Bad American accent

I used to watch Without a Trace pretty regularly, and at one time it was one of my favorite shows, but I stopped watching it consistently for various reasons, which I'll probably go into in another post or at Gapers Block, where I write about TV (though they prefer Chicago-related topics).

Recently I happened to catch an episode, and it just reminded me how bad Poppy Montgomery's American accent is. She's from Australia, and it seems like she tries so hard to hide her Australian accent that she's developed a speech impediment. Plus, I can still hear traces of her Australian accent.

When I first saw her on TV, I wondered what was wrong with her speech, and if the producers forgave her in that area because she's a pretty blonde. But after I saw her bio, I realized that she probably talks weird["ly" to be grammatically correct] because she's trying really hard to sound American. But those efforts don't work. She also can't act. Well, she can act, but not very well. I've seen her in different roles, and she seems flat. Is it because of her struggle with American English? Who knows.

this New Zealander speaks good American English

I just saw the excellent movie "Star Trek" again (which I saw earlier this year with a very disillusioned hardcore Trekkie) and I have to say that I had no idea that the actor who plays Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) is from New Zealand. His portrayal of Bones isn't just good, but his American accent is as well. And I didn't realize until I did a search online that he was also in "Lord of the Rings", which is one of my favorite movies.

Check out the clip below--you'll agree that he's a good actor and sounds American.

The voice of Mythbusters

I've been watching Mythbusters for a while, and I've assumed the narrator is American. But tonight I heard the word "against" pronounced "a-GAIN-st". Americans say "a-genst"--NEVER pronounce the "gain" literally--ie, use the long "a" sound that you think would be applied to the "ai" combination.

So I thought the narrator was Canadian, since I've heard Canadians pronounce some words in a more British way. (Canadians' accent is between British and American, though I'd say they sound way more American than British). So I did a quick search, and found out on a fan site that he was born in England, "grew up in North America" and now lives in Australia. It sounds like he probably spent at least part of his time in Canada, because otherwise they'd specifically say that he grew up in the United States or Canada, unless he wants to be vague about his background.

Anyway, he's a very successful voiceover guy in Australia--he's probably one of the go-to voices for people over there who want an American accent. But from my perspective, his English sounds more international than just American. If you listen to the demos on his site, you'll hear him say "bean" for "been" (whereas we say "bin" for "been"). And he seems to slip into slight non-American accents when he says other words.

Well whatever his accent is, he's probably making a great living from speaking, so congrats to him!

Stayed up late with the Greeks

I was going to do a blog post yesterday, but I ended up staying out very late with the very fun Greek Media Club, where most of the people really were Greek and some thought I was too. And oddly enough, even though the word "media" is part of the club's name, I think I was part of the media minority.

Most of the people I met last night were Greek-Americans, though some were bilingual, and even though the bilingual people were born in the US, they still had a tiny accent. But you'd have to be a language fan like me to enjoyably discern it :D

Even though I was allowed to get into work "late" (6:00 AM), I barely got any sleep. So it was my usual night of sleep deprivation. But I really met some very friendly people, and I could have easily stayed out most of the night and driven straight into work.

Another Scottish show that's hard to understand

I mentioned a while ago a Scottish TV show (Star Trek featuring Scottish English) that was hard for me, a native English speaker, to understand. Now a commenter on this blog suggested another show with Scottish that's hard to understand as well. Luckily, the clip below contains both Scottish that's really hard to understand and more standard Scottish because the main character (who seems like a total loser) has to adjust his speech to communicate more clearly with one of his fellow Scotsmen.

Deciphering the Scottish accent

A lot of people are talking about Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer who surprised the superficial crowd and judges on one of those star-manufacturing TV shows.

Well I noticed in the media-frenzied aftermath that there were a number of interviews that were done in Scotland that also display the variety of their accents. I found two videos that really show how hard it is to understand what they're saying, though I did notice that their news readers and TV talent are much clearer, probably because they have to communicate with a nation and beyond.

Unfortunately, the folks who posted the videos won't let us embed them on our own blogs, so I've provided a couple of links:

This Scottish TV interview is really hard to understand--it's as if the interviewer and Susan Boyle were so comfortable with each other, they just spoke naturally enough so that those of us outside their country would really have to strain to grasp what they're saying.

These TV interviews (the poster combined them in one video) contain Scottish accents that are clear, though at times they lapse into a thicker accent and slang that is definitely not American.

It just goes to show that English isn't a language that even us native speakers can understand :D

Real vs fake British accents

This is funny: the characters from one of my favorite movies This is Spinal Tap were on a British TV morning show, and it's interesting and amusing to compare the real British accents with Spinal Tap's fake ones (they're all American, though Christopher Guest's dad was British).

I explored the accuracy of Spinal Tap's accents in a previous post, including quotes from articles and a real Brit's assessment of their accents (I emailed him for comments).

Fascinated with the British accent

I've noticed that Americans are fascinated with the British accent. I've heard of British people being told that their accent is "cool" or "pretty" or whatever when they visit or live in the US. And some Americans like the British accent so much, they'll adopt it, even if they're just spending a semester there.

But I have to admit that sometimes I am fascinated with it too--in the early morning when I go to work, I sometimes listen to BBC radio, and I will listen to an obscure expert talk about the financial markets or whatever, knowing that if it were an American, I wouldn't pay attention.

I think it's because I want to hear the different pronunciations of words that we both use, and learn new words as well.

So I'm guilty! But it's still something I notice in my fellow countrymen.

Guess the accent

Mad Minerva told me about a game where you guess the accent from videos of people reciting a couple of lines from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If". You have to guess which county they're from, and of course the more points you get, the better accent-guesser you are. Good luck!

The right decision

Because I'm totally wiped out from some crazy work hours, I decided to watch Gulliver's Travels which was made in the mid-90's, though it was a mini-series back then. Tonight they showed the entire series in one night, which has made me even more fatigued.

Some of the American actors faked British accents, and while they weren't perfect (as is usually the case, though I don't know personally because I'm not British, but can recognize a bad British accent when I hear it), I was glad to see that Ted Danson (who did a great job) did not try to speak with one. I was surprised, since actors always seem to attempt it, but I accepted he was British because that was his character. Which just goes to show that you don't need to speak with a certain type of accent (especially if you're going to butcher it) when you're playing a character from another culture. Well, it'd be good to have an accent, but only if it's convincing. Otherwise, a bad accent is distracting.

Good accents

I've been watching King Kong, which I've never seen before, and it's directed by a New Zealander (Peter Jackson, who did one of my favorites, "The Lord of the Rings"), thus it shouldn't be surprising that he got an international cast. But I can't tell that some of the actors aren't American, and I didn't know who wasn't until I looked up their bios. So I'm impressed.

He's British!

I've never watched an entire episode of House, but I have caught parts of it, and I thought the main character was American. But he's British! In fact, I already knew who he was (Hugh Laurie), but I didn't make the connection: he was on the British show Jeeves and Wooster, which is actually too annoying to watch too often.

Here's a video of Hugh Laurie auditioning for House--you can sort of detect a slight British accent in the beginning, but when he's in character, he sounds like an American, and believe me, I'm American, so I should know what an American accent should sound like. Also, here and in the show, he behaves like an American. So it's not just the accent, but his manner. Bottom line: he's convincing!

Traysh

I was on a plane, and after we ate our snacks, one of the flight attendants told us that they were going around to pick up our "traysh." Seriously. It was like she added a "sh" to the word "tray". I'd never heard anyone pronounce "trash" that way before. I even heard someone near me imitate her accent, and I wouldn't be surprised if other people noticed it as well. I wonder if it's common in certain parts of the U.S. (such as the South?) to pronounce "trash" like "traysh."

Melk

Okay, the word for the calcium-filled, white liquid that is produced by cows that we, especially in the Midwest, like to drink is "milk." But some people pronouce it "melk."

I don't know why they do that, and even though I've heard it quite often, I'm tempted to say that it's the "wrong" way to pronounce it and it sounds "funny", but enough people say it that way that I really shouldn't say anything about it. Except to just mention that "variation" and let the world know that I say "milk".

Guessed wrong

I met someone today who didn't sound like they were from Chicago or even the midwest, so I assumed they were from Philadelphia or at least Pennsylvania, since the way they were pronouncing their r's and other consonants was different. Plus, their words didn't sound as "relaxed" as other parts of the country.

Well, I was wrong. They were from New Jersey, and I was disappointed I hadn't guessed their accent, especially because I know people from New Jersey and have heard the accent often. Then I realized that perhaps because they were originally from New Jersey but had been living in Chicago for a while, that perhaps their accent had become softened and not remained as "severe."

I used to be pretty good at guessing accents, and still think I'm okay at it, but maybe because I don't meet as many people as I used to, it's affected my accent-detecting skill level. Oh well.

Speech accent archive

Here's something so extensive, only a strongly supported academic could put it together: The Speech Accent Archive:

The speech accent archive uniformly presents a large set of speech samples from a variety of language backgrounds. Native and non-native speakers of English read the same paragraph and are carefully transcribed...This website allows users to compare the demographic and linguistic backgrounds of the speakers in order to determine which variables are key predictors of each accent. The speech accent archive demonstrates that accents are systematic rather than merely mistaken speech.

There are many accents in there from well-known and more obscure language backgrounds. You can spend a lot of time there listening to all those variations.

Milking the British accent

Toby Young, one of the few famous people I'd like to meet, has an interesting article that refutes the popular belief that Brits "have succeeded in bilking the American entertainment industry out of hundreds of millions of dollars simply by speaking in 'veddy Briddish' accents." He quotes Stephen Fry (some Brit who's probably well-known but whose name I don't recognize) as saying, "I sometimes wonder if Americans aren't fooled by our accent into detecting a brilliance that may not really be there."

Sorry, but Americans aren't so duped, and luckily, Toby agrees:

In my experience, this particular cliche is long past its sell-by date. Planeloads of freeloading British hacks - not to mention the three million British tourists who visit the country every year - have poisoned that well. On first hearing an English accent 50 years ago, Americans might have thought: stately home, private school, good manners. Nowadays, they think: low income, poor diet, alcohol problem.

So according to Toby Young, Brits perhaps can't milk their accent anymore. They actually have to prove themselves.

Keep the Canadian accent!

I saw this letter in a media column:

Just when I thought it was safe to watch TV news again without having to cringe at Canadian accents and mispronunciations, Channel 7 hires Ravi Baichwal. I'm sure he is a nice guy, and I'm willing to give him three months. If he hasn't dropped the Canadian accent by then, I say we call it a day.

I disagree--I like Canadian accents!

Annoying accent

There is something annoying about Debbie Travis' accent. She's originally from England and now lives in Montreal, and has probably traveled around because of her television and modeling work, so her accent has probably been affected by her surroundings, and since Montreal is French-oriented, she probably speaks with people who speak French and English.

The "problem" is that her accent is not totally British, but it's hardly North American. It's way more British than North American, so I'd say it's an altered British accent. On her shows, she seems busy and quite stressed, so that could affect the way she speaks, and also, she's speaking for television, so she's putting on her "performance" voice. It just sounds nasal and the words are blended and flat, but not in a Canadian way nor in an "international" style. I wonder what her accent used to sound like before she left her native country. It was probably more pronounced and grating, but less annoying than whatever blend she has now.

Annoying accent

Sometimes I come across annoying accents, and this is one of those times I can't ignore it: Michele Addey on the show Double Take.

She is "Originally from England...and went on to study painting in Paris." I'm assuming she lives in L.A., since that's where a lot of HGTV shows take place.

I wonder if her accent has changed a lot since she left England. Maybe that's the source of its annoying quality--living in different places has mixed it up. But I think what makes it especially annoying is her need to sound really "up" when narrating the show, because I notice that if she's just talking with people on the show, she sounds less grating and nasal. Maybe someone told her that when she reads the script, she should be more peppy, so she's forced herself to sound really hyper. But it sounds unnatural and whiny.

Does she also talk like this when she's off camera, or is she more subdued? After all, TV requires people to be more outgoing and emotional, and maybe she's stepped out of her comfort zone. It makes it difficult to watch the show without trying to analyze her voice and wonder what's going on.

Brent's accent

I was watching Threshold, which doesn't seem like the best series, because it's just about people being taken over by aliens, and only a couple of characters seem to have an interesting chemistry: Arthur, who's a linguist (!) and seems to be an intelligent character, and Lucas.

As I was half-watching the show (since it lost my interest), I listened to Brent Spiner's accent, and wondered if he's talking like that for the character he plays or because he's from Houston, Texas. I wonder what his true accent is. I've heard him in an interview before, but I forgot what he sounded like. On the show, he has a very slight twang.

Whenever I see actors on TV or in movies, I really pity aspiring actors who haven't made it. I'm so glad I don't want to be an actor--writing is enough of a pipe dream, and there are other disappointments I've had that hardly seem to be as devastating as the pursuit of acting.

An article about Spiner says that "Like many other aspiring thespians, Spiner had dues to pay in the form of taking a job as a cab driver before launching his career off-Broadway."

But despite that hardship, he developed a nice career, but ironically "Spiner claims no particular love for science fiction and was not a big fan of the original Star Trek. He says he mainly took the job because he didn't think the new series would last and because he needed to pay a few bills...the bulk of his fame comes from being Data..."

On Startrek: TNG he doesn't have a Texas accent, and really has no discernable accent at all--it's quite flat, as if he's from Nebraska.

Marina's accent

Because I was either in school or out of the country, I never watched Startrek: The Next Generation when it originally aired. I also wasn't interested in sci-fi until the late 90's, so I never sought TNG out.

Now that I've had more free time this month, I've decided to watch as many episodes I can because everyone says it was a great series. At this point, I feel like I've OD'ed on it, but I'll keep watching until I've seen all the episodes (or at least most of them).

By now, I've heard Marina Sirtis' accent so often, I had to find out what the heck it is. I read that she grew up in London and her parents came from Greece, so I wondered if her accent on the show came from that combination. But a TNG fan friend told me that she has a British accent.

I found out that

In the show, her English accent isn't heard because she uses a combination of accents that she devised. As she puts it, "In the 24th century, geographical or nationalistic barriers are not so evident. The Earth as a planet is your country, your nationality. I didn't want anyone to be able to pin down my accent to any particular country, and being good at accents, the producers trusted me to come up with something appropriate."

In an interview, someone asked her, "How has Troi evolved?" and she said, "Well, she's not foreign anymore. When we started, she had almost this Russian accent, and now she's almost American."

But Wikipedia says that at the end of the horrendous, tripe-filled Enterprise series, "Marina Sirtis' accent as Deanna Troi is less pronounced and more British, which is in keeping with the way she played the character towards the end of the series and into the movies."

During a fan interview, someone asked, "Marina, you were great on Stargate SG-1. Was it easier for you to pick up a Russian accent than a Betazoid accent?" and she said, "Russian was harder, because I had to be accurate. Betazoid I made up and as I was the first Betazoid we'd ever met, who was going to tell me I was doing it wrong?"

So the answer to my query is that she created a unique accent that morphed, a Russian accent is more difficult, and I really need to get a life because I'm becoming a geek.

British English spotted

I was at Toby Young's site (whose book, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, I'm currently reading), and saw this quote at the top of the page: "Toby was always trying to get me to introduce him to my model friends. It was sad really."

Note the use of "really." An American wouldn't say that, unless he or she spent time in England. So I did a search on the suspected Brit who said that (model Sophie Dahl), and confirmed that yes, she is British.

Another British English mystery solved.

Arthur's accent

I just heard an interview with Metrofiction guest Arthur Chrenkoff online. He has a strong Australian accent instead of the mixture of Polish and Australian accents I thought he'd have.

The reason why I thought the Polish accent would be more pronounced is because he immigrated when he was a teenager, and usually people don't drop their "native" accents at that age. Perhaps the only hint of the Polish accent was the occasional soft "d" pronunciation for the "th" sound, and he sometimes pronounced his "i" like "ee". These two sounds tend to baffle non-native English speakers, no matter where they're from.

So now you know--Arthur sounds like an Aussie.

Kristan's accent

I was watching Design on a Dime, and was trying to figure out Kristan Cunningham's accent. My guess was that she's a southerner whose accent has morphed because she lives in California.

I was right. She's originally from West Virginia. I don't know what the "true" accent is down there, but I'm guessing that it's more pronounced than her current accent.

I've met southerners whose accents have naturally changed because they've lived in the north for a while, and others who purposely changed their accent to avoid scorn. One time I met someone at a party, and when she told me she that was from Tennessee, I was surprised because she didn't have a southern accent. She said that she'd trained herself to get rid of it because she didn't want people to think she was dumb.

Conversely, I've met northerners who've taken on a southern drawl after living down there for a while. I wonder if accent-snob northerners are as horrified as the ones who've made the Tennessee woman feel like a lesser person, because she dared to speak her true identity.

Update: it seems that Kristan's accent has changed--it seems to have become more "flat." I wonder if she saw this post ;)

NZ in NYC

I just came across A Superficial Guide to New York written by a New Zealander. He warns that his advice is "Based on one visit, this is not to be taken seriously."

What's interesting about it is not only the differences between American and New Zealand(er?--don't know the adjective) English, but also his impressions of New York. Here's some good advice that would never occur to American English speakers:

"You may not be understood if you have a good Niu Zilnd accent. You are in good company; by my reckoning, every third local speaks English as a second language. Speak slowly, loudly, say your Rs. You may be worried about faking an American accent being perceived as taking the piss - in fact, it's an effective way to communicate."

Dawna's accent

I was watching The Life Laundry and was listening to Dawna Walter's accent. It sounded like she was American, but part of her sentences, especially the end of them, sounded British.

So I tried to figure it out: perhaps she was raised in the US, particularly New York because her accent sounds New York-y, but her parents were British. Or maybe she was a Brit who spent a lot of time living in the US. Or she could be an American living in England, and has picked up a bit of that accent. Well, the answer is the last one: she's lived in England for more than a decade.

Spinal Tap gets high marks

This past spring, I rented the special edition DVD of the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap because my book is about a guy who's obsessed with a band. I watched the DVD with and without the commentary five or six times, because it was totally hilarious!

And then, I wondered: what do Brits think of the American actors' accents? So I did some research online at UK sites, and found these assesments.

The Guardian says:

“When Spinal Tap fans meet [Christopher] Guest, especially in Britain, they are often amazed to hear him talking in an American accent because Tufnel's rock star mockney is so pitch-perfect."

From a review:

“The all-American cast grunt and preen their way through the proceedings in a word perfect English accent (a rare thing indeed)...”

And a review in DVD Times says:

“Guest, McKean and Shearer all hold down an English accent brilliantly...”

And finally, I emailed a virtual buddy of mine, a Brit who's living in Germany (and is fluent in German, by the way, which I totally envy) to ask for his opinion. He said:
"The accents in This Is Spinal Tap are absolutely faultless...But I'm often blown away by the phonetic skill of some of your best American actors/actresses. Look at Renee Zellweger (if you will...) I was amazed to find out she's a Texan. When she did Bridget Jones I was convinced she was British."

So there you have it, it's been confirmed by various sources. Congrats Spinal Tap. And Rene Zellweger.