What do you think of the American Accent?
Hi! My name's Andrea and I'm Italian, so I think I can help you. Italians usually like the way you Americans speak. The only problem is that it's quite difficult to understand you when you speak too fast. Personally, I love listening to your accent because it sounds like music. On the other hand, British English sounds more elegant. Don't think this is to insult you. I mean, the same can be said for French and Italian. The first sounds more elegant than the second.
What do the British think of American accents?
Which variant of the American accent?In general, we view it as novel and rather quaint, and if we meet an American (much like I imagine Americans do when encountering a British person), we’ll try and get them to say as many words that they pronounce differently as possible (see: banana, process, progress, etc.) and to be honest, we’ll probably (playfully) mock them for it.There are a few things that grind on our nerves though. In fact, I think our distaste for the American accent can be summed up in one word:Tomato.I’m sorry, I couldn’t stand pronouncing it ‘to-may-to’. I could learn to say ‘parking lot’ instead of ‘car park’, ‘cell phone’ instead of ‘mobile phone’, and even pronounced ‘progress’ as ‘prah-gress’, but never could I bring myself to say ‘tomayto’.It’s completely irrational, but no British person I know with a shred of self-respect would say it like that. Slightly racist, but that’s the British for you.Apart from that, I think we generally like it as an accent. We tend to romanticise the Southern accent quite a bit - it conjures up images of the stereotypical Southern Sweetheart tipping his cowboy hat in greeting *sighs dreamily* - but we also tend to put on a more insulting variant of it if we’re being playfully racist; I’ve been hearing the ‘Inbred Texan Accent’ (as I’ve personally dubbed it) more and more since Trump became Republican nominee.We also mock the Valley Girl accent if we ever go to Starbucks. We are very familiar with these stereotypes.In general, I think we’re quite fond of it. It’s different, so naturally we’re interested in it, and having an American accent will probably make you 200% more interesting to your average British person, just as a British accent will make you 200% more interesting to an American (I warn all Americans, though, there are a lot of British accents outside of the one you’re undoubtedly thinking of.)Edit: I somehow forgot about the aluminium vs aluminum debate. I don’t care how you American mutilate the spelling, how on Earth did you come up with al-oo-min-um? Joking aside, aluminium was first discovered by a Danish scientist, and in Danish it’s spelt aluminium.That being said, if an American actually did said aluminium the proper way (or as a commenter mentioned, said to-mah-to), we’d take the piss so much. It’s probably best we keep our linguistic differences, otherwise we’d be reduced to insulting the French accent, and that’s just old hat by now.
What do Japanese think of American accents?
I always find it cute. Sometimes I want to giggle with the cuteness, but I try not to because I don't want to offend them, I just want to encourage them to learn and speak Japanese more.
Do you think American accents are annoying?
If it weren’t for the thing - no. I love them and could happily listen to American women all day - and then have them on tape to relax me and help me sleep at night.And it’s such a shame. I just want to enjoy them - all of them - from Southern Belle to Baltimore ghetto.Felicia ‘Snoop’ Pearson’s accent is utterly gorgeous for instance……but then there’s the thing.All British people will know what I mean when I say it.And I know it will sound a little irrational, and a tad unfair, and maybe a bit of an over-reaction when I say this.But until you fix it, a part of us will always despise you and want to beat you to a bloody pulp. And then keep hitting you.And then stamp on you. And then break a few chairs over you.And then reverse a car over you repeatedly.And then hire a marching band, and a carnival parade, complete with a troupe of elephants, to march over you for three days non-stop.Just to make sure you never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever say the word herb again.
What do Europeans think of American accents?
I was raised kind of bilingual (meaning that whenever my mother actually did bother talking to me, she did so in English, while my father and talked in Swedish mostly, as far as I can remember). Anyway as a result at least I think that my accent must have always sounded more or less American.In Sweden that didn’t ever make me stand out too much though. As mentioned in other answers: We watch American movies a lot, so it tends to be the first English accent we’re exposed to anyway.In other European countries, if anything, my accent very quickly brings up the question where in America I’m from, lately usually followed by the next question, which is whether I know anyone who’s a Trump supporter, but that’s about it really.If you count Brits as Europeans (which I actually still think you should)… a few love it and will tell you. Some will pretty much ignore it, but treat you from there on as “not a member of the secret club” and most… well, they’ll maybe comment on it like they comment on the weather.
What do Europeans think of an American accent?
In French, it's not really considered as sexy, most French people prefer British accent. Though, it's mostly because we recognize an American accent only when it's very strong. The annoying part of American accent in French are the "r", when they pronounce them the exact same way as in American English. On the other hand, there are many American accents. The other day in Paris, an American was talking to me and I don't know where he was from but it sounded like "pOUwwwiAYh-vOOh muh dEEhwww..." and it was not pleasant to listen to at all, it sounded like he was about to throw up! (Of course I really appreciated the fact that he made the effort to speak French to me, I'm just being honnest about how it sounded). Five minutes later I met another one who tried to pronounce the French "r" as we do, and it made this special sound, specific to Americans when they try to pronounce the French "r" as we do, which is pretty funny, sexy funny, I could have listened to him speaking for hours! So, it's very nice when it's soft, terrible when it's hard!
To the people with non-American accents, when you think, do you hear an accent in your head?
Original Question: To the people with non-American accents, when you think, do you hear an accent in your head?It’s always other people who have accents.Nobody hears an accent when they themselves talk.Most intelligent people think without having to talk to themselves in their head.So the answer is NO.
What do Australians think of American accents?
As others have mentioned, most of our media intake comes from America. As such, listening to American accents almost becomes a default when we are watching movies or TV shows. Because of this, the average Australian subconsciously knows a bunch of American accents (if only in their most broad definitions). As children, we begin to pick up the difference between someone from New York, or Texas, or the stereotypical Valley Girl/Surfer Dude Californian accents.As we get older and watch more American media, you may find various Australians who are able to tell if someone is from Bahston, or New England, or has the Good ol’ Southern Drawl. We pick up a lot of the ethnic dialects from media as well, as we tend to make impressions of American accents semi-frequently. As such, many of our actors are able to transition over to American accents pretty seamlessly (Sam Worthington being a really strange exception).Unsurprisingly, the same isn’t true in reverse. Most Americans that I’ve seen try to imitate the Australian accent end up somewhere between Steve Irwin and British Cockney. However, that’s pretty much because:We aren’t featured in your media frequently.Australian actors are rarely cast as Australians (see Pacific Rim, where an American and a Brit do two different and incorrect Australian accents).A sole Australian accent actually sounds really weird when put next to a group of Americans. I’ve actually thought someone was faking an Aussie accent (see Jesse Spencer on House) only to find out they were an Australian actor all along. Still, we appreciate when we get a mention in your media.To sum up my long and rambling answer, it’s hard to say whether Australians like your accents, because we know you have so many of them. I personally really enjoy them, and I’d like to visit America one day so I can hear more of them.
What do British people think of American accents?
I am surprised at some of the immature and unsophisticated answers to this question. I find the accents in most Southern states to be melodic, colourful and charming. I find the accents in the Northeastern states to be clever and refined, with Cornish and Irish influences. California accents are really laid back and smooth. I am from Scotland.
What do Australians think of American accents?
Hey! It is true in what the others have said. I hear American accents many times in a day, every time you turn the tv on or go to a movie, so we sort of get used to it. They are very different depending on where they live. I personally love the American Accent, I think it sounds cool. To me though the Texan accent for example is very different from like the Californian one (I prefer the Californian)! All us Australians pretty much sound the same wherever were're from! I love Americans though, you guys seem to have so much energy and have an awesome accent.