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.
If you were to meet 5 Americans and 5 Canadians in a foreign country, could you tell which was which without being told? I doubt that most people could.
I can usually tell. However, I'm from Minnesota (we sound kinda Canadian) and know hundreds of Canadians. You pick up on slight differences. While abroad, I could almost always pick out a Canadian, though that might have to do with temperament.
I hear this a lot (Americans not being able to differentiate Australian from British accents) and I don't get it. Those must be some very sheltered, provincial people. Australian accents are extraordinarily distinct in my opinion. Maybe some Americans get hung up on non-Rhoticism. I met a Californian who thought I was British at first because, years ago, I had a non-Rhotic New York accent. Maybe that is the cause of the error.
Admittedly, I can't tell the difference between New Zealanders and Aussies until I'm told.
new zealanders dont appear on tv very much , if you travelled to both countries , the difference would become apparent quite quickly
i am from California but have spent alot of time in Canada (ex was Cdn) so i can REALLY tell the difference, often even in just a couple sentences. It sounds different enough from a general American accent- although there are some Canadians who have a less "strong" Canadian accent (less raising). Also, based on recent times up there though, it is harder to tell with the younger generation esp. among the girls..with all the US-tv-influences (ie- "Valley" speak) and all.
I cannot decipher between the Aus and NZ accents though, as I am not familiar enough with them...however, I am also dumbfounded when one cannot tell difference between the Aus and general British accents. They sound SO different.
BTW I'm generally referring to British Columbians, Prairie Province residents and Ontarians. Obviously, most people in Quebec don't even speak English let alone the American accent of it...
Yeah, clearly most Quebeckers are French Speakers, but that doesn't mean we English Quebeckers don't exist! Our community has existed in Quebec for hundreds of years and we make up about 8.5-10.5% of the province depending on how you define it, even if the government does like to try and pretend we don't exist. We do indeed certainly have a distinct local English accent that comes from Quebec.
Famous people from our community whose accent you might have heard, of the top of my head, are:
Leonard Cohen
Sam Roberts
Jay Baruchel
Elisha Cuthbert
Brian Mulroney
William Shatner
Jessica Pare is French but speaks with our accent on Mad Men, where she played Don Draper's second wife
The Epic Meal Time guys
Jon Lajoie
Yeah, clearly most Quebeckers are French Speakers, but that doesn't mean we English Quebeckers don't exist! Our community has existed in Quebec for hundreds of years and we make up about 8.5-10.5% of the province depending on how you define it, even if the government does like to try and pretend we don't exist. We do indeed certainly have a distinct local English accent that comes from Quebec.
Famous people from our community whose accent you might have heard, of the top of my head, are:
Leonard Cohen
Sam Roberts
Jay Baruchel
Elisha Cuthbert
Brian Mulroney
William Shatner
Jessica Pare is French but speaks with our accent on Mad Men, where she played Don Draper's second wife
The Epic Meal Time guys
Jon Lajoie
They sound quite alike to me. The only typical Canadian thing I'm aware of and by which I could recognize a native Canadian is the way they pronounce "out and about" (oot and aboot). Apart from that, I would not be able to discern the differences...
I hear this a lot (Americans not being able to differentiate Australian from British accents) and I don't get it. Those must be some very sheltered, provincial people. Australian accents are extraordinarily distinct in my opinion. Maybe some Americans get hung up on non-Rhoticism. I met a Californian who thought I was British at first because, years ago, I had a non-Rhotic New York accent. Maybe that is the cause of the error.
Admittedly, I can't tell the difference between New Zealanders and Aussies until I'm told.
I don't understand how anyone could mix up an English and Australian accent. I have trouble telling the difference between an Aussie and NZ. I think a South African accent is similar to an Aussie one.
I don't understand how anyone could mix up an English and Australian accent. I have trouble telling the difference between an Aussie and NZ. I think a South African accent is similar to an Aussie one.
Yeha I don't see how that's possible either. I can understand if the accent doesn't sound like a typical southeastern English accent, I still assume people think that if it sounds like a native English speaker but doesn't sound like James Bond, (s)he must be Australian.
I don't think South Africans sound like Australians at all. Especially not the Afrikaners. The English ones sound more English to me, but not quite. I used to be friends with someone from Johannesburg before they moved back, so that's probably how I can tell.
The NZ and Aussie accent, I've found, is like the difference between general American and Canadian. The easiest way to tell them apart is in words like six and bed, Kiwis say it pretty differently from Aussies. Aussies say it like six and bed, whereas Kiwis say it seex and beed
I would never mistake a British Columbian for a Texan, or an Ontarian for someone from Kansas. I'd actually argue that some people in the Western and Midwestern US sound Canadian rather than the other way around.
It depends on the province too, I think Nova Scotians have a pretty noticeable accent. It all just depends on how thick the accent is too, sometimes you can only hear it in certain words. I do agree that some of the Midwestern accents sound a bit similar. For some reason the Minnesota accent sticks out to me as sounding a bit Canadian. I could be off though.
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.
