Fans of British English!
Evvy : « Many people in Asia and increasingly in Europe now consider American English the international norm. »
Pas en France en tout cas : la norme est l'anglais "classique".
Vincent : « American English is for the businessmen. »
Même pas ! Le plus souvent, ceux qui prennent l'accent des États-Unis ont vécu ou séjourné là-bas — que ce soient des hommes d'affaires ou pas.
The average (well, slightly above average) well-off Londoner is probably the easiest to understand of everyone, with a mixture of RP and Estuary English which, to my ears at least, leave the speaker with no accent: not Estuary, more RP but with the pretentiousness taken off.
Exactly so, zxczxc .......in my experience so far working in London, most of the people I associate with both at work and outside of work (I'm talking about the native Brits now, which they all are where I work but leave out my fellow Scots and a Welsh lady) speak in a neutral sort of accent....not Cockney and not "posh" RP......it's hard to describe really. It's just a neutral London accent by and large with, as you say, shades of Estuary with many. Zara Phillips would not be out of place one bit in our office, and maybe just maybe her Mum wouldn't either......but her Granny would... big time.
I like American pronunciation, too. But when I talk to other Europeans, I prefer to "model" my accent after a Southern English accent. (but not too posh)
Tell me please, what is it exactly - 'Estuary English ?'
Evvy, it's interesting that you've asked those questions!
I think american english, it's more simple to understand ; clear, slower. But, I prefer how the british pronunciation sound. The americans have often more harsher voices and the intonation isn't pretty, but british and irish is nicer (for me it's this way).
Are you french? I'm belgian francophone, and at my school we learn british english.
Some comments from a non-native speaker.
There is a so called "received pronunciation" in the UK which all the educated Brits (at least in England) keep to. I know it from my British friend who was born somewhere in Newcastle (a geordie as he calls himself) and studied in London. When he speaks to me or to people from different parts of Britain he is quite understandable. But when he speaks his geordie dialect I can recognize only few separate words.
Meanwhile, there is no received pronunciation In the USA. There is West Coast, East Coast, Southern types of pronunciation and some others, but these three ones are considered spoken by the most of the US population. Everybody thinks his pronunciation to be principal. Once I heard a Californian talk to a Texan. They did not quite understand each other, so they had to repeat phrases but I got an impression that they did not intendedly try to pronounce in a different way to make it easier to understnd for the interlocutor. They just repeated the phrases in the same way!
So what do people mean when they say "American English"?
In response to the query by j:
Estuary English.....the current form of standard English which is gradually replacing the more formal Received Pronunciation (RP). It started in the South East of England (around the mouth of the River Thames (estuary) hence the name. Loosely based on London/Cockney speak, it became popular among younger people and is now endemic in much of Southern England, East Anglia and the Midlands and is now spreading.
Now, so I was told the other day, some versions of Estuary are developing their own localised characteristics. One such place is the large new city of Milton Keynes, which has the largest proportion of people under 30 than anywhere else in the UK, and a new kind of local Milton Keynes accent (heavily Estuary influenced) has now developed.
To save going over a whole lot of old ground again here is a link to Estuary English which explains all:
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/whatis.htm
Evvy: Nobody really speaks "posh" now in Southern England.....at least not if they're under 50 or so! "Speaking posh" is as much a social "faux pas" as picking your nose in public.
I am enthralled by the person who initiated this topic we are now discussing. I was born in Nigeria and grew up speaking English. I love English. Was taught British English at school and I never Knew there was a variety called American. I was stuck when I found out. But in my 17th birthday I decided to learn American English and accent. I have a natural inclination for languages as do my parents who speak four living laguages: French, English, Arabic and Spanish, like as if they were natives. What will hold you spell bound is their accent when they use any of the above mentioned. However, when I was 21 years old my father bought me a gift of a transistor radio. BBC was one of many to receive. BBC captivated me with British English, not to mentio PR AND other similar near-London accents. Already, at this time I was head over heel in American English, but I had to run back to my foundation English, British. It not only attractive to me, it also has sexy acent. Although while I was using American English I loved the rate at which I spoke and it was easy as it was fast. This phenomenum is so because Americans naturally choose simpler words, because longer words will really impede they flow in speech. Yes.
I am enthralled by the person who initiated this topic we are now discussing. I was born in Nigeria and grew up speaking English. I love English. Was taught British English at school and I never Knew there was a variety called American. I was stuck when I found out. But in my 17th birthday I decided to learn American English and accent. I have a natural inclination for languages as do my parents who speak four living laguages: French, English, Arabic and Spanish, like as if they were natives. What will hold you spell bound is their accent when they use any of the above mentioned. However, when I was 21 years old my father bought me a gift of a transistor radio. BBC was one of many to receive. BBC captivated me with British English, not to mentio PR AND other similar near-London accents. Already, at this time I was head over heel in American English, but I had to run back to my foundation English, British. It's not only attractive to me, it also has sexy accent. Although while I was using American English I loved the rate at which I spoke and it was easy as it was fast. This phenomenum is so because Americans naturally choose simpler words, because longer words will really impede their flow in speech. Yes.
<Years ago, as an 'Englishman', I was hitching in New York State. I got a lift, and the driver asked me: "Do they speak English, in England?">
Not surprised since you island dwellers have so many accents there! Some of them bearly understandable for me ears! LOL
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You Americans really are braindead.
It comes as no surprise to me that the average IQ rate of the United States is the lowest of all the countries in the industrialised world.
<the driver asked me: "Do they speak English, in England?<
Most of taxi drivers in NY are immigrants, mostly poor and not well educated. It's very stupid to laugh at them.
I am French and in France we do learn British English at university anyway (and in high school too but French high school sucks as far as English is concerned). I think it's more natural for us to do so because British English is the oriinal English then also because I think it is the most "neutral" in that it can be understood by the largest number of non-natives.