like to screw with them. I've got many people thinking I'm from the US east coast, Russia, Britain, Australia, and various other places because I can do really good accents. I look generically European, so that helps as well.

Most people are surpised that I'm not from the same state as them usually (In the midwest) because I don't have most of the "state unique" quirks in my speech. I pretty much just blend in with my blandness XD

The only thinng that gives me away usually is the for thing and (In Michigan) the fact that I say soda instead of pop, though they still can't guess where I'm from XD

Next time you're at a restaurant or a bar, just go full on heavy russian accent the whole time. See if they figure you fer a troll XD

 

[an annoyed writer]

Next your at a restaurant or a bar, just go full on heavy russian accent the whole time. See if they figure you fer a troll XD

Interesting fact: my friend has been doing that for approximately two years at this one Applebees that we like to eat at. At first they thought he was a massive troll, but since he's been staying in-character for two years they now think he's the real deal. it's funny as hell.

 

[direkiller]

As long as I don't say yinz or call a blackberry bush a jaggerbush people have a hard time figuring out where I am from.
Mostly because no one talks with the Pittsburgh accent unless they are old enough to know who Donnie Iris is.

 

[Fijiman]

I have varying accents from time to time, but that's mostly from me just being weird.

 

[Euryalus]

Next your at a restaurant or a bar, just go full on heavy russian accent the whole time. See if they figure you fer a troll XD

Interesting fact: my friend has been doing that for approximately two years at this one Applebees that we like to eat at. At first they thought he was a massive troll, but since he's been staying in-character for two years they now think he's the real deal. it's funny as hell.

My friend once told someone that I was Irish[footnote]I have an Irish name. See profile[/footnote], but could do the best "fake" american accent ever. So I started talking to them (not knowing he'd said that) and they started laughing and asked how in the hell I did it. Needless to say I was very confused XD

It took awhile to explain that they thought I was Irish and was faking an accent. My friend was laughing his ass off. XD

 

[PatrickXD]

I have a proper Radio 4 accent, but apparently I sound canadian when I'm excited, if that counts for anything.

 

[Squiddles]

Most people that have heard me before always ask where I'm from, the accuse me of lying for saying England since I sound very Romanian to them... It's strange.

 

[EeveeElectro]

No one points out any specific part of my accent, but I'm sure I don't even have one. I say Yorkshire words/phrases and confuse a lot of non-Yorkshire people (owt ah nowt, t', summert, ahcunt etc).
I think I actually sound intelligent compared to most people in my city, and that is saying something!
I speak correctly and use grammar most of the time which often gets me confused looks off people.
I know a few people who have very posh accents, they are English teachers though.

 

[trollnystan]

Missed these post's would just say I've got Swedish relatives that I visit for a couple of weeks a year and obviously it's not accent free, but I am always absolutely ASTOUNDED at how many Swedes speak English and how clear it is. Which is good for me as after around 10 years of going there and my cousins speaking Swedish all the time I can still only manage Hello, Goodbye and Thanks, found it incredibly difficult to learn anything, really hard language.

I know, we're awesome! *preens* Well, when I say "we", I mean the people who had to learn it in school; I got it gratis because of my Irish mother, with little to no effort on my part...

I don't know how hard Swedish is to learn (obviously) but both my American friend and my Irish brother-in-law learned to speak casual Swedish fluently (if with a thick accent) after about 9 months, through studying, work and, in my friend's case, playing The Sims in Swedish. Then again, I've also met English speakers who've lived here for 20-30 years and never bothered to learn Swedish because WHO NEEDS TO AMIRITE? /sarcasm

I've heard the hardest part of Swedish is the cadence; we have a very sing-songy pitch accent that can be hard to pick up, what with depending on how you stress words they can mean totally different things. (stegen = the ladder VS stegen = the steps (you take), or gifter = marrying VS gifter = poisons) My friend still has problems with this and she's lived here now for 7 years.

But if all you're doing is visiting, Hej, Hej då, and Tack is all you really need =) Swedes LOVE to speak English at you given the chance anyway!

 

[holy_secret]

I speak American English with a swedish accent, which I'm trying to perfect. My boyfriend acts as my tutor and he's helped me out a lot

The funny thing about this is the fact that he's Welsh (or English depending on who you ask). I guess you take the help that you can get you do.

I know, we're awesome! *preens* Well, when I say "we", I mean the people who had to learn it in school; I got it gratis because of my Irish mother, with little to no effort on my part...

I don't know how hard Swedish is to learn (obviously) but both my American friend and my Irish brother-in-law learned to speak casual Swedish fluently (if with a thick accent) after about 9 months, through studying, work and, in my friend's case, playing The Sims in Swedish. Then again, I've also met English speakers who've lived here for 20-30 years and never bothered to learn Swedish because WHO NEEDS TO AMIRITE? /sarcasm

I've heard the hardest part of Swedish is the cadence; we have a very sing-songy pitch accent that can be hard to pick up, what with depending on how you stress words they can mean totally different things. (stegen = the ladder VS stegen = the steps (you take), or gifter = marrying VS gifter = poisons) My friend still has problems with this and she's lived here now for 7 years.

But if all you're doing is visiting, Hej, Hej då, and Tack is all you really need =) Swedes LOVE to speak English at you given the chance anyway!

I'm teaching my Welsh hubby Swedish and it's going great. One month in and he's already answering my text messages in Swedish

The secret is to teach them the language through situations and relevance. Never use translations and make sure to practice with examples.
Intonation and stress however...yeah.

Still working on that.
Vart tog vägen vägen.

 

[Angie7F]

I grew up in Australia so I have a Aussie accent although I look Japanese.
It has neutralized after coming back to Japan and being exposed to non-Aussie english speakers, but it comes out once in a while