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I am talking about foreigners that have acquired English at as second language. The only reason this topic came into mind was due to me watching TV. To get to the point Germans hands down have seem to have nailed the America style of English. It is about as neural and clear sounding out of any other nationality I could think of.
Off the top of my head, Hedi Klum. She is on Americas Got Talent this year and I at times forget shes even German until constant and the other judges bring it up. And its just not her (Sorry I cannot name to name other German celebrities) I have meet 3 others that go to my school(besides them being good looking) their English accent is (maybe not perfect) is very neural sounding (neural as in its a bit of west coast and less harsh sounding east cost annunciations) and just dose not stand out to me at all.
Now as far as the worst....It has to be a toss up in between Indian/Asian/Mexican (Some French people as well) people. The worst in almost every aspect. They could be in America for well over 35+ years and it just sounds as if they just arrived 1 week ago. And in many cases its just not the parents. They could have immigrated and even the 1st generation children sound just as terrible as their parents. How,
Prime example...All of them. Ok maybe Salma Hayek (not just her but many others). Same with the Indians. Their accents when speaking English is just so thick im not sure if they are even speaking English half of time. Why is this ? Why is it that a German whose learned English as a second (or maybe third) have found some way to sound so well and yet still retain their native tongue while so many others simply do not.
I think you might be right actually about the Germans, the German language seems to sound close with the English language along as some other European languages.
What are you asking, which ESL accent resembles the American accent the most closely? I would say none, really, but some Dutch people sound a bit American. The German English accent sounds nothing like the American, Heidi Klum has been living in America for a long time so she's not a good example at all.
If you mean ability to IMITATE an American accent, I'd say it's not that hard. If you notice Australian and British actors can almost flawlessly pull off an American accent, while I've never heard an American do a very convincing Australian accent (some passable British ones), aside from a few linguistic experts.
Why should foreigners learning English try to adopt the American accent, anyway? There's no standard pronunciation in English, an a lot of them might aspire to learn a more British accent.
Last edited by The Postman; 09-25-2013 at 08:02 PM..
What are you asking, which ESL accent resembles the American accent the most closely? I would say none, really, but some Dutch people sound a bit American. The German English accent sounds nothing like the American, Heidi Klum has been living in America for a long time so she's not a good example at all.
If you mean ability to IMITATE an American accent, I'd say it's not that hard. If you notice Australian and British actors can almost flawlessly pull off an American accent, while I've never heard an American do a very convincing accent, aside from a few linguistic experts.
Why should foreigners learning English try to adopt the American accent, anyway? There's no standard pronunciation in English, an a lot of them might aspire to learn a more British accent.
Im not talking about actors. It is their JOB to act and sound a certain way and yes many of them do a fantastic job at it. Im mainly talking about the immigrants that come to America, you know to live and work. You know the assimilation process. If they were immigrating to the U.K then this would be a different topic from a different poster.
I had Mexican neighbours for a period of time and just never understood why their accents and there kids accents was so darn terrible. And yes Hedi is a good example. Its not perfect but it blends in a ton better than many others I have heard over time.
Im not talking about actors. It is their JOB to act and sound a certain way and yes many of them do a fantastic job at it. Im mainly talking about the immigrants that come to America, you know to live and work. You know the assimilation process. If they were immigrating to the U.K then this would be a different topic from a different poster.
I had Mexican neighbours for a period of time and just never understood why their accents and there kids accents was so darn terrible. And yes Hedi is a good example. Its not perfect but it blends in a ton better than many others I have heard over time.
Oh okay, you didn't specify foreigners who have immigrated to the US, but that would make more sense.
I think it would partly depend on how long they've lived there, at what age they arrived, how much they speak English, how assimilated they are, and yes, their native language/accent.
Here in Australia, I notice it's more an age rather than a nationality thing, though. For instance there are English people who've lived here 40 years who have full English accents, while an Asian kid who arrives here at a young age will adopt an Australian accent. As for German and other Europeans, if they arrive later in life they don't tend to change their accents much.
French Canadians probably, because those who immigrate to the States are usually those who already speak English well, and they have more opportunities to become fluent in English and learn from people with accents similar to American ones than non-English speaking people anywhere else. There's probably not that many in the States though because Canada's a rich country with a small population.
I am talking about foreigners that have acquired English at as second language. The only reason this topic came into mind was due to me watching TV. To get to the point Germans hands down have seem to have nailed the America style of English. It is about as neural and clear sounding out of any other nationality I could think of.
Off the top of my head, Hedi Klum. She is on Americas Got Talent this year and I at times forget shes even German until constant and the other judges bring it up. And its just not her (Sorry I cannot name to name other German celebrities) I have meet 3 others that go to my school(besides them being good looking) their English accent is (maybe not perfect) is very neural sounding (neural as in its a bit of west coast and less harsh sounding east cost annunciations) and just dose not stand out to me at all.
Now as far as the worst....It has to be a toss up in between Indian/Asian/Mexican (Some French people as well) people. The worst in almost every aspect. They could be in America for well over 35+ years and it just sounds as if they just arrived 1 week ago. And in many cases its just not the parents. They could have immigrated and even the 1st generation children sound just as terrible as their parents. How,
Prime example...All of them. Ok maybe Salma Hayek (not just her but many others). Same with the Indians. Their accents when speaking English is just so thick im not sure if they are even speaking English half of time. Why is this ? Why is it that a German whose learned English as a second (or maybe third) have found some way to sound so well and yet still retain their native tongue while so many others simply do not.
Didn't Salma Hayek grow up in Mexico ? Julio Iglesias has been living in America since the 80's but he still can't lose his Spanish accent when he speaks English as well as Antonio Banderes. Has to do with their language of course. Anyway, who cares ? Their accent is great. I love how Spanish speaking people and French speak English. They sound more interesting and sexy.
I'm German and my US-American husband describes my English as "Queen's English". When I went to school, Oxford English was standard. We were not allowed to switch to American English. I think today the kids can decide. Either British or American English, but not mixed. Plus the younger Generation has not that heavy accent, the older German Immigrants were known for (in the 50's and 60's). Like their problem with pronouncing the "th".
Some Comedians still portray us like "zat", but it's not the case anymore.
It depends on the age of the person when they migrate to another country. I've done nearly all my schooling in Australia but I'm still asked where I come from. I came to Australia as a child from Ireland. My accent has been mistaken for Canadian, American, South African, Scottish, an English Somerset accent and some people pick up the Irish. It is basically a hybrid accent. Some people lose their accents very quickly but others never lose it.
I think if you go to a country at around age 20 you aren't going to change your accent without some conscious effort.
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When I went to school, Oxford English was standard. We were not allowed to switch to American English. I think today the kids can decide. Either British or American English, but not mixed. Plus the younger Generation has not that heavy accent, the older German Immigrants were known for (in the 50's and 60's). Like their problem with pronouncing the "th". 
