How aware are you of your accent? (Read the whole OP before answering, yeah that's right, all of it)

[Avida]

This took me a LONG time to read, my eyes just kept glazing over while i thought about the to-



Anyway, im not consious of my accent untill the moment it peaks in a certain way, like if i sound more regional or 'posh' for a second or two.

How's my accent viewed, not entirely sure but being abroad ive had no complaints or pointed remarks, moreso about my actual voice - too deep, a bit mumbly when im unintrested.

What accents do i like, irish is awesome, some American accents, couldnt name which if i tried

And the opposite; too many to think about at quarter to 1

toa-

Edit: also i'd like to say, kudos Iron ninja for a great OP.

 

[BigbadaBEEF]

I have a rather Yahtzee esque accent in terms of it being quite neutral (as far as an 'English' accent goes)

 

[Reap3r]

I am from Nova Scotia (in Canada) and have a certain accent commonly heard in Mike Holmes. It doesn't surface very often, but my friends in Alberta (where I live now, also in Canada) like to remind me on certain words. I say semi (like the truck) sem-EYE where they say sem-EE.
If you have seen Mike Holmes in the NesCafe commercial he says "Must be the coffee" but it sounds more like "caffee"...that comes up a bit.

Yeah, you damn easterners coming over here, taking our jobs and polluting our language! (joking of course)

I myself am from Alberta, and I don't think of my accent to be much different from those heard on your typical American television show. However whenever I talk with an American who can get over the fact I don't say 'aboot', 'eh', and sound like an exaggerated Newfoundlander, particularly those Americans who live on the East cost, I am constantly picked apart for how I pronounce many of my words (such as saying mAWm rather than mUm). Also apparently I sound like someone from Minnesota, I frankly find this disturbing.

As for foreign accents, I tend to look at dialect rather than the sound of the accent itself. For example I rather enjoy a Southern accent if the speaker uses the English language as it was intended, but when they start 'slurring wards an' sayin' stoof like ya'll", it can get on my nerves. Not that I can't appreciate dialect that is not my own, but some accents simply butcher the English language.

Also once again credit to Iron Ninja for making a real post rather than just a question.

 

[Zeromaxx]

I'm quite aware that I have an accent though I don't care enough to try and figure out what said accent entails. I can hit the differences in most American accents and many European accents on the head yet I've never taken the time to sit and think on my own...hmm...

Well my dad's from Canada so I suppose that I've picked up some of the over enunciation of certain vowels, I also picked up some hints of the audacious New York (I wanted to say Brooklyn or something of the like but I'm not too sure of how correct that would be) accent which only worsened that and tends to rear it's ugly head at times as if hoping to be beaten to hell. I also tend to have a bit of a German twirl on some words thanks to my grand mother and great uncles who came from Berlin I think. Other than that I'd say I have a general mid-western US accent.

Personally I have what I like to call a "Chicago accent" that's really inaccurate because despite what stereotypes may tell you I sound exactly the same as a guy from Wisconsin or Michigan so maybe a better term would be a "Michigan accent because that's the lake all those states surround.

Quite the Michigan accent I suppose, seeing as I live in Michigan. I agree though, I've visited Chicago many times to visit my mom and we sound pretty much exactly alike.

 

[black lincon]

Even then I doubt anyone not from the US could tell the difference between say, my accent and someone from New York's accent. If anything the world views my accent as the, "not from the south of America but still American accent." That is only other American accent you can really tell mine apart from with absolute certainty.

You'd be surprised how well alot of us from outside the US can recognise the different accents. Purely through exposure via the glorious TV I can quite easily recognise the accents of Texans, Californians, Chicago...ites? and New Yorkers, and I do okay at most of the state accents. When it comes to the southern states though, I have no clue, Texas is still pretty easy to differentiate, but I would have no clue how to tell someone from Maryland apart from someone from Louisiana

I guess I'll take your word for that. I'm quite clueless when it comes to foreign accents, I still have a little trouble differentiating between British and Australian accents, that not a joke. I'm sure there's also some difference between a kiwi's accent and an Australian but dammed if I know it. I guess you do have the advantage of T.V. and movies that come out of the US, I don't know how many you get over there but the only non-American network I get is BBC America.

Oh, and the term is Chicagoan, not Chicagoite.

 

[bazookabob]

I spent my life in the American Midwest and Southeast, but I really have never had a regional accent. My parents were both raised, and later lived in various parts of the country and never used regional colloquialisms or jargon and always strived to speak with clear, proper grammar (something very, very few people in the Southeast where I've spent the majority of my life do). I'm also somewhat of an accent mimic, and I have a naturally deep voice that will adapt to an accent if I hear it enough if it's in my standard vocal range. My vocal range typically saves me from developing the southern drawl or nasally speech patterns commonly associated with the Southeast. I can force myself to mimic the accent but it requires me to consciously constrict parts of my vocal cords.

 

[kiwisushi]

Cross between valleys welsh, west country (somerset), southern irish and county durham (north east england) accent.

 

[Scarecrow38]

I think you can't notice an accent in your own normal speaking voice, but you can immediately notice those of people around you who are from a different country.

 

[vede]

Um... I'm just going to say, I don't get accents...

Maybe it's just the way I talk...

Anyway, people talk about an accent being able to be weak or strong, but if it can be greater or lesser, can't it go to zero and be devoid of an accent? This is where I get to my next idea. What defines an accent? If it's "the way you talk," then it would focus on the presence of attributes and not the lack thereof. Therefore, I can't comprehend myself having an accent, because I can't notice something I do that others don't. I can only notice accents others have. For example, I pronounce the word "right" like "r-ai-t" (the pronunciation of "I" is "ai," no?) but Australians seem to pronounce it "r-oi-t." I notice that as a change instead of a default which just confuses the crap out of me. Also, what accent would a speech synth have?

I would really like to have a mid-western American accent be analyzed by someone here and tell me what attributes it has. Like, "elongated s" or something, not "doesn't do X." Also, it'd be nice to be enlightened on how countries with other accents teach the pronunciations of letters. (Do Aussies think the letter "I" is really pronounced "oy"? Is there a difference in education like this?)

I like a strong Russian accent. An English accent (the American stereotype of an English accent, if it varies widely over there, is what I'm saying) is also nice. The Jamaican (again, stereotypical accent) accent just sounds totally dumb to me, and I can't stand it.

 

[Labyrinth]

I am well aware of having an accent because I don't talk like pretty much anyone I know. It's not quite snobbery to say that either. I've yet to meet someone with an accent like mine.

For a description of it... ohhh.. There are elements of British pronounciation, as well as Australian and New Zealand. For example I say "The Ray-n in Spay-n falls may-nly on the play-n." but still swallow my vowels from time to time in a very Kiwi manner. "Fush" is a prime example of this. People often ask me if I'm from England when they've spoken to me for a bit, though I have had it suggested I was from a very snobby part of Sydney instead.

I don't have a particular preference for accents, so long as I can understand the English they're trying to speak, it's all good. I will say that I have a subconscious reaction to the Texan accent which verges on spasmodic. A friend used one around me and I twitched violently without realising it.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Just an aside, I've heard that there's an area in the American Midwest where all the telemarketers come from, because they're able to talk every language completely accent-less.
/offtopic

I know that, coming from North New Jersey, I have an accent. It isn't the typical New Jersey accent, though (nor do I know anyone that actually has that accent), nor is it a New York accent. Go figure.

 

[carter91]

Well everyone has an accent. We dont realise till we talk to someone from a different country. I'm an Aussie so i use a bit of a different vocab when im talking so that creates a bit of a language barrier if you can all it that haha. Like instead of saying thanks i say cheers. An American who was visiting questioned me on the use of cheers. so yeh ther eyou go mate haha

 

[Stewie Plisken]

I'm not a native English speaker, but my English accent is an American one; I've been told it's a good one, too. Having said that, probably because I don't speak the language in my everyday routine, I tend to be... impressionable. So, when I ran a marathon of "Buffy", I got stuck with an English accent for a few days. A pity it wore off; I dug it.

 

[vede]

Just an aside, I've heard that there's an area in the American Midwest where all the telemarketers come from, because they're able to talk every language completely accent-less.
/offtopic

I know that, coming from North New Jersey, I have an accent. It isn't the typical New Jersey accent, though (nor do I know anyone that actually has that accent), nor is it a New York accent. Go figure.

If that place is real, that's where I am...

 

[the monopoly guy]

I've spent almost my entire life in Minnesota, but I don't have too outrageous of a funny-talk.

Same, but in Wisconsin. Only those in the north have the funny accents. If I have an accent, I am unaware of it other then when I purposly talk in one.

 

[Jamanticus]

Traditional American accent here, and oh, am I aware of it.......Like Laby (can I call you that without having my soul forcibly removed, Miss LaCoil?), my accent is different than the accents of just about everyone else from where I grew up. This has certainly caused me to think about it constantly. People in my hometown all had very esoteric accents, so I'm glad I wasn't with the crowd in terms of that.

When it comes to other peoples' views on my accent, I believe they're generally favorable- yes, it's American, but it's not an up-in-the-nose Bostonian accent, nor is it a drawling Southwestern one. Not that there's anything wrong with those accents- it's just that I've heard people from other nations say that they dislike the extreme American accents in particular.

Now, as I'm sure many of you know already (I whine about it enough), I always wish that I could have an accent from the British Isles. Irish, Scottish, English, anything.....Well, except for Estuary English or Cockney and the like, but you get the idea.....

There isn't an accent that annoys me in particular.


.....Ta-da!

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

1 - Have you ever put much thought towards your accent? How it sounds, the similarities and differences it has with other accents?

2 - From a global perspective, how do you think your accent (note: Accent, not the country/place of origin in question) is viewed?

3 - Since we're sort of on the subject, what's a foreign accent you have fondness for (it would help to say what country you are viewing this foreign accent from so I can see if there is a link between accents and what accents are liked by people with said accents.

4 - In the same sense as the above, is there any accent you don't care for at all, or find downright infuriating?

And while I'm here, I might as well ask

5 - This whole Toasted cheese sandwich thing, is it just me? I'm thinking it might be that there was a toasted cheese sandwich present at the time of the original event, but it's not the first time such a sandwich has sparked a memory like this. Maybe I just need to go outside more.

Been awhile since I've seen something "handy dandy." On to the points (I've numbered your's for simpler distinction):

1 - Not really. I know that I have an accent, I know what that accent is (Midwestern, pretty much the most generic and uninteresting accent ever) but beyond that what should I care?

2 - The way I understand it Midwestern accents are either hated for being generic or loved for being thoroughly intelligible.

3 - I don't really any particular accents.

4 - Any accent that is thick (prevents proper pronunciation). And I sometimes find the accentuation patterns in French accents annoying.

5 - My mom likes toasted cheese sandwiches, we don't stand for that (by we I mean my father, brother, and I).

 

[sarahvait]

I never really think about it. I've been told by people (and when I went to CA), that they could hear my midwestern accent. I used to think that meant I didn't have one. The one thing I can pinpoint is that I say my vowels really brightly, but I don't know if that's just me.
But I'm not good with hearing the differences between say, me and a Californian accent. It usually has to be something more definite like Southern or Brooklyn for me to say, "Oh yeah, that person's got an accent."
I can't think of an accent I don't like. Maybe a really red-neck, deep south accent, but I don't really care.
Accents are really interesting to me. I'm going into voice acting/voice overs, so I hope at some point I can do a few accents without completely butchering them. So I plan to find a good class or instructer, when I have the money for it.

 

[Noamuth]

I don't think I have an accent, but I've been told sometimes I sound like I have a slight British accent. But I think that just happens when I articulate (is that the word I'm looking for? o.o) better than usual. XD

I was also told only a few weeks ago that I have a Maltese accent, which makes sense, because I'm Maltese on my dad's side.. But a Maltese accent? I really don't know. >.<

 

[Lunar Shadow]

I am from the southeast US, so I have a slight southern accent that crops up from time to time. Also been told I have a slight brit accent.As for accents I like, girls with an Irish accent drive me up the fuckin wall (in a good way)