Do American accents sound good or bad to non-Americans?
349188
I do not think American accents sound good/bad to me. \nI sometimes have difficulty understanding the Southern accent(s), though.\n\nWhat we feel "ugly" could be the attitude that sometimes is so easily associated with the speaker's accent. Be it American or not.
413642
Not really. It doesn't roll out well on the tongue.\nMan is usually preferred. \n\nWannabe Americans tend to say "Dude" but come off looking so stupid they should probably never step out of their house without wearing a paperbag over their heads.\nDude just sounds so stupid off an Asian, it makes them look like surfer-wannabe airheads.\nLike the Australians, mate sounds more...um, civil. It sounds much more friendly, too.\nHm. Dude. Nah. It didn't quite sound so good rolling off my tongue.\n\nMaybe it's purely an American thing.\n\n\nJenova\n(d.yuffie@gmail.com)
822124
I don't care as long as the accent does not interfere in the lessons and causes difficulty in understanding what is being said. For example, I have a geography professor in college that has a very thick accent, and it was so hard to understand from the beginning. I thought that I would never get used to it. Half a year has passed so far, and it is getting so much better because I got used to it. Still, sometimes, when she talks it's kind of hard to understand. What's crazy is that there is this one student in the class, and he gives perfect answers to every question. But he uses words that are hard for her to understand, so she would always ask him, "What do you mean?" So, yeah. I completely understand what you're talking about. It is hard, and I hope that I don't get anyone like that again this upcoming semester.
827338
I don't mind Brits personally....the accent can get annoying in movies tho.....;o)
476582
Its true that many US people do have bad steriotypes about the british. But those r only french-americans or people who side with the french. Most of the french r a snotty bunch of assholes. Both america and the UK helped them out in WW 1 and 2 yet they arent grateful. Any way it isnt most americans but the reason some do is cuz there different. People here dont know many if any British people so they only know what movies potray. Movies like Austin Powers. Im sure that there are steriotypes of americans in the UK . Like that we eather have a thick new york/ bostan accents or hick southern accents. There are mixes of different accents just as there are in Britain. But any way the french should change there flag 2 a white 1
1065106
Floridian people have accents?!\nOmg, do I really have an accent?\nYAYNESS!\nIt's good, Florida's accent is so much "hotter"\n:)
102372
>>>>>How do British accents vary?\n\nThat’s a hell of a question. How would you answer the question “How do US accents vary?” The answer is pretty much the same. And of course you can’t really describe an accent in print.\n\n>>>>>I've heard that they can reveal your social standing but in what way? \n\nThe same way they can  in the US or almost any other part of the world. Accents are tied to geographic location. Some geographic locations are primarily populated by poor people. Those children form that area that are educated outside will lose their accent so the accent comes to be associated ONLY with poor people. When you hear  that accent  you can pretty much guarantee the person in poor. Conversely some accents are associated with areas populated by rich people, or even with specific private schools. If you hear that accent you can guess  the person has or at least had money.\n\nBut as I say, England is neither better nor worse than the US in this respect these days. \n\nWhat do you think of when you here the classic Robert de Niro Brooklyn accent? Is it the accent of a college professor or a taxi driver?  A stockbroker or a steelworker?\n\nHow about the classic Boston accent of the Kennedies, Mayor Quimby) or Frasier? ? Is it the accent of a college professor or a taxi driver?  A stockbroker or a steelworker?\n\nAnd the list goes on. Appalachian accents are strongly associated with poor rural, Southern accents with strong diction are associated with wealth and refinement whereas southern accents with dropped letters is associated with poverty, the Jersey Accent is associated with the upper working classes etc.\n\nIn England you would say that a West End Cockney accent was the same as a Bronx accent.  An Oxford accent the same as a Classic Boston Accent. A Yorkshire accent the same as an Appalachian accent. A Scouse accent the same as a Jersey accent. Those pairs of accents mean almost exactly the same thing in their respective countries. And they are all reveal the social standing of the speaker.\n\n Of course it isn’t perfect. There are Liverpuddlians who have become multi-billionaires just as numerous people who grew up in Brooklyn have made lots of money. But as a general rule those accents tell you where people are socially even more where they came from. \n\nThese days the utility of accents at defining social position is fading in Britain just as it is fading in the US. Prior to WWII in both the US and England if you moved up the social ladder you made a conscious effort to lose your accent if it wasn’t appropriate. These days people tend to be more proud of the fact that they have moved up and don’t make the attempt to disguise it so much.
752731
Yes, and it doesn't take very long at all.  I spent over 2yrs in Moscow, didn't even speak Russian when i went, and within a few months had the accent down.  Only way most could tell i was American was when i started to speak English.
679183
All of the following is what I have observed and from my perspective only (generic US accent).  It is oversimplified in order to be something I can type!\n\nNon-American English-speaking accents...  If every sentence ends with an "eh?" they're from Canada.  If they say "Ya" for yes, they're from South Africa.  If all the vowels are "wrong" (from an American perspective), they're speaking "stryne" (that's "Australian" all in one syllable).\n\nAmerican accents...  If they drop final "r"s and say "New Yawk", they're from New Yawk.  If they drop final "r"s and say "Baaaaahston", they're from Boston.  If they talk very slowly, they're from the Deep South.  If they say "ayyy" instead of short, they're from Northern New England (Maine, etc.).  If none of the above, they could be from almost any other part of the US; much of the country has only very slight variations on accent.  (There are a few regional accents I'm less familiar with; this is not an all-inclusive list.)\n\nForeign accents...  If "d" in the middle of a word sounds like "th" as in "this" and they add an "ay" to the beginning of words that begin with an "s" and another consonant, then they're from a Spanish-speaking country.  If every vowel before an "n" sounds nasal and they accent the last syllable most of the time, they're probably French-speaking.  If vowels like "o" and "u" sound like "wo" and "woo" or vowels like "ee" and "ay" sound like "yee" and "yay", they're probably Russian.  If they accent the first syllable, they are Hungarian or Finnish.  If it sounds like they're singing, they are Norwegian or Swedish.  If final "d" sounds like a "t" (and "v" becomes "f", etc.), but they don't change the vowels (as for Russian above), they are probably German.  If they pronounce "p" like "b", they are probably from an Arabic-speaking country.  If they confuse "r" and "l" they may be Chinese or Japanese.  If they speak English *really* well but with a slight German-style accent, they are probably from the Netherlands or Denmark.  If they have a strong rhythm when speaking and sometimes stick extra vowels on the ends of words ending with a consonant, they're Italian.\n\nThat's all I can think of offhand.
626793
Actually, all trained singers who sing in English use a special accent, which isn't like their speaking accents either for Brits or Americans.  In order to create very nice-sounding vowels in singing, singers are trained to create the vowels differently.  This may give you the impression that they are speaking American English, but perhaps that is just because you are used to it, since Americans have to be trained to produce the vowels this way as well.  So the UK singers aren't being fake; they are using pronunciation that fits the context, and Americans do the same thing.
1047624
I don't think they're the least bit sexy. American accent are pretty common and normal; most things that people consider sexy are usually something that is unusual, rare, or out-of-the-ordinary.\nSorry
918928
Well, i'm British, i don't mean to offend anyone, but American accents sound a bit stupid to me, especially southern ones, it's just me but they sound slow and a bit dumb....sorry
940918
We dont have an accent....we all sound the same. It's Americans (who all sound different) who have the accent.
1089862
YOU DON'T NEED TO SPEAK WITH A BRITISH ACCENT IF YOU AREN'T BRITISH! US *REAL* BRITISH PEOPLE HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
932143
Well I can't speak for American girls, but as a Canadian girl I can say there are few things sexier then a nice accent, British, Australian, Irish.... YUMMY!! So yeah, play it up. What's the worst that can happen really? It's not like you are lying, you are still British after all.
230843
When I lived in England, my friends mocked my American accent all the time.  It was all in good fun.  Now I work with two Brits; they mock our accents occasionally.  My "accent" is a kind of generic east coast one, leaning toward New York; some Brits I know can exactly duplicate it.  There are plenty of Brits who have traveled in the US, and they understand the regional differences.
274216
Americans have loved British singers. They loved James Bond movies. I don't think they hate the accent.