All About American Accent: December 2006

What is American Accent?

There are many different kinds of "American Accent." There are regionalized accents, such as the New England, Boston accent, or the more popular Southern, cowboy accent. Here, however, we will be referring to the Standard or Neutralized American Accent, similar to the accent you hear news reporters use. It is standard or neutral because it is the accent ALL Americans should recognize clearly and easily.

What's so important about the American Accent?

There is nothing wrong with anyone's accent whatsoever. It's just that the English and the American Accent is the choice of communication for businesspersons in this era of globalization. All parts of Asia and Europe are opening up their economies, and Latin America is soon to follow suit. English and American Accent are widely used for a majority of business transactions.

Where can I learn this American Accent?

The best place to learn is to go to America, and live there for several years. When you're there, try to emulate the way the Americans speak. Of course, pay attention to the ones speaking neutralized or standard American Accent. That way you won't sound like a cowboy or someone from Boston. But if you can't go to the US, try an English learning center in your locality. Here in the Philippines, we recommend American Institute for English Proficiency.

Why do you have these links?

We want to spread the word about American Accent, and we have learned that "reciprocal linking" is one of the best ways to let people know this site exists. We are inviting anyone who wants to do "reciprocal linking" with us by leaving us a message.

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Saturday, December 09, 2006

American Accent versus British Accent

This is a post found on Yahoo Answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak_scZN_ozfkLBlTdX.2Gh4jzKIX?qid=20060616092319AAbM9ii

American Accent???????????????????...
Can you americans not hear that you have an accent? Its jsut i read a load of questions recently wher loadsa people have been like "what is an american accent?" we british know we have an accent?! So why don't you americans?I'm a northern british bird (and no we are not common!) and i can hear that i have an accent especially when i go down south!

And here are the responses:

Terry T
I think we know we have accents. The northern accent, southern accent, and the midwest accent. I'm from up north living in the south and i get noticed for having a northern accent just like a southerner would in the north.

snowboard...
i can hear it when i talk with people who have a different accent then me

Mean Carleen
everyone has an accent. when you live in a region all your life and go to another region its impossible to not hear the difference. This goes for Americans and all others as well.

MaryJane
Perhaps the ppl are saying that are not so bright. Of course we have an accent...even more so we have accents from diff parts of the states. Someone from the South sounds way diff than someone from Boston and ppl from Cali sound diff than ppl from the midwest. Our accents let the world know excatly where we are from...if I go to Jamaica they may think I am British but when I open my mouth to talk they will know I am American.

Jamie2
I think it all comes down to the fact that them 'mericans think they are the standard against which all the english speaking world is to be compared.

BeenThere...
It always depends on your point of view. I'm sure Southern Americans think that they have no accent that Northerners are the ones who do. Out west, there is a different accent, a drawl, but I'm sure Westerners only notice Bostonian or Midwestern accents. You notice our accents more because it's different from yours and those you're used to hearing in Great Britain.

Babyred
I think people can't really hear themselves when they talk. I have been told a lot that I have an accent. I've heard I sound like I am from Brooklyn, Boston, The South, and even been asked if I am from another country. I think I talk like everybody else I know. So why do I get asked these questions and not my friends and family? Who knows. But I like accents. I think they are cool. So I take it as a compliment when someone says that to me.

Luna
I don't think I have an accent because everybody else who speaks differently has the accent and I thought it worked that way with anybody...people down south tell me I have the accent, as well as people up north, so I don't know where you are going with this.

brains
Most Americans do have an accent and know it....the Southerners, the Easterners, the Northerners. I'm from the Midwest and I know I DON'T have an accent. ;-)

shawn b
some people just dont understand but its harder for us to notice so i guess we arent as self relizing as you.

bubb1e_gi...
Oh, I'm totally aware I have an accent. Not only do I know I have an American accent, I have a mildly southern twang to it too. I used to date a German guy who had learned English in Europe so his English was a British taint to it. He told me I had a funny accent all the time. (Look who was talking.) I can really hear my accent when I talk to my family up north. I like in Oklahoma, US and my family in Pennsylvania. I feel like a hick when I talk to them, although it isn't so obvious to me when talking to fellow oklahomans.

c_schumac...
Sure there are American accents - give me a break you hardly know you are in the same country when you listen to a heavy Boston accent compared to a Mississippi accent compared to African American Vernacular. There is a generally accepted American broadcast English that is most similar to speech naturally heard in the central US and is most likely what you hear from broadcasters. So if we hear American English nearly all of the time anything else is strange and therefore sounds accented to us. I imagine unless you are from a region in US that has a strong accent, American English does not sound accented. (By the way when visiting those places where everyone has a thick accent...they all say I have the accent. That is the way.)

JEFFBEV
There are quite a few "American" accents. Generally people don't think of themselves as having an accent because it is what they hear all day long. That doesn't mean they don't know it - they just don't think about it.