I don't know about the accent. All I know is that you can spot an American from far - over confident to other nationalities

Some of these posts are starting to sound harsh and overconfident, and I can't even hear the accent in which they're spoken. Russ, I think you're onto something, that we project our emotional reactions onto the speaker's speech. Concerned and caring words sound soft, contemptuous ones sound like a buzzsaw - regardless of geographic origin.

In other news....My Australian friend D tells me that when he was growing up (in the 50s) it was not uncommon for Australian parents to send their kids to schools where they would be taught to unlearn their Australian accent. Fashions, if that's the word for it, change (thank heaven). And yet my English friend V tells me she was glad she was given elocution lessons as a child so as to rid herself of her Essex accent. When I asked her to produce one (since I didn't know what one sounded like) it did indeed sound harsh, but then considering her attitude toward it, perhaps that is the more realistic explanation.

I chose 'flat' to describe my vowels because I thought it was a more or less neutral term - apparently not!

twoflower says:

"Russ - a negative attitude toward an accent indicates a negative attitude toward that culture? What complete and utter twaddle!"

Well, it's not my twaddle, but that of some well-established research. Like most other generalizations from such studies, this one describes a general tendency and probably doesn't apply to every individual out there. But it makes sense intuitively to me. Consider American taste in accents. How many of us enjoy a good Saudi accent, a German accent, or a Japanese accent? Not many, I'd guess. Not surprisingly, British and French accents - traditionally the US' more noteworthy allies over the last century - are the ones with high prestige. Is prestige - or the lack of it - tied merely to the sounds or the language? This seems really improbable.

Low-status immigrant cultures whose presence has been resented or unwanted in America generally have less desirable accents too. Black accents have always been a handicap (until very recently, perhaps.) Mexican Spanish? Low prestige. (Peninsular Spanish? Somewhat more desirable.) Vietnamese, Chinese? Or Italian during historical periods of heavy immigration? Low prestige.

I'm sure there is individual variation on this, but like the 100-year-old 2-packs-per-day smoker, the exceptions are probably relatively few in number.

Just a theory of mine, but let me propose it, please.

If you understand English only, say, and turn the dial of a short-wave radio, you will hear many languages spoken, English among them.

Notice how two things happen. First, you quickly pick up the English spoken words. Second, the not-understood languages sound like babble. Not comprehensible.

Your mind automatically "tunes in" the English. You notice it because you understand it.

Same way for me traveling in a country where I cannot understand the local language. It's like listening to a running stream or to birds singing. Just a noise. But have English-speaking people enter, say, the railway car and I immediately "tune in" on their conversation. Are they speaking "louder" than the natives? Maybe, maybe not. But they "seem" to be speaking louder. Because I understand what they are saying.

Yes, and some people DO speak too loudly -- whether in English or "Texan" or Cantonese.

I find it interesting that some of you say you haven't got an accent (susanna and her wesy coast "non" accent). We've all got accents. It would make more sense if I said I didn't have an accent because I speak English with a pretty neutral BBC accent, whereas ANY American to me has an accent. Equally, to anyone outside England, I have a generic "English" accent. To those who really know accents, someone may be able to spot a slight hint of Brummy in there somewhere, but that's only when I've had a few.

Re "what do Americans sound like when speaking foreign languages"?

I am told that my Brooklyn accent is particularly interesting to the French.

linda8

Enjoyed this thread very much.

I do no think Americans sound "hard". Thinking back when I first came to the US I did think some Americans spoke slowly but you quickly get used to the pace of speech.

I agree with KT that there are regional accents everywhere and some people just do not get their head around this idea.

Can relate to the post from Kismetchimera - people in the US take wild guesses at where I am from and when I return back to the UK people often do the same. So I'll throw another thought out - perhaps our accents change a little bit over time depending on where we are living. I know when I speak each week to my mum on the phone I make a strong effort to use all British words and my accent to my ear sounds more like hers.

Sandy

Yes, I do think our accents change according to where we live! I grew up in Alabama, then moved to Oregon. Everyone there loved my Southern accent, but when I moved back South, everyone thought I wasn't a Southerner!
I had lost most of it. Now, I've picked it back up again! (unintentionally)

My Mother couldn't tolerate a girl with a high-pitched, whiny tone and, now, neither can I. High-pitched, whiny tones are more disturbing when they come from a man. Add the nasal factor to both sexes and watch me run.

When I was very young and read that Betty Davis and Lauren Bacall had worked on their voices to get them lower, I decided to do the same without picking up a cigarette. I also studied voice when I first moved to NYC, thinking one day I might speak professionally in public or be a stage actress.

Strangers always ask where I'm from because there isn't a hint of nasal, Ohio, or NYC in my vowels. And, if you live in Manhattan, chances are you don't have the stereotypical NY elocution that one finds in the boroughs or on Long Island. Believe it or not, many high-end businesses in Manhattan practice voice discrimination (although they'll never admit it).

My diaphragm is well worked-out (watch it, guys) so I can yell and be heard when necessary. But, when I'm in public, you will never hear me scream to someone across the street or hear me from another table in a restaurant. Knowing how loud to be in public is a sign of good manners.

My French lacks nasal and I can't roll my r's when speaking in Italian but I know enough vocabulary to say clever things, which makes people smile and respond positively. I've never had a problem communicating in both countries and I welcome the French correction.

People respond well to pleasant sound. I wish more parents had the gift of hearing.

Although we may dislike an accent if we don't think a lot of the country or the culture, many times we hear just the accent, without ever seeing the person-i.e. on the telephone. At work I speak to people all over the country. Sorry folks, but I think a Rhode Island accent sounds unpleasant and I love to talk to folks with a thick North Carolina accent...nothing to do with regional prejudices, but it just comes from hearing the voice over the phone.

But I still want to know: What country can I visit where the guys will be all over me saying "I just love your American accent!"

It's kind of funny that everyone seems to think they can tell when someone is from the "deep south". I was born and raised in the south, and I constantly have people asking me where I am from - apparently my southern accent isn't southern enough for my hometown. Even in high school, when I had lived there my whole life - people would not believe me when I said it was my hometown. Plus, my sisters and brother have severe hearing problems, and they sound like they were raised in the Appalachian mountains, because when they were learning to speak, they couldn't hear what they were saying, so no one believes we were all raised together!

My Korean father-in-law learned English from a German. Now he had an interesting accent.

I can remember when I was in my 20s sitting next to a Southern gentleman and I use the term advisedly. He had a beautiful accent and was extremely polite and charming. He made me feel like Scarlet O'Hara. So, if you want people to say that they love your accent, you'll have to come from the Deep South.
I think I'd echo those who say that an educated American accent sounds pleasant.
I knew a woman who taught drama and she said that many Americans speak without raising their hard palate. It means that their voices don't resonate and they have to speak loudly to be understood.

I find the differences in voices and accents (and the reactions they elicit) fascinating.

Stereotypes do exist, unfortunately. I have a friend (American, mid-Atlantic)who works for a British firm that has facilities in the Southern U.S. She has told me that she tends to regard her Southern colleagues as slower and less sophisticated, based on accent alone, and her British colleagues as more intelligent and upper crust, no matter what English dialect they spoke!

Oy gevalt.
(I love Brooklyn accents by the way. Baltimore, too.)

missypie--(in answer to your last question)Ireland.

Elle, do they say that to all the girls?

Only the American ones, silly :).

missypie asks:

"What country can I visit where the guys will be all over me saying "I just love your American accent!"

That's tough. It's a lot of fun to hate the USA these days. But I'd say your odds are best in Great Britain, where there remains today a certain contingent that seems to admire all things American. One of my best friends is from the UK - met him 30 years ago. He's a very self-confident sort of guy, but I remember him confessing the sense of linguistic inferiority he felt (because of his accent) when interacting with Americans. In my experience, Brits, to my great surprise, have often offered up flattering comments about American speech. One woman I met commented that our use of "fall" rather than "autumn" was poetic. I was always trained to think that British speech patterns were poetic and generally superior. (I imagine there is less "language envy" nowadays in Britain than before because of the current political climate.)

You can see how our attitudes toward accent are detached from the actual sounds themselves by looking at how different dialects pronounce the word "car". When Brits drop the "r" sound, Americans do not consider the pronunciation low-prestige. Yet when a person from the East Coast of the US does the same, his speech is stigmatized as non-standard. There's nothing inherently bad or good about using "r" or not using it, but that doesn't keep us from passing judgment.

I grew up in the South, then lived in California then on to NYC.
When I am in Europe, people always ask if I am from Texas~

I am fond of British Accents because my Great Grandmother was British, my friends are in London, and I miss them. I think French is beautiful as is Italian. I wish I spoke Mandarin Chinese..
So I can only hope non-American English speakers enjoy our language as much as I enjoy theirs~

HeatherH, in reference to how you don't sound "Deep South", where are your parents from? My husband was raised in Mississippi, but his parents are from Ohio & Minnesota, so he doesn't have much of a Southern accent.
And, Russ, I hear a world of difference between a Brit saying "car" and a New Englander saying "car"! Even though they both drop the "r", they still pronounce it totally differently!