New Zealander speaks English, but do they have accent, like Australian?
395937
They have their own accents, yes.\n\nTo the untrained American ear, it sounds like an Australian accent, yes.\n\nBut it has its own characterisitics.
830478
I don't think Australians are odd. I think all of the Aussies I have talked to here on Yahoo Answers are super friendly and very cool!! In the US, we really like Australians, especially the accents. OK so, when I was a young kid, I think I had an idea in my head that alot of Australians were very strong and rowdy people who wrestled crocodiles all day and lived in the outback. I think seeing movies like Crocodile Dundee, put this idea in my head. But then as I got older I learned that Australia is pretty similar to here with big cities, suburbs and rural towns. I think the personality types of Australians are probably as varied as they are here and in every other country in the world. I hope I can make a visit to the land down under some day!
929529
Dialects are varieties differing in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar not to be confused with the regional accents of English speakers, which mark speakers as members of groups by their various pronunciations of the standard language.\n\nAustralian English is a non-rhotic dialect. The Australian accent is most similar to that of New Zealand and is also similar to accents from the South-East of Britain, particularly those of Cockney and Received Pronunciation. As with most dialects of English, it is distinguished primarily by its vowel phonology.\n\nAustralian English vowels are divided into two categories: long, which includes long monophthongs and diphthongs, and short, all of which are monophthongs. The short vowels mostly correspond to the lax vowels used in analyses of Received Pronunciation with the long vowels corresponding to its tense vowels as well as its centralising diphthongs. Unlike most varieties of English, it has a phonemic length distinction: a number of vowels differ only by the length.\n\nAustralian English consonants are similar to those of other non-rhotic varieties of English. In comparison to other varieties, it has a flapped variant of /t/ and /d/ in similar environments as in American English. Many speakers have also coalesced /tj/ and /dj/ into /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, with pronunciations such as /tʃʉːn/ being standard.
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.
6063
I've been told by Germans that Americans sound like they've got potatoes in their mouths when they're talking.  You could try that - if your mouth is big enough :).  Otherwise, it's very difficult to acquire an American accent, even if you've lived in the US for several years (although I know of a Lithuanian who has an American accent and he only lived in the US for two years).  I would say just make sure you enunciate well and be happy with your interesting accent.
1066445
I quite like the Australian accent, but I really hate the South African one!\n\nScottish is nice, as long as it's not too difficult to understand and I also quite like some American accents (not Southern though)
570389
i love austrailian accents\nvery cheery ones thats for sure
250456
my sister in law was british. and i could sit and talk to her hours on end. its like foreigners who likes to hear southerners talk. this is a good question. one you can only answer it with another question.I like to listen to Aussies
617507
I agree with everything they said too, but for me it is the Australian accent! Whoa baby! He is so good at playing his guitar too...why can't I be a guitar? LOL
1028553
It's a tragic question to ask, but are you white?\n\nThey'll probably be nervous if you're a coloured person.\n\nFrom my experience, the people in these countries are aching to emulate Americans, but have little respect for them.\n\nI'm a New Zealander, so was welcomed with open arms..mostly because I'm from the other side of the world, & a woman travelling alone, but also because Kiwi's are associated with the Brits.\n\nSadly, American's are considered loud & arrogant. The Brits are considered stand-off-ish & cold.\n\nWhere you're planning to go, they'd probably prefer the Brit persona. \nIf you can manage 'friendly & cheerful, not 'over the top' bubbly, willing to give anything a shot, warm & utterly respectful, leave any judgements back in your home country (wherever that may be), & have a quiet voice, you'll do ok.\n\nI stand to be corrected, but I can only speak from my own experience.\n\nOops..I either missed your additional comment, or you added it after I started responding.\nI'm going to 'call' you on your statement that The US welcomes everyone.\nI've never had such a difficult time as I had when passing through JFK, New York. Admittedly I was a Kiwi in transit from The Russian Federation to Mexico..but the performance I had to go through was absurd & farcical! \nI'm merely an English Language teacher roaming the world a country at a time, for 12-months in each.\n\nBy comparison, I had it easy. I witnessed some really dreadful harrassment & abuse of people from other countries.
710207
Some people's accents are very malleable.  These people are usually great language learners and very good mimics.  Actors, for example.
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
1119839
Nope, not at all. Everyone likes a little mystery...and an accent is one more "mystery" we seem to be attracted to.\n\nI happen to think the South African accent is the most beautiful in the world...followed by Ukrainian. Why??? Who knows!!
572507
haha. nice fake bad english accent thingy.  Not buying it.  its pathetic.  figure it out yourself. :]
290315
I payed a lot of attention, and I still haven't gotten it.  I'm pretty sure you're from a commonwealth country, but, as I said, you use diction and syntax that is typical of a number of countries.  All I can say conclusively is that you're not American since you spelled humor with a u, and you probably have some connection to Australia, and possibly Canada.\n\nHere's what I think: you're European (I'm not sure where exactly, but probably someplace English speaking), your husband's Australian, and you live in Canada.  I think that covers everything.\n\nThe one thing I can't make heads or tails of: you consistently put a space before your question marks and exclaimation points.  As far as I know, no place does that.\n\n_______\nOK, I think I got it backwards... I still think your husband is Aussie, but I think you live in the England.  Maybe you're originally from Canada, or maybe you just say "eh," but either way you've lived in England for 12 years.
735390
I am originally from Philadelphia but lived in NJ for several years and yes, I can hear my own accent. Accents in general are subjective so someone from NJ might not sound as harsh to me as they would to someone from London simply because I am used to they way New Jersey natives talk and they aren't. \n\nI didn't become fully aware of how strong my accent was until I became good friends with a girl from MN; Listening to a recording of us talking, we sound different as night and day. Not that she sounds like she has a stronger accent, she just sounds different. When compared to Midland American English, she is technically more "accentless" than I am.\n\nOnce I began studying Arabic I started to pay strong attention to the way I and others sound. I also encounter accent-related hurdles when it comes to pronunciation. So Arabic is another thing that made me more conscious of my own unique American accent.
827871
I am british and we hear your accent the same as you do, its just we are not used to it so we know you are from america, its because we are so accustomed to our own accent that when we hear others we find them different and strange.