Do I have an accent?
Listening casually, I would not say you spoke pure GA. It's a dialect with some rather unusual features, that seems to have some New York influences in some instances, and a Southern influence or two (some of the 'r's seem to be backed). I don't think you're anywhere near the Great Lakes, or the Canadian border, because I hear no vowel raising with the short 'o's. You seem, at first glance, to be cot/caught unmerged.(I could be mistaken on this matter--I've only listened once.) The 'oo's in the word "goose" seem to be monophthongized. The dialect is rhotic, which seems to exclude the Northeastern Seaboard. Frankly, I'm flummoxed. Here's a very wild guess--some place near, but not in, the Rocky Mountains?
Well thats kind of freaky because I am in the Rocky Mountains but grew up in various places. Originally from Myrtle Beach but grew up in TX and moved out to CO and OK at an early age by myself. But thats I think im flummoxed that you guessed where I am right now. Impressive. thanks!
:-) Mike. Yours was a very unusual one to say the least, because it seemed to combine features from a lot of dialects, but not all features of any one dialect.
My next guess? I was going to say that perhaps you were an Army brat, who'd grown up in a lot of places...
My next guess? I was going to say that perhaps you were an Army brat, who'd grown up in a lot of places...
Here's another one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLa-nelNZoQ
I'm from the U.S. Please try to guess which state.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLa-nelNZoQ
I'm from the U.S. Please try to guess which state.
Pete, it's what I like to refer to as a "hybrid"--half GA, half Southern.
Guessing your state of origin is difficult, because there are fewer variations to go by than with Mike's example. I hear little or no vowel-raising, which might or might not exclude the Great Lakes states. (I don't know how far south vowel-raising migrated.) There seem to be few features of speech from the Eastern Seaboard. It's just too hard to say...
If you pushed me to a wall with a gun to my head, I'd have to say Texas or Missouri; more generally, I'd say it is one of the Border States.
(By the way, I personally find hybrid dialects pleasing to the ear.)
Guessing your state of origin is difficult, because there are fewer variations to go by than with Mike's example. I hear little or no vowel-raising, which might or might not exclude the Great Lakes states. (I don't know how far south vowel-raising migrated.) There seem to be few features of speech from the Eastern Seaboard. It's just too hard to say...
If you pushed me to a wall with a gun to my head, I'd have to say Texas or Missouri; more generally, I'd say it is one of the Border States.
(By the way, I personally find hybrid dialects pleasing to the ear.)
Jasper, thank you. I'm from Jacksonville, Florida, but I lived in South Carolina from ages 7-13 before moving back to Jacksonville.
Hi how you doing folks , i was wondering whether could you analyze my accent by watching my youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCbfdgF2-Lk . Please tell me where i stand , and do i have heavy or thick accent ?. How close am i from American or British accent % ? lastly tell me what area do i need to work on, i appreciate it
<<and do i have heavy or thick accent >>
I can tell you're not a native US speaker.
I can tell you're not a native US speaker.
Mine should be pretty obvious. But how pleasant is my voice?
http://www1.zippyshare.com/v/61915552/file.html
http://www1.zippyshare.com/v/61915552/file.html
Mike: I disagree with the characterization of your accent as rhotic. You say "neara" instead of "nearer", "mirra" instead of "mirror", "ty-a" instead of "tire", etc. You also seemed to say "had been a working". That should be a rather telling linguistic clue, but I don't know enough to know it says. You also often slur your words together: "requider" instead of "required her", "beganah" instead of "began to", "dogger" instead of "dog her". I also find your "o" in such words as "store" to be somewhat odd. You also don't seem to pronounce the "l" in "almost".
A comment on the video of itself: the shaking of the camera was quite distracting.
KO KO NAING:
You definitely need to work on your vowels. You need to learn the standard pronunciations of vowels, but don't rely on them; remember that English is not a phonetic language. You're going to have to learn how to pronounce each word individually. People who have just started learning English have little connection between the written vowels and what they say, slightly more advanced speakers pick one pronunciation that's appropriate in some words and always use it, even in words in which it is not appropriate. Truly advanced speakers don't rely on spelling but rather learn the pronunciations separate from the written words. You seem to be between the first and second stage. For instance, you pronounced "reputation" at "repitition", and I can't think of any word where "u" is pronounced like the "i" in "repitition".
Another good area of focus would be learning how to say "th".
Also, it's "how close am I to an American accent" or "how far am I from an American accent", not "how close am I from an American accent".
You're also pronouncing "United States" as if the first vowel were the vowel in "you" rather than "yew", but probably most native speakers don't even clearly distinguish between these two vowels.
A comment on the video of itself: the shaking of the camera was quite distracting.
KO KO NAING:
You definitely need to work on your vowels. You need to learn the standard pronunciations of vowels, but don't rely on them; remember that English is not a phonetic language. You're going to have to learn how to pronounce each word individually. People who have just started learning English have little connection between the written vowels and what they say, slightly more advanced speakers pick one pronunciation that's appropriate in some words and always use it, even in words in which it is not appropriate. Truly advanced speakers don't rely on spelling but rather learn the pronunciations separate from the written words. You seem to be between the first and second stage. For instance, you pronounced "reputation" at "repitition", and I can't think of any word where "u" is pronounced like the "i" in "repitition".
Another good area of focus would be learning how to say "th".
Also, it's "how close am I to an American accent" or "how far am I from an American accent", not "how close am I from an American accent".
You're also pronouncing "United States" as if the first vowel were the vowel in "you" rather than "yew", but probably most native speakers don't even clearly distinguish between these two vowels.
>> remember that English is not a phonetic language. You're going to have to learn how to pronounce each word individually. <<
Yes, that is an important thing to remember.
Yes, that is an important thing to remember.
>> Mine should be pretty obvious. But how pleasant is my voice?
http://www1.zippyshare.com/v/61915552/file.html <<
You mean least obvious. That's the most ambiguous accent I've ever heard.
http://www1.zippyshare.com/v/61915552/file.html <<
You mean least obvious. That's the most ambiguous accent I've ever heard.