potato in the mouth?

Why have I heard so many foreigners say that English-speakers talk as if they have a potato in their mouths? I've heard that teachers even tell their students in some cases to talk as if their mouths were full.

What does this mean? I don't really understand the "potato in the mouth" concept.

Maybe the American accent sounds that way, I guess that people perceive this because of the way some Americans pronounce vowels in "girl", for example.

But that's what I'm asking. What aspects could make us sound that way?

I don't really know it. But it is true that many people say that English sounds so, American English to be more precise. Anyway I personally don't think that it's the better way to pronounce English. Probably if you really spoke with a potato in you mouth you would pronounce good French.

>> "potato in the mouth?"

I'm a native German speaker, and that's *exactly* how American English sounds to me

michael said: <<I'm a native German speaker, and that's *exactly* how American English sounds to me>>

Could you elaborate on that? What makes it sound like that? Is it throaty? Are the people moving their mouths too much or too little?

I think the perfect language for this description is Danish. It sounds so strange to me. It almost sounds like they are gagging. One instance that jumps out at me was a Danish boy I saw talking and he sounded (and looked!) like he was trying to talk while he had water in his mouth. In my opinion, the Danes truly sound like their mouths are full.

I agree, but it's not water...

I am not a "native" German speaker, but I have been speaking it for over 27 of my 39 years of life. From my experience, many Germans refer to "American English" as "Kaugummi Englisch" (chewing gum English), but what they are usually unknowingly referring to is the dialect spoken in the American South. Germans cannot often tell the difference between standard American English and standard English English unless it's being spoken with a heavy accent. That of course all depends on their familiarity with the language. Anyway, from my experience, to Germans *all* native English speakers are said to sound like they have a potato in their mouths. It's not just reserved for Americans.

No it's not water...


more like butter cookies :)

Germans sound like they have something caught in their throats. lol

Why some of you hate German so much? I can't understand it. And what is worse: even the Moderators are anti-Germa biased. This is disgusting.

That is an incorrect. Only Bavarians sound like that. I think a more precise description would be that they sound like they are talking with a mouth full of toilet paper.

Ich habe nichts gegen die deutsche Sprache und habe viele deutsche Freunde. Aber ich weiß ganz genau, dass viele Deutscher gegenüber zu Amerikanern sehr überheblich sind. Ich muss es fast jeden Tag erleben, wenn ein deutscher Besserwisser feststellt, dass ich Amerikaner bin. Ich finde es ekelhaft.

<<Why some of you hate German so much? I can't understand it. And what is worse: even the Moderators are anti-Germa biased. This is disgusting.>>

Maybe because of Hitler?

Let's hate te Americans because of Bush, or let's hate the French because of Napoleon. Let' hate the Russians because of Stalin and so on.

<<Let's hate te Americans because of Bush, or let's hate the French because of Napoleon. Let' hate the Russians because of Stalin and so on.>>

Hey, I have a crazy idea! Let's not hate anybody.

And what I meant about the Danish boy with "water in his mouth" was that it almost sounded like he was trying to talk and keep liquid (as if to keep it from spilling out) in his mouth at the same time. It was weird.