I would like to talk in American ascents please guide me

[suntrack2]

I found in American accents one beautiful thing, it provide a great excercise to the dipharm,throat and stomatch, when I tried to speak in my home after hearing on the television, I find they are really very nice.There is something different, which I have experienced, infact I am not well acquainted with the American accents. It is also nice to hear the accents of the original, sometime I think some words are directly skip to the other word by creating the voice with great 'o'. Even I found there is a consistency in the tone of speaking, just like a strings of consistent "fountain of words" arranged with a lucid manner.

This is very much greatful to listen the speach(s) on the television, most of the word's ascents are very new for the new people.

Is there any software in the world, which can turn our voice into a particular accents, is there any link. :)

[Disinfo Agent]

"Accents."

There is not a single American accent; there are many. The one you hear from the media is just one of them, and a somewhat artificial one. It's not easy to acquire an accent, especially when one is exposed to many different ones in the media. Most people who are not native speakers of English, and do not live in an English-speaking country, end up with a "generic" accent which is a rather bland mixture of ("General" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American)) American English and (R.P. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation)) British English, the two you hear the most in the international media.

This forum is not the right place to ask about such things but, if you're truly interested in this topic, I suggest you start by taking a look at the American Dialect Homepage (http://www.evolpub.com/Americandialects/AmDialhome.html).

[Neverfly]

Accent and voice inflection is often based on how you learned to speak growing up.
Considering that your first language is a different language than English, your speech in English will be heavily influenced by by how you make sounds in your native tongue.
In order to overcome that, you will need either a speech therapist or a tape recorder or a volunteer coach to help you recognize when your native habits in making a sound override the pronunciation you are aiming for. You won't be able to tell yourself, oddly enough.
Hollywood actors spend BIG money on speech therapists in order to get their roles right.

It will take time and a lot of conscientious effort if you wish to change your accent suntrack;)

[DyerWolf]

When I was a kid, the public library had tapes (for actors) you could rent to listen to and practice other accents. For a while I could do a believable Cockney and Irish brogue. (This is WAY before I got my license and discovered girls really weren't that into guys who could do funny accents...).

I'm sure if you look around (especially with actors in mind) you could find similar sound-files on the internet, for European and Australian actors who want to sound more "American" in their speech.

[Spock Jenkins]

http://www.michigannative.com/ma_home.shtml

You can learn to speak like you're from the great State of Michigan!

[farmerjumperdon]

Ole: Uf-dah! Dem dares some real good vords of visdom.

Sven: I think you mean words of wisdom.

Ole: You pay no never mind to how I taulks or I'll shut yer trap fer yoo.

[mugaliens]

There is not a single American accent; there are many.

The local Germans report the same thing for Germany, and those who were raised in both countries say that the variation in Germany is broader than it is in the US.

[Argos]

I guess it´s true for everywhere. As for Brazilian Portuguese, foreigners tend to adopt the Rio de Janeiro accent, which is very specific to a small region of the country. It is fun to hear. :)

[Kaptain K]

Accents are basically learned by immersion. Living among native speakers. My Texan is very good after 30+ years here. Before that, I spoke with a Kansas accent, having lived there for a couple of decades. My sister picked up a passable upper midwest accent in a few years in Minnesota. Unlike the British, Most Americans can understand each others accented speech. We're still a young country.

[KaiYeves]

According to my friends at Space Academy, I have a very strong New York accent.

[Frantic Freddie]

Accents are basically learned by immersion. Living among native speakers. My Texan is very good after 30+ years here. Before that, I spoke with a Kansas accent, having lived there for a couple of decades. My sister picked up a passable upper midwest accent in a few years in Minnesota. Unlike the British, Most Americans can understand each others accented speech. We're still a young country.

I can spend 3 days with my cousins in Orange & it takes me 3 weeks to stop talking like them,drives my wife crazy :lol:

When I lived in Spain as a boy I learned to speak Castilian with a Madrid accent so perfectly that people I spoke to on the phone assumed I was a Madrileño,but after so many years in the Southwest my accent is a lot more Mexican,having Mexican in-laws has a lot to do it it,I'm sure.

[Tinaa]

I have a heavy Southern/Texas accent. It is almost funny here. We have a high Latino population here. Lots of the kids have a Spanish/Texas accent. The kids tell me that when they are visiting family in Mexico, they get teased for their accent. I rarely notice a southern drawl or a Spanish accent here...both are so common.

[chrissy]

I found working with different people (Army) you pick up all their accents and you end up with an army accent which is a mixed dialect!
As for understanding what others say, yup, I have trouble understanding the Geordies when they talk and they are only about 25 miles away from me!
Each area has their own accents in this small country we call England. :)

[tofu]

I recommend that you make a study of William Shatner. Among Americans, his ...oratory style, is considered, the ideal. To which we, all aspire!

[Van Rijn]

I recommend that you make a study of William Shatner. Among Americans, his ...oratory style, is considered, the ideal. To which we, all aspire!

You are truly evil.


:lol:

[DyerWolf]

You could also make a study of "The Big Lebowski" although you risk banning if you say bleeping bleep bleep.

[novaderrik]

if you want to learn how to speak Minnesotan, DO NOT watch the movie Fargo...
yeah, there are a few older Norwegians around here that talk like that, don'cha know-a, but for the most part, no one really speaks like that..

[Frantic Freddie]

if you want to learn how to speak Minnesotan, DO NOT watch the movie Fargo...
yeah, there are a few older Norwegians around here that talk like that, don'cha know-a, but for the most part, no one really speaks like that..

I'm pretty sure Fargo's in North Dakota.

[Veeger]

The one you hear from the media is just one of them, and a somewhat artificial one.

The media accent or actually lack of accent is very common in the midwest. It is not artificial. I have heard, the media will recruit broadcasters from that region (Cincinnati, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, for example) because of the accentless quality of their speech.

[Lianachan]

Each area has their own accents in this small country we call England. :)

It's even more noticable if you expand that out to include all of the UK. I genuinely have problems understanding some English people, and I confess to enjoy exaggerating my accent and muttering/swearing quietly in Gaelic (just sometimes) when talking to my English work colleagues when I'm down in that part of the world. I've lived all over Scotland, so while my accent is identifiably "Scottish", I don't have a specific Scottish regional accent.

Quite apart from the accents - language itself is very varied across the UK. We often use Scots words in normal, "English" conversation up here and these can sometimes cause confusion. I've had to explain scunnerd to colleagues several times! And then, of course, there's Highland English..... English words, but with a grammatical structure heavily influenced by Gaelic. I don't have enough experience of Wales (only been there a handful of times) or knowledge of Welsh (purely from the study of Brythonic languages) to comment on those. We often hear about the UK and US being two nations, separated by a common language, but we don't have to look that far for such separation.

:)

[AGN Fuel]

I never had any problems understanding the Scottish accent no matter where I went, except for the one time when I was at the dockyards in Glasgow.

They could have been speaking in a Zeta Reticularan dialect for all I understood them.

[Kaptain K]

There is no one Texas accent. How could there be. The state is 790 miles, east to west and 660 miles north to south. Amarillo is closer to five other state capitals than it is to Austin.

[ginnie]

I recommend that you make a study of William Shatner. Among Americans, his ...oratory style, is considered, the ideal. To which we, all aspire!
That's strange, ...since Shatner... was ....Canadian. ....Unless you're just ....kidding. :lol:

[Galactic Accountant]

I'm pretty sure Fargo's in North Dakota.

It is, but most of the film is set in Minnesota.

[novaderrik]

It is, but most of the film is set in Minnesota.
there are plenty of Norwegians on that side of the Red River, too. it's not like they stopped moving west when they hit the river...

Sven: "Oof, Ole, that dere is a river. we better stop now sooo we do-un't get our pants wet"...
Ole:"ya, you betcha"

[Drunk Vegan]

The media accent or actually lack of accent is very common in the midwest. It is not artificial. I have heard, the media will recruit broadcasters from that region (Cincinnati, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, for example) because of the accentless quality of their speech.

Agreed, the most accentless English is in the Midwestern states.

I remember reading about a study that was done on American accents which found that the most inflectionless/accent-free English spoken in the country was in the area in and around Lincoln, Nebraska.

I'm from not far from there (Denver, CO) and I'd say it's definitely true. Around here there is no accent, not like from the Great Lakes area, the South, or New York.

I've travelled all over and everyone can always understand me perfectly. If they mention my accent at all they say, "Where are you from? You don't have an accent."

By far the weirdest accent I've ever heard is in Houston, TX. It's a strange mix of Deep South dialect with Ebonics and general West Coast slang.

[Tog_]

I can meet people from the UK and very often get the city or region their from from their opening sentence. Birmingham and Yorkshire are pretty obvious, as is Liverpool. Welsh was once described to my GF in a way that I can't say here, but I still laugh about. I'm getting better at spotting the Home Counties, but anything from the southeast of England throws me way off.

Other countries in Europe I pick out pretty well, but I never get South Africa. Ever. SOmetimes it sounds English, sometimes German, sometimes Spanish.

I can't call out many of the US accents though. Tennessee doesn't sound that different from Georgia or Texas to me. I'm not sure why that is.

When I was in Basic, a guy from Detroit said "You don't have an accent. You sound just like the guys on TV."

Utah does have an accent though, and every so often I slip into it.

As for the original question, my suggestion would be to get some CD's of spoken American and mimic it. I think stand up comedy works well, since the bits are usually short and flow together easier. I'd probably go with Bill Cosby. He's got a very clear voice, and he tends to speak more slowly than most. Also, the chances of hearing a word you don't understand and having it turn out to be offensive is very unlikely.

[Neverfly]

As for the original question, my suggestion would be to get some CD's of spoken American and mimic it. I think stand up comedy works well, since the bits are usually short and flow together easier. I'd probably go with Bill Cosby. He's got a very clear voice, and he tends to speak more slowly than most. Also, the chances of hearing a word you don't understand and having it turn out to be offensive is very unlikely.

Bill Cosby does have a bit of an accent though. Juat uhh... Thought I'd point that out...
Also, a person needs some kind of "check" to verify they are truly making the sound they are aiming for. Like reading, the brain tends to hear oneself more out of expectation and habit than actual listening. It's why we need therapists.

A person who cannot say his "r's" hears himself as saying them. So a tape recorder or another person help a Lot.

[Tog_]

I don't hear much from him in the way of an accent. I do hear a slight speech impediment, which is on his later stuff, but not as obvious on his early stuff. Either way, He was only the first person I thought of. The others I can think of all either speak too fast, or in the case of Eddie Murphy, change octaves a lot; or they have a very pronounced accent. Most of the others also use, language that isn't really the best choice for home study.

As funny as am Kinneson was, he's not the best the choice to mimic if someone wants to converse accent free. :whistle:

The checking is another thing where I think the CDs would help. Others could hear the way it's "supposed" to sound, and make a comparison from a listener's point of view.

Anyway, it was just a thought.

[Neverfly]

I don't hear much from him in the way of an accent. I do hear a slight speech impediment, which is on his later stuff, but not as obvious on his early stuff. Either way, He was only the first person I thought of. The others I can think of all either speak too fast, or in the case of Eddie Murphy, change octaves a lot; or they have a very pronounced accent. Most of the others also use, language that isn't really the best choice for home study.

The checking is another thing where I think the CDs would help. Others could hear the way it's "supposed" to sound, and make a comparison from a listener's point of view.

Anyway, it was just a thought.
Ok hang on... I haven't slept so I may have sounded harsher than I meant... sooo...
Bill Cosby- Accent? Ok maybe I'm thinking of Lingo and slang. That may not be an accent so much as his 'persona' - "Getcher self some Jello Puddin' "

I have no argument with your thought though and was trying to add to your thought simply cuz our brains and ears can be a bit misleading.
Anyway- carry on...:)

[Tog_]

Ok hang on... I haven't slept so I may have sounded harsher than I meant... sooo...
Bill Cosby- Accent? Ok maybe I'm thinking of Lingo and slang. That may not be an accent so much as his 'persona' - "Getcher self some Jello Puddin' "
No worries.

See, when I was a kid, my mom had a record of Cosby stuff from around 1970. I had te whole thing memorized at age 9 or 10. That may be why it's the first thing that came to me. I can trace some of my inflection and timing when I tell stories back to that album from time to time. For similar reasons, anytime I really get a good rant going, I actually hear John Cleese in my head as I go.

Wonderfulness was the name of the Cosby album. He didn't do the voices then, but he did sort of "hiss" his "s" sounds. I think as time went on, he played that up a bit more. You can hear it in the ads and when he's going for that "I can be as off the wall as Robin Williams" stuff to keep the tots involved, but in he more recent stand up shows, by recent I mean 1990, there really isn't much of that silly voice stuff in there.

[Vermonter]

I'm from Vermont. It's a small state, but we have several accents. There's Vermonter, and Old Vermonter. Old Vermonter has its own unique drawl to it, for instance, "cow" sounds like "car". You don't hear it as much as the older generations are leaving, but it's still here. I think I have an accent at times, such as when I'm not paying attention or with friends.

I can tell where some folks are from by accent. New York, Massachussets, and New Jersey in particular, but those are obvious cases. Even then, each region has several accents within it.

I recall when I hosted a German student in 2001, we had talked about this. He said that there are many German accents and dialects.

[Gemini]

According to my friends at Space Academy, I have a very strong New York accent.

Mine all said I had a *slight* southern accent

[Argos]

There is no one Texas accent. How could there be.

True. Based on what I see, I´d say an accent spans over an area of 200 km of radius on average.

I genuinely have problems understanding some English people,

Me too. Especially cockney. On the other hand, some American English accents are very clear to me [more than the Brazilian Portuguese of certain regions and the Portuguese of Portugal - which can be a pain].

[weatherc]

I can't call out many of the US accents though. Tennessee doesn't sound that different from Georgia or Texas to me. I'm not sure why that is.A Tennessee accent seems to have more of a nasal twang to it than one from Georgia; at least from my own experience (I lived in Georgia for four years, and could sometimes pick out when someone was from Tennessee).

I can tell where some folks are from by accent. New York, Massachussets, and New Jersey in particular, but those are obvious cases. Even then, each region has several accents within it.You wouldn't be able to tell I'm from New Jersey. Most people guess I'm from the Midwest. In fact, I had a room mate in college that was from Indiana, and his mother had trouble telling us apart on the phone.

I have yet to hear anyone from here speak with the stereotypical "Joisey" accent. The northern part of the state is such a hodgepodge of races and ethnicities that it has muddled any kind of accent that may have existed here. There is also some overflow of the Philadelphian/Pennsylvanian accent into southern New Jersey.

I'd actually be hard pressed to tell what an actual New Jersey accent would be, since there doesn't seem to be one unique to the state.

[novaderrik]

according to most African American comedians, there are two American accents- white and black.
if you want to speak like a white guy, just listen to how black comedians portray the "white" dialect.. i've actually met white people that speak like that, and they always make me think of Carlton from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air"- which is odd, since he is a black character.
well, i guess there is also the "southern white" dialect that is reflected in the acts of black comedians- usually in a derogatory way stemming from the troubles the African American race has had in the south for the last few centuries, no doubt.

[Disinfo Agent]

I guess that's why they're called comedians.

[Whirlpool]

Me too. Especially cockney. On the other hand, some American English accents are very clear to me [more than the Brazilian Portuguese of certain regions and the Portuguese of Portugal - which can be a pain].


Same here. My Aunt's husband is a Londoner and whenever they come to visit , I need to listen carefully on what he is saying.

:doh:

[Donnie B.]

I can tell where some folks are from by accent. New York, Massachussets, and New Jersey in particular, but those are obvious cases. Even then, each region has several accents within it.
That's definitely true of Massachusetts, which has at least six different regional accents (even in such a small state!)

For instance, the oft-parodied Kennedy-style accent is worlds apart from the hilltown accents of Western Mass, or the Southie brogue, or the dialect spoken in the Lowell/Dracut area.

I wonder whether the amount of differentiation in a region depends on its age -- in the sense of how long it's been settled by its current population group. That would explain why the UK has more variation than the US, and why the East Coast of the US has more than the Midwest.

Another factor would have to be degree of isolation. In the days prior to mass media (radio and TV in particular), more isolated areas like Appalachia would tend to diverge more from the "norm" (whatever that is) than places that were better connected to the outside world, such as ports and river towns.

[BigDon]

I was at an informal block party in Perth, Australia and we had citizens from every single nation in the once British Empire, PLUS sailors from all over the US so we decided to take stock of the accents. Got it well orginized too.

Apparently I have a very heavy American accent, (which one!) and somehow *I* got stuck with the "hardest to understand of the Yanks" unless I spoke slowly. I thought that was patently unfair as we had 4 species of New Yorkers, more than a dozen mixed Southerners and a Chicagoan!

At the other end, amost all the Americans had the most difficulty with the Welsh accent.

Couldn't put my finger on the specific problem until years later a stand up comic mentioned it after living in Wales on an exchange program. A Welsh accent makes Americans think they've gone hard of hearing. If you haven't heard one specifically keep this in mind.