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When I hear french from the south of France, their accent is very very strong. You ask them if they realize that speak with such strong accent, they -ofc- answer "no, but YOU have one! " . I don't hear my accent because well, that's how I speak... For me I have "no accent" when I hear myself speaking
I understand what you're saying. I'm just saying I like the way I talk.
I don't understand why schools still feel the need to enforce a specific form of English in their curriculum. If it's being learned as a foreign language, does it really matter how someone pronounces or spells something? At the end of the day, the point will be received and that is all that really matters. People should be allowed to use whichever one they connect with and I'm glad that many official English exams accept all forms of it. The only place where these things should matter is in the public sector to ensure continuity across the board.
On another note, while I enjoy most forms of English to varying degrees, I gravitate towards American spelling. It's the most logical out of the bunch. I don't see why words such as color, harbor, neighbor.. are spelled with a 'u' or why traveling has a double 'l'. Canadians use a combination of both American and English, but I've personally adopted the American one as it's a lot more convenient.
Some people believe that British spelling gives the language an added air of sophistication, but I view those extra letters as pointless.
BTW, I'm not trying to slam British English as I'm quite fond of it myself, but I don't see why it's supposed to be superior to the other ones. American English is more accessible, which is probably the reason why you'll find a lot more Brits emulating American accents then the reverse. In fact, the latter seems to be quite rare as the only example I can think of at the moment is Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones. Actors should be allowed to use their native tongue if the role is nondescript.
Interesting points here. As far as spelling, I've heard that the American spelling of most words was actually the original way and that the language in the UK went through some changes that were not followed in American English. This could explain why Canada might have a mixture of spelling as it is next to the US but remained connected more closely with the UK a lot longer.
As far as accents go, British accents in the US are fairly normal these days as we have actors and even a few news anchors and corespondents from the UK and they are easy to understand for most as we are used to hearing it. The Australian accent on the other hand is another matter. Recently, Australian actors have become common in American TV shows but they have been "dialect coached" into American accents.
It really depends more on how articulate the speaker is, not his/her accent. Some individuals are hard to understand no matter which accent they put on.
Speaking as a blue collar worker, from a line of working class Londoners, I KNOW that my accent is less articulate than a lot of American accents.
Drawling Texans, and down home South Carolinians are a whole lot easier to understand, they have an accent, but they enunciate their words more clearly.
We Cockneys drop aitches all over the place, “it was ‘ot when I ‘oisted me ‘eavy ‘ammer down the ‘allway”, and although I’ve trained myself not to do it, regular Londoners speech is sprinkled with double negatives, “I ain’t got nuffink”, as opposed to “I have nothing, or I haven’t got anything”, “there ain’t nuffink in the cupboard”, or “there ain’t none” etc.
Lots of English people disparage the Northern Ireland accent, it can be impenetrable when they speak fast, but I’m not averse to it, and the Irish accents from Eire are a lot more easy on my ear, and better understood than some English ones.
The weird thing is, when I’m in France, and lapse back into French, strangers have said, “Écoutez-vous parler, vous êtes chic!” (Roughly, listen to yourself, you’re classy!)
I don't see why words such as color, harbor, neighbor.. are spelled with a 'u' or why traveling has a double 'l'.
I heard that a century ago, Chicago newspapers dropped the possessive 's' after a noun that already ends in 's's (as in James's ---> James') in an effort to save fractions of pennies in printing costs.
Imagine how much the British could have saved over the years in ink!
Quote:
Originally Posted by easthome
Says who? I didn't realise there was a way English SHOULD sound like? But as the language is ENGLISH then just perhaps ENGLISH should sound the way the ENGLISH speak it? See the connection there?
I think you got trolled. At any rate, there is far more variation in the way that English people speak, (hell, between Londoners, alone) than there is between say, RP and General American English.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentoo
Interesting points here. As far as spelling, I've heard that the American spelling of most words was actually the original way and that the language in the UK went through some changes that were not followed in American English.
As I understand it, the spelling differences are mostly chalked up to Daniel Webster's intention to create a distinct American spelling convention. He did this, oddly enough, chiefly by making words that came into English by way of the Norman French conform to a more common Anglo-Saxon orthography.
Essentially turning French spellings into American spellings by making them appear more like English spellings.
To give an idea of how much language is really slave to language, not nationality.
I heard that a century ago, Chicago newspapers dropped the possessive 's' after a noun that already ends in 's's (as in James's ---> James') in an effort to save fractions of pennies in printing costs.
Imagine how much the British could have saved over the years in ink!
I think you got trolled. At any rate, there is far more variation in the way that English people speak, (hell, between Londoners, alone) than there is between say, RP and General American English.
As I understand it, the spelling differences are mostly chalked up to Daniel Webster's intention to create a distinct American spelling convention. He did this, oddly enough, chiefly by making words that came into English by way of the Norman French conform to a more common Anglo-Saxon orthography.
Essentially turning French spellings into American spellings by making them appear more like English spellings.
To give an idea of how much language is really slave to language, not nationality.
When I hear french from the south of France, their accent is very very strong. You ask them if they realize that speak with such strong accent, they -ofc- answer "no, but YOU have one! " . I don't hear my accent because well, that's how I speak... For me I have "no accent" when I hear myself speaking
Many of them actually sound like Italians who speak really good French. In actual fact, most of them don't speak any Italian at all and are monolingual in French. Only with the "Accent du Midi".
I heard that a century ago, Chicago newspapers dropped the possessive 's' after a noun that already ends in 's's (as in James's ---> James') in an effort to save fractions of pennies in printing costs.
Imagine how much the British could have saved over the years in ink!
I think you got trolled. At any rate, there is far more variation in the way that English people speak, (hell, between Londoners, alone) than there is between say, RP and General American English.
As I understand it, the spelling differences are mostly chalked up to Daniel Webster's intention to create a distinct American spelling convention. He did this, oddly enough, chiefly by making words that came into English by way of the Norman French conform to a more common Anglo-Saxon orthography.
Essentially turning French spellings into American spellings by making them appear more like English spellings.
To give an idea of how much language is really slave to language, not nationality.
Actually, you're right. I remember hearing about that now that you mentioned it.
I don't understand why schools still feel the need to enforce a specific form of English in their curriculum. If it's being learned as a foreign language, does it really matter how someone pronounces or spells something? At the end of the day, the point will be received and that is all that really matters. People should be allowed to use whichever one they connect with and I'm glad that many official English exams accept all forms of it. The only place where these things should matter is in the public sector to ensure continuity across the board.
On another note, while I enjoy most forms of English to varying degrees, I gravitate towards American spelling. It's the most logical out of the bunch. I don't see why words such as color, harbor, neighbor.. are spelled with a 'u' or why traveling has a double 'l'. Canadians use a combination of both American and English, but I've personally adopted the American one as it's a lot more convenient.
Some people believe that British spelling gives the language an added air of sophistication, but I view those extra letters as pointless.
BTW, I'm not trying to slam British English as I'm quite fond of it myself, but I don't see why it's supposed to be superior to the other ones. American English is more accessible, which is probably the reason why you'll find a lot more Brits emulating American accents then the reverse. In fact, the latter seems to be quite rare as the only example I can think of at the moment is Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones. Actors should be allowed to use their native tongue if the role is nondescript.
Language of course is always changing, and spellings change. Not a linguist at all, but I do wonder if in some cases the spelling of what some consider extra letters, affect pronunciation?
Like " travelling " vs " traveling ". I spell it with two " l's " and pronounce it " tra vel ling as opposed to " trav ling"
Another interesting thing I've noticed in some Americans is the dropping of a " T " entirely in words like
" internet " pronoucned " innernet " Same with " interested ".
It is interesting to see how many letters in your post that are double letters that some might say are useless. I wonder if in time words like " spelling " will become " speling "?
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" . I don't hear my accent because well, that's how I speak... For me I have "no accent" when I hear myself speaking
