Originally posted by Shashank Tanksali:
English is one language that seems to have so many different accents. Almost every english speaking nation seems to have its own accent. The most prominent accents being American,British,Australian.
I am not aware of any other languages in the world that have any accents at all. Sure, the same language is spoken differently (usage of different words/expressions etc), but I feel there is no significant difference in the accent for any other language.
Is English the only language with so many different accents ?
In fact, the American accent itself has so many differences, you can very easily tell if a person is a southerner,New Yorker or a Texan.
Recently, in India with all the call centers opening up, several language institutes have come up that promise to teach you a global (or neutral) accent. Since the call center operator may speak to a guy in Europe one minute, a guy in the US or Japan the next minute, they need to speak in a neutral accent. Is there any such thing as a global or neutral accent of English or are these guys being taken for a ride ???
MH
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Originally posted by Shashank Tanksali:
Most asian languages when written tell you exactly how to pronounce the words. This is not the case for English. For example, nobody in the world can figure out how to pronounce pseudo when they see it for the first time in their life.
Even simple words like behind are pronounced differently. Some of my colleagues would pronounce it as bah-hind and others would pronounce it as bee-hind.
Maybe this is the reason why there are so many accents in the English language.
I thought good old England had just one accent. Boy, I learn something new almost everyday.
Is there any such thing as a global or neutral accent of English or are these guys being taken for a ride ???
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Originally posted by Warren Dew:
If you wanted to sound more normal to Americans, at the cost of sounding less normal to Brits and Aussies
Originally posted by Joe King:
While we're on the subject, why is it that Americans often get confused between Australians and English? The accents are very different. Mind you, I find it hard to tell the difference between a Canadian and a north US accent.
Originally posted by Joe King:
While we're on the subject, why is it that Americans often get confused between Australians and English? The accents are very different. Mind you, I find it hard to tell the difference between a Canadian and a north US accent.
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Originally posted by Jeroen Wenting:
Aren't Americans generally confused by just about anything originating outside their own country?
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