Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with accent

Writer meets arthritis

grumblebee — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:18:40 -0800

Mac voice-recognition software for a writer with arthritis. My father's arthritis is making it more and more difficult for him to type. This is hard for him, because he's been a writer for decades (over 25 books and countless articles). He is considering switching to voice-recognition software.

Here are some things to note:

- He is originally from England but has lived in the US since the 1950s. He is a very clear speaker, but his accent is a mix of British (cockney originally) and American.

- He owns a Mac.

- He is not highly computer literate, but he lives in a university town and could find people to help him set things up if necessary. He probably will have trouble if the voice-recognition software itself is overly complicated to use.

I am looking for any advice and experiences with this. What is the state of the art these days? What's available for the Mac? What is the experience like for people who are heavy users?

How can I talk like a 17th century tavern wench plague victim?

KathyK — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:57:22 -0800

I need help with slang for a 17th century tavern wench plague victim! For Halloween, I’ve decided to go as a tavern wench during the Great Plague and have been looking around for saucy slang/phrases that a lower class woman would say during that time. I haven’t been very successful so I thought I’d come here for some ideas. Any audio sources (period movies, shows, etc) to help me develop my accent would be a great help too.

I’ve checked out the accent tag and found this which was helpful though doesn’t cover the phrase bit. Also, I’ll be watching the movie Restoration and the History Channel's documentary,The Plague.

Thanks!

Castillian Music similar to Juanes?

PaulingL — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:00:02 -0800

LivingAbroadFilter: Help me mimic the Castillian accent through music! I love the music of Juanes, but I am trying to learn the Castillian accent. Most of the sources for Spanish music that I like, and have found, do not have it.

Can anyone help me out? Much appreciated!

Papa Apu, is that you?

Saxon Kane — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:35:27 -0800

Why can't I, and how can I, hear my dad's accent? My dad moved to the US from India when he was 19. My mom is an all-American white woman. People tell me that my dad has a fairly thick Indian accent, but I don't hear it at all. It's not that I hear it but don't have trouble understanding it; I don't hear it at all, and he sounds just like any other person to me. I can hear the accent of other Indian people, including all my Indian relatives, but I don't have any trouble understanding them. I can also do a pretty decent Indian accent :)

I assume that I can't hear my dad's accent because I grew up with it. But the weird thing is, even if, for example, he calls and I don't know its him on the phone, I still don't hear it. Would it be possible for me to hear his accent if I was somehow surprised by him? Or if I heard his voice somehow distorted so I didn't recognize it as him immediately? Is there any way to get around my brain's auto-correction that turns his voice into something I recognize as "American"?

I love listening to people from Northern England

reenum — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:39:30 -0800

Looking for podcasts or radio shows with women talking in Mancunian accents or similar Northern English accents. I love Manchester accents and want to listen to more of them. I used to watch 'Frasier' only to hear Jane Leeves speak, and also loved the accent used by the character Betty Slocombe in 'Are You Being Served'.

Podcasts, audiobooks, or any other aural media I can take with me and listen to are wanted. Thanks a bunch.

Indian English Speakers with Shifting Western Accent

Non Prosequitur — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:04:40 -0800

Is it a widespread behavior for multilingual speakers of english to get a more anglicized accent when talking to a native speaker? I don't mean just common code-switching (someone getting a drawl in Kansas, or someone going 'you understand' vs. 'you feel me' in different contexts.) But people going from like, Indian english to completely westernized english (in accents, not necessarily in diction or dialect) without making a conscious decision to do so. This is besides people 'faking' an accent because of class issues related to these things.

To my Yank ear, Marsha from Spaced sounds like Sophie from Naked. Just me?

bartleby — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:29:54 -0800

UK accents for Americans: these two actresses sound similar to me. Is it a regional accent, or are their distinctive speech patterns just similar? I took a mental vacation this weekend and watched all of Seasons 1 and 2 of Spaced. (Brilliant!)

The landlady Marsha, played by actress Julia Deakin, had an odd manner of speaking that sounded familar.

By about episode 4, it came to me that it sounded like another memorably odd voice I'd heard, this time from the late Katrin Cartlidge, as seen in Mike Leigh's Naked.

If I had to characterise it, I'd use worlds like "high up in the nose", monotone, mumbly.

Either they're both simply putting on a voice, Ms. Deakin is "doing" Ms. Cartlidge, or it's some kind of regional or class accent.

Tell me, oh hive minders with more educated ears, which might it be?

Identify the Accent.

katrielalex — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:47:20 -0800

What accent does June Carter have in Walk the Line? As you can see, I am slightly clueless wrt this sort of thing. I'm just curious.

What is Jay Rayder's speaking accent?

Joe Beese — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:35:46 -0800

BritFilter: What is Jay Rayder's speaking accent? (He's the bearded man in this video clip.) I wasn't able to learn where he was born or spent his childhood. If it's relevant, he graduated from Leeds University.

Help my french sound Quebecois!

stray — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:35:46 -0800

Yet another accent question, this time Quebecois French. So not long ago I asked about a Japanese Accent for an audition. This time around, I'm auditioning in french, for a commercial. However after my first go round, suddenly they want to hear me do the material in french, with a Quebecois accent, as opposed to the more Anglophone meets Parisian meets Acadian accent that I have.

So...I'm wondering if y'all have any pronunciation tips on the markers that really read "Quebec" to listeners from Quebec, and also, ideally, I'm wondering if any one out there would be willing to memail me for the text (it's just a couple paragraphs) and record themselves speaking it, so that I can get a wide range of Quebec accents to work from. I don't want to publish the whole text here, obviously, as it's an ad, and I guess proprietary.

I'm not entirely sure if this request is appropriate for Askme, so if you think not, flag away. And thanks!

Preemptive tongue untying

trouserlouse — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:38:20 -0800

Finding pronunciation-intensive courses abroad for French or German. My dream would be to work with a (French or German) teacher, going over each individual sound in excruciating detail to make it automatic, gradually building this into larger units, as well as intonation and other key patterns. If it takes an hour to nail done the exact vowel sound, then so be it. I don't need grammar or basic vocabulary or other basic 101-level stuff. I do need active correction, however, as opposed to passive listening methods.

I know from bitter experience you have to start right: I've studied languages without doing this, which means excruciating and long unlearning of bad habits and a lot of problems that persist to this day.

Grammar and vocabulary have always come pretty easily to me, and i would be happy to work on this myself with other materials. But while my pronunciation could be worse, I know that without intensive work my accent and diction will not naturally just "get better" over time. Knowing this has really made me self-conscious in speaking foreign languages, and if I could overcome this barrier at the very beginning I think I could progress very quickly in other parts of the language.

I mentioned French and German because of the places it'll be easiest to do this (and my interests), but if there are similar courses in any other languages I would be happy to hear about them as well.

Japanese Accent

stray — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:42:05 -0800

Help me do a convincing Japanese accent. So I have an audition next week for a mini-series--and the character is Japanese, but speaks english, with an accent. Does anyone have some insight into the Japanese accent? What tends to get stressed, what they do with their vowels.. I'm looking at youtube videos, but any help would be appreciated!

you say barrack i say barack

sammich — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:12:48 -0800

Why do some British news reporters insist on pronouncing Barack Obama's first name like "barrack"? They hear it correctly from Americans all the time. I would understand if it's something in their accent that makes it hard for them to pronounce Barack correctly but it's not. At least half the time I hear British reporters say it correctly.
And is there a correlation with this as to why people prefer to say "Iraq" i-rack or ee-rock?

This accent sounds so familiar...

soonertbone — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:48:29 -0800

Who is Sir David Frost reminding me of? His accent is distinct, and his voice sounds like.....SOMEONE. Who? I watched his interview the other day on the daily show. Watch it here.

Listen especially to the way he pronounces the word "around." Who does this remind you of? An actor? Politician? This is driving me crazy. Wikipedia's list of famous people from Kent isn't ringing any bells.

How do I fix my "accent?

champthom — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:09:43 -0800

How do I fix my "accent"? When I was born, I had so many ear infections from allergic reactions that I was deaf until I was 3 or so, when it miraculously cleared up. As a consequence though, I wasn't able to speak until then and I still have a speech problem to this day.

My voice vaguely sounds like the voice of a deaf person who can speak. I've been told that I sound like Elmer Fudd and Homestar Runner. In either case, my voice is that of two of pop culture's favorite idiots.

Anyways, my problem is that it has started to become really old for me when people tell me "I like your accent." But see, it's not an accent. I can't help that even after 10 years of speech therapy as a child I still cannot say pronounce "r" words correctly. It's not an accent, it's a speech problem. The worst part of it is that as a result, people start assuming all things about me. For example, a co-worker of mine assumed I was from England without asking me because she said I "sounded" like I was from England (even though I've never been to the country). Likewise, it's a bitch when I go through US Customs and after I tell the customs officer where I was born, they ask "No, where were you REALLY born? You don't sound like you're from the US."

Frankly, I don't see why I have an accent is relevant. I'd rather have people judge me on my character than the way I sound.

So my question is - how do I/should I deal with this? This may seem a bit trivial thing to get worked up about but I have a very hard time fitting in to begin with, and my voice has always exacerbated things. That's one of the reasons I don't like talking to begin with, because I hate the sound of my voice and having people approach me about my "accent." Is there anything I can do so my voice sounds better?

Just to clarify, to the best of my knowledge, the extent I have a genuine accent is the fact I pronounce "Mary," "merry," and "marry" the same and apparently people from upstate NY pronounce "roof" differently.

Foreigner wonders what others think of him

the_dude — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:21:34 -0800

What do you think of a person when you find out that they are foreigners. I'm specifically asking if you have noticed yourself acting differently to a person with an accent. Lengthy description follows. So here is the deal

I have spent a few years in the States now but it's all been in an academic setting. And by academic setting, I mean a technical school where it feels like there are more international students than American ones.

I have an accent, specifically a Turkish one. Not a very strong one and I have little to no trouble communicating but it is there and noticeable. I'd say my English is pretty good so that's not the point. I also have a strong grasp on American culture.

What I am wondering is how people think of when they meet someone foreigner. Suppose you approach a person in a bar and then you find out that they are not from there, do you put those people in a special place in your mind -not necessarily for the worse or the better-? Do you think they'd not get your jokes? Do you start, without even thinking, talking differently?

I'm giving the bar example because it's a place where a lot social interaction occurs but it really applies to anywhere. Meeting someone at work, do you think a person with an accent, someone who clearly isn't local or native, is a bit more clueless?

To be brutally honest, I'm asking because I do not know how I'd react to such a person myself.

I guess it's different in America but I have a feeling no matter how liberal, open-minded and tolerant you are, inherently people can't think of people who can't speak their language as well the same way they think of others. Not that that makes anyone racist or xenophobic -it's what you do matters in the end- but I'm just curious.

This is not to spark up a heated debate or blaming people implicitly of racism. I just want to hear up other people's comments as people I know tend to give me "hey it's fine" attitude all the time. Where I currently live, as said before, it's a bit hard to gauge that effect since it's *extremely* common for even an American looking person to turn out not from the states so people are either more used to it than normal or just being nice.

How to speak with a transatlantic accent?

invitapriore — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 20:28:24 -0800

How can I learn to speak with a Transatlantic accent? I've searched for various websites and paid resources that might allow me to pick this up, but I've been thus far foiled. Any tips?

Help me identify Jon Stewart's accent

gregb1007 — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:04:01 -0800

Help me identify Jon Stewart's accent I was watching the Daily show the other day and had the stunning realization that Jon Stewart's accent is a rarity among television personalities, at least on the cable networks. (I don't really watch the broadcast networks anymore.) Since I really like it, I'd like to figure out what his accent actually is and what segment of society or region generally speaks it.

Where can I find film examples of English spoken with a Columbian accent?

raygan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:18:55 -0800

Where can I find examples of characters in film speaking English with a Columbian accent? I'm also looking for plays in English with Columbian characters. I'm in a Dialects class, and I need to study Columbian accented English in particular, apart from all other Spanish-language accents. Some examples from films would help me get the sound down, and could also help spice up my presentation.
In addition, I'm looking for stage plays in English, or translated from Spanish that feature Columbian characters.
Any help is greatly appreciated, as my Google-fu fails me epically on this. (No, Bad Google! I don't want films about Pre-Columbian cultures!)

Help me find accent reduction classes in New York

falameufilho — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:51:12 -0800

Looking for accent reduction classes/coaches in New York City. Can you recommend anyone? Though I think I have a pretty good english for a foreigner, since I arrived in the US I noticed that there's room for improvement - I have been misunderstood many times on silly situations and I think that improving my accent would correct that and also act as a confidence boost.

However, doing a little search on the internet, I got the impression that this is one of those segments that, like speed reading and memory improvement, is filled with crooks trying to sell you their brand of snake oil.

Have you, or anyone you know, done any kind of accent reduction in English? If so, can you recommend anyone in the New York area?

Jelou, jou ar llu.

Memo — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:42:37 -0800

How do I re-learn how to pronounce words in English and minimize my accent? I learned English by 'osmosis'. That is, by reading, watching movies and videogames. It wasn't intentional so I didn't apply a lot of effort to reading aloud and improving my speech. This, of course, means that while I can understand and produce English, I can't actually speak it without having a very strong accent. I think this is because I started reading before I knew how to pronounce so my brain had to make up most of it.

I have been studying English formally for a couple of years and while my grammar and aural comprehension have improved, my accent is only marginally better.

I can learn how a word sounds, how it is pronounced (thanks to IPA) and repeat it a couple of times with good pronunciation. However, my brain insists on using the old pronunciation I have on my head when I have to use it afterwards.

So, besides practicing with native speakers (which I plan to do sooner or later by Skype or something), what can I do to improve my accent? Is it even possible?

What is the strongest Wireless Accent Point that I can buy?

chime — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:49:42 -0800

What is the strongest Wireless Accent Point that I can buy? I need to cover about 100m radius inside a single building at a manufacturing company where we have lots of big machines running constantly. I would prefer one strong device over a mesh of 6 as the wireless barcode scanners we have apparently have some trouble switching from one AP to next smoothly. If it's impossible to have a WAP device with this much coverage, then what's a good WAP I can buy that will mesh well.

I have 6 LinkSys WAP54G (Firmware Version: 3.04) and they constantly cause the barcode scanners to connection or lock up.

What are some of the best tools available for mastering the Received Pronunciation accent?

scarylarry — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:31:11 -0800

What books/courses/web tutorials would you recommend to help me learn the Received Pronunciation (BBC) English accent? I am an American, and I grew up in and around Los Angeles, so I have a slight 'valley' Californian accent. I'm interested in mastering an RP accent, just as a hobby. (Though when I lived in England, I sometimes fantasized about using a British accent to avoid the instant judgment I received in shops and pubs....)

I'm willing to put the time and practice into this that I know it requires. Are there any very good tutorials out there? I'd love to find something that both represented the phonemes visually and offered audio accompaniment.

Thanks.

tuh-mey-toh, tuh-mah-toh; haNA, HAna.

n y my — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 03:57:00 -0800

I want to know more about the Japanese accent in Kobe/Osaka. All resources are useful, but some of the kinds of things I was thinking of:
*links to (or your own) descriptions in plain words, technical terms, or even IPA.
*compare-and-contrast recordings of words or phrases (I dream of a equivalent to this dialect survey or the speech accent archive for Japanese!)
*names of specific people I could find audio of online or other audio links

This question is primarily about the variations found in everyday lanugage, e.g. differences in pitch accent. I'm not really looking for little-known local vocabulary that isn't used on a day-to-day basis (a concern raised in this question about Tohoku-ben), but always welcome them anyway out of curiousity.

English (or even French, or Portuguese) resources are best; I can read Japanese, but slowly, and am not good enough to search in it. Most searching I've done so far gives results like "there's a difference!" but doesn't have much depth.

Thank you!!

Wha's wi' tha dwarven brogue, laddie?

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:15:21 -0800

Who started the idea that fantasy dwarves have a Scottish burr? I think I first ran into the idea that dwarves have Scottish accents in one of the RTS Warcraft games. Since then, I've seen it in Order of the Stick and perhaps most notably Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, and it seems like it's spreading. How far back can we trace this? It doesn't seem like we can blame Tolkien, so who can we pin this on?