Do american accents sound weird to non americans?

[Vek]

Australian chicks. HAWT accent.

New Zealander chicks too.

 

[toasterslayer]

Australian chicks. HAWT accent.

New Zealander chicks too.

whats there accent like? both of them.

 

[Guitar Gamer]

not really to canadian's (I would know) but of course different regions have different accents so anyone from washington (I can't spell right) or any other close to it have little to no difference to me but most texan's probably will.
Here's a question: do canadians generally sound the same as americans from the northen states?
and to kinda answer the above question they don't generally sound wierd to canadians but again it depends how thick it sounds (I know a kid from the UK who I couldn't for the life of me understand for at least 2 weeks)

The further north you go, the worst the northern accent becomes. Generally, we refer to this as the "midwestern accent", but people in different northern states tend to have similar accents as well. From my experience, Canadians have a much more prominent accent than Americans. This, unfortunately, presents a major problem to me since I (no offense to you) can't stand either the midwestern or northern accents. They annoy the bajeebers outta me.

I'm from Northern Virginia, and I can have either a slight southern accent, or a very tradition American accent (the kind of accent you'd think of from a movie or media) at my liking because NoVa is such a culturally diverse section of the country, but it's still part of the "south" (although people from Southern Virginia beg to differ, and adamantly argue that Virginians from NoVa shouldn't consider themselves southerns - and maybe they shouldn't consider themselve Virginians. I however disagree, haha).

I can't think for the life of me why people wouldn't like an American accent, accept that it doesn't sound as "proper" compared to an English accent, and, as some people have said, we can sound awfully whiny.

I'd be upset at you for hating my voice.................but your so well spoken...........................dam southerners!

 

[ix_tab]

Australian chicks. HAWT accent.

New Zealander chicks too.

whats there accent like? both of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpBYnL5fAXE

An accurate description of our Australian accent.

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

Ok so it is pretty understandable that it is hard to realize your own accent so I have a question, do american accents sound foreign to non americans? Like do russians think our accent is thick? Or any other nationality.

I know about southern accents, Im from New York so I notice those, and they do sound different and sometimes utterly hilarious considering I am currently residing in the south. But in the end does the average American accent sound funny to non americans?

Not as weird as brummie accents sound to non-Birmingham-ers.

 

[ideitbawx]

not really to canadian's (I would know) but of course different regions have different accents so anyone from washington (I can't spell right) or any other close to it have little to no difference to me but most texan's probably will.
Here's a question: do canadians generally sound the same as americans from the northen states?
and to kinda answer the above question they don't generally sound wierd to canadians but again it depends how thick it sounds (I know a kid from the UK who I couldn't for the life of me understand for at least 2 weeks)

i think we canadians put more emphasis on r's, at least in ontario. if you compare, say, a bronx accent to someone from toronto (say, the kids in the hall), you'll hear the difference.

i always thought quebecers kinda sounded like french-speaking new yorkers, but it's not like i spend a lot of time there. plus they differ in accent from france, as well. know anyone who can help me on this?

 

[ideitbawx]

Valley Girls are the scourge of the Earth.

Also, Southern California should go and disappear as no one likes it.

I agree with you 100% why not just make it all of California though just to be sure

and remove the massive weed crops? i still have british columbia but california can't disappear.

maybe los angeles ... i couldn't tell you about the rest

 

[Guitar Gamer]

not really to canadian's (I would know) but of course different regions have different accents so anyone from washington (I can't spell right) or any other close to it have little to no difference to me but most texan's probably will.
Here's a question: do canadians generally sound the same as americans from the northen states?
and to kinda answer the above question they don't generally sound wierd to canadians but again it depends how thick it sounds (I know a kid from the UK who I couldn't for the life of me understand for at least 2 weeks)

i think we canadians put more emphasis on r's, at least in ontario. if you compare, say, a bronx accent to someone from toronto (say, the kids in the hall), you'll hear the difference.

i always thought quebecers kinda sounded like french-speaking new yorkers, but it's not like i spend a lot of time there. plus they differ in accent from france, as well. know anyone who can help me on this?

all I know is I have an obscure negative pre-dispostion for french canadians. Does that help?

 

[Weaver]

not really to canadian's (I would know) but of course different regions have different accents so anyone from washington (I can't spell right) or any other close to it have little to no difference to me but most texan's probably will.
Here's a question: do canadians generally sound the same as americans from the northen states?
and to kinda answer the above question they don't generally sound wierd to canadians but again it depends how thick it sounds (I know a kid from the UK who I couldn't for the life of me understand for at least 2 weeks)

i think we canadians put more emphasis on r's, at least in ontario. if you compare, say, a bronx accent to someone from toronto (say, the kids in the hall), you'll hear the difference.

i always thought quebecers kinda sounded like french-speaking new yorkers, but it's not like i spend a lot of time there. plus they differ in accent from france, as well. know anyone who can help me on this?

all I know is I have an obscure negative pre-dispostion for french canadians. Does that help?

I don't think any Canadians like the way Quebec has butchered both English and French. We call it Franglais here.

 

[DiscordantDoodler]

I'm from Kentucky, but I don't have a thick accent (except when I get angry, for some odd reason.) Most of the time I can understand what people are saying except for a portion of the African Americans at my school that use the stereotypical "gangsta-slurr". For example: The other day a girl asked the teacher if he was going to be retired next year (instead of saying "are you retiring next year?"). She got detention because everyone thought she asked if he was going to be retarded next year. Surprisingly enough, though, I can understand many accents. I love watching Yahtzee on here and BBC's Graham Norton show and I always don't see why a lot of my family can't seem to make out the words. Oh, and also, down here, instead of saying "accidentally" people tend to say "on accident".

(Agh, sorry for the wall of text.)

 

[Leorex]

You seriously asking that question?
Subtitles on American shows are a life saver sometimes...

It is odd when you think of people who speak the "same" language not understanding each other, but it happens plenty in one country nevermind across oceans.
BBC subtitled Sweet Sixteen even, that was odd

really, bbc america subtitled skins. in america

 

[j0z]

Southern accents sound really annoying to me (I'm from the northern section of the US). And people always tell me that I have a British accent. lol. I have never been to Britain, nor has my family for several hundred years
I think you brits have cool accents, Australians too.
Well, good day mates!

 

[Guitar Gamer]

i think we canadians put more emphasis on r's, at least in ontario. if you compare, say, a bronx accent to someone from toronto (say, the kids in the hall), you'll hear the difference.

i always thought quebecers kinda sounded like french-speaking new yorkers, but it's not like i spend a lot of time there. plus they differ in accent from france, as well. know anyone who can help me on this?

all I know is I have an obscure negative pre-dispostion for french canadians. Does that help?[/quote]
I don't think any Canadians like the way Quebec has butchered both English and French. We call it Franglais here.[/quote]
amen to that

 

[TriggerUnhappy]

One thing I've always found odd here in the US, is our fascination with foreign accents and how we seem to find many sexy. So, do any people not in the US find accents foreign to you sexy as well? Back OT, I live over here and I can say that some of our accents can be odd and even incomprehensible. (mostly those with heavy southern/redneck accents)

 

[chefassassin2]

Accents amaze me. I lived in Scotland for a couple years and after awhile they sounded totally normal, but americans sounded odd. But in Glasgow, I was talking to my mate's dad and thought he was speaking another language altogether, but after an hour or so I understood every word. And I would think that we definately sound different to people from other countries. In gact, I just asked my Ecuadorian prep cook the exact same question and his eyes got wide as he said an emphatic, "Hell, Yes!"

 

[reaper660]

Valley Girls are the scourge of the Earth.

Also, Southern California should go and disappear as no one likes it.

I can't really say anything as I'm from Chicago. Supposedly I sound a ton different than everyone else, but I don't feel like I do.

Cmon, I live in LA (on the beach), and it's not all t.v. makes it out to be....we're not all lingo-busting surfer dudes like some of you clueless people believe. Also, those stupid girl shows makes all cali girls out to be b****es, but they're really not (though they can be weird sometimes) ALSO, my friend's mom is aussie, but she sounds British to me, and I know a few brits. and we can't disappear, 'cause we make like (yes, we use "like," like, a lot) nearly every good movie ever made....but if you really want, we can float away from the contiguous US and go next to hawaii (alaska can come too) (not-so-subtle internet joke)


and chicago accents are strange, as are NY, bostonian, and southern, but not painful....they're actually quite cool ]

 

[Xhakhal]

If all the English you grow up with is American, it will sound more 'normal' than any other variant of English. If the English you grow up with is British, it will sound more 'normal' et cetera.

I am a non-native speaker who grew up with both American and English (as in England) influences, but few Irish and Scottish and therefore the Scottish accents usually sound more strange to me than your average Hollywood American... but Southern American still sounds a bit less intelligible than Northern American.

The English, preferably as spoken in Surrey, is the one I feel most at home with, although I've been subjected to American English almost exclusively for the past few years. Too much watching American movies, too little listening to the BBC world news

 

[Agrosmurf]

Alright a tip for people to find some americans with non-annoying accents, go to Oregon or Washington.

 

[Cortheya]

Also, Southern California should go and disappear as no one likes it.

HEY HEY HEY HEY WOAH back it up there!!!!!