Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have heard Asians speak Portuguese because they were from Columbia, Brazil and thought that was strange...but not unexpected. So anything is possible.
Louisiana has a fairly historic Asian population. I believe Chinese "coolies" were brought in after the Civil War to live as replacements for slaves. Also a few cities in Louisiana have large Vietnamese populations. In percentage terms though Louisiana as a whole doesn't look to have that many Asians.
Virginia looks to have the highest percentage of Asians in the South followed by Texas and Georgia. However in those three a good deal of the Asian population might be living in cities or suburbs where the Southern accent is less pronounced.
Traditionally Asians were less likely to immigrate to the US South. Most Asian immigration was to the Western and Pacific states. Although it looks like some of the more urban states of the Northeast also have a fair amount. I'm not sure Asian immigration to the Midwest was historically that big either and a Japanese-American with a Minnesota accent is used somewhat comically in "Fargo." I think in more modern times that's different, but it still might take time for the image of a Southern-accented Asian to be common.
What are asians supposed to sound like? Why is it surprising?
It is surprising because you generally don't have a strong southern accent unless you really grow up in a southern culture, which is either black or white (btw, noticed how black and white southern accents unmistakably differ?). If you don't you end up speaking more of a General American, something neutrino calls the midwestern accent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by neutrino
The Midwestern accent I'm thinking of is more like that of newscasters. I think I've read somewhere that it's prevalent in the lower midwest. The upper midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc) has a slightly different accent. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.
My theory on why Asians speak this way is that it's the way English is taught in schools. The pronunciation seems to be rather standardized.
Quote:
Originally Posted by john_starks
i got indian cousin's with southern accents, jersey accents, british accents, french accents and indian accents...
its were you grow up. how is that hard to grasp?
Like it or not, in America race plays a role in the development of accents.
For those of you that dismiss that American accents have anything to do with race.
"He's a very bidialectal person and most black people are. He is especially good at it, though, in that he can talk in a way where you would not know that he was black over the phone, and that is not true of most black Americans where there are issues of cadence and vowels and coloring where you can tell even if they're using completely standard English in terms of sentence structure." -Prof. McWhorter
A friend of mine is (Asian) Indian and he speaks English with a pretty broad southern accent.
I like his accent a lot, but it seems to be quite unusual for an Asian to have it.
Do you know Asians who naturally (=not made up) speak English with a southern accent?
Cheers!
PS: I'm aware that there are many southern accents, but I think most of us have an idea of what is considered a southern accent, whether it's Texan or Georgian or Tennessean, etc.
ive met a southeast asian from louisville with a southern accent.
Last edited by JimmyJohnWilson; 03-01-2010 at 03:29 PM..
I grew up in the South and did not speak with a southern accent. My mother and sister, however, had a very noticeable accent when we moved to California. My sister was often teased in school because of it.
I grew up in the South and did not speak with a southern accent. My mother and sister, however, had a very noticeable accent when we moved to California. My sister was often teased in school because of it.
I was thinking do people start changing their accent to a local one when to move somewhere else? Also what is the effect of people whos native tounge is different since that is the origion of many accents. Isnt there also cases where different areas with little contact have some strange similarities to each other in certain cases, one that pops up is the accents of New Orleans and New York.
I am Asian and I'm also a life-long Oklahoma native. Having grown up in Oklahoma, it was never pointed out to me my other local that I have a Southern accent. However, when I travel to other regions of the US, one of the first things people ask is where I live. I'm often told I have a very strong Southern drawl.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
