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I'm French and I spent a year studying in Toronto about a decade ago.
When I got there, everyone sounded pretty American to me. After 2 or 3 months, I started noticing the difference.
Now if I meet an English-speaking Canadian, I can tell pretty easily they're not American, although they're probably the closest there is to the American inside the English-speaking world.
Actually the Canadian accent is the easiest for me to understand in English. It sounds like a "lighter" version of the American accent, I don't know how to explain it.
In Britain when two workmen meet each other in a property that is say being renovated, either a builder, decorator or surveyor, the word mate is uttered. I too cringe now at mate as I have outgrown it, but its a disarmer between equals, which I think would go back to the British/Irish maritime history of mate-ship, also linked with not grassing each other up. I bet most builders I meet wouldn`t guess I have a liking for Vaughan-Williams and a glass of fine wine at the weekend! I do have three accents, I reckon.
I'm French and I spent a year studying in Toronto about a decade ago.
When I got there, everyone sounded pretty American to me. After 2 or 3 months, I started noticing the difference.
Now if I meet an English-speaking Canadian, I can tell pretty easily they're not American, although they're probably the closest there is to the American inside the English-speaking world.
Actually the Canadian accent is the easiest for me to understand in English. It sounds like a "lighter" version of the American accent, I don't know how to explain it.
I've met many students from Japan studying English here in Canada. Several have mentioned that Canadian English is easier for them to understand as well. We tend not to slur our words as much. Apparently anyway.
The thing that I noticed from Canadians is that their vowel tend to be less open. Words like progress, sorry, borrow most american would pronounce it like 'prahw-gress' 'saw-rry' and 'baw-rrow' opposed to Canadian 'pro-gress' 'sore-ee' and 'boh-rrow'. Honestly I'm not really familiar with american accents, as I'm now at PNW so I'm only exposed to PNW English..
Also contrary to most american believe, I never heard Canadian pronouncing word 'about' as aboot, but they still pronounce it differently though. I think they pronounce it more like a-boat.
I've met many students from Japan studying English here in Canada. Several have mentioned that Canadian English is easier for them to understand as well. We tend not to slur our words as much. Apparently anyway.
I would say that standard american accent is slightly thicker and more nasal.
But that's still quite similar and there are probably large differences between US states that I'm not aware of (aside from southerners / northerners which is quite an easy difference to hear)
The thing that I noticed from Canadians is that their vowel tend to be less open. Words like progress, sorry, borrow most american would pronounce it like 'prahw-gress' 'saw-rry' and 'baw-rrow' opposed to Canadian 'pro-gress' 'sore-ee' and 'boh-rrow'. Honestly I'm not really familiar with american accents, as I'm now at PNW so I'm only exposed to PNW English..
Also contrary to most american believe, I never heard Canadian pronouncing word 'about' as aboot, but they still pronounce it differently though. I think they pronounce it more like a-boat.
That "aboot" thing is a gross exaggeration for sure but I sometimes wonder if certain Americans just cannot hear the subtle nuances in that vowel. To my ears, it's somewhere between "aboat" and "about". The PNW has very flat vowels, I'm comparing this to California. I say "Washington" but my family there says "WAASHington". Most Californians also clip their vowels a bit more than most Americans making them sound closer to Ontario speakers. Most, not all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by forgotten username
I would say that standard american accent is slightly thicker and more nasal.
But that's still quite similar and there are probably large differences between US states that I'm not aware of (aside from southerners / northerners which is quite an easy difference to hear)
There are differences between US states and regions. Mostly, only detectable by native speakers like I noted above.
I've met many students from Japan studying English here in Canada. Several have mentioned that Canadian English is easier for them to understand as well. We tend not to slur our words as much. Apparently anyway.
When I lived and went to university in Ontario, I also met a good number of foreign students who chose Canada for their English learning based on the (perceived) neutrality of the accent.
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