Wayfarer's Tavern

Humans? You flatter us

 

And they said my disguise would never work.

 

I know. But I tend to exagerate all the time.

 

Hehee my mom mimicks accents, too. It makes me giggle.

Lydia! Hello there.

 

Hi Hidden! What's everybody doing?

 

I don't do it on purpose. They just stick to me! :redface:

William can always tell the country of origin of my last Spanish client on any given day just from the way I am speaking. He's let me know that the job has moved my personal accent in Spanish well away from the Puerto Rican norm. He says I sound South American.

 

That could explain why someone said I sound American. Seven months spending all day talking to people from Alabama and Georgia.

 

If they are all from Alabama and Georgia, those accents are distinct and pronounced. I would be surprised if it didn't have an effect on your manner of speech.

 

I have to go to work.

Bye, guys!

 

Bye Hidden!

 

I've always wondered what an American accent sounds like. is it possible to hear your own accent?

 

I am so hungry...yet I don't know what I'll eat. I guess I got some chocolate cake left over.

Healthy lunch, here I come.

 

I know I have none. And if I have, it's nothing nice.

 

Birthday cake!!

 

Yeah...I have a ton left. I'll be jogging these nights, I can guarantee that.

 

Oh, no, here we go...

There is no "American Accent."

There is the perceived American accent that has been created for television, just as there is the perceived British accent which those from the fair isles refer to as "BBC English."

We had a thread a while back where people posted recordings and videos of themselves speaking in order for the forum to have an idea of how they spoke.

The Accent Thread

Lydia brought it to my attention that the thread had not died in the Great Purge of 2008.

 

I'll help you finish it.

 

There isn't? That would explain a lot... But how is that possible?

For some reason I've developed the 'Maine' accent that I never used to have, I think it has something to do with my son almost 2 year old...

 

It's just that to speak of one accent for a country either as geographically large as the US or as linguistically diverse as the UK is oversimplification. There are obviously groups of accents that can be attributed to speaking regions, but there is not one American accent, just as there is no one British accent.

 

It's like with a Belgian accent... there isn't 'one'.

 

It comes up a lot as a subject here which is only natural since we are all interested in writing which is a facet of being interested in language and we represent such a diverse cross section of the English speaking world.

 

Oh I see, so I might not have an American accent, but I probably have a Maine accent.

"Amander! I told you to Pa'k the ca' in the doo'ya'd"

 

We do...
I speak accentless English (I think). But if I speak with someone British or Americain, I can't help adapting to their accent.

 

Yeah I do that too. It can be really embarrassing when your trying to talk with a mixed group that includes speakers of asian languages and you start unconsciously imitating their strong, distinct accents... I work in a lab, it happens a lot.

 

Well... happily the people I talk most to are my family... who speak the same horrible accentless (with a slight Flemish accent probably ) as me.