Help me speak American English?

[KenC]

I wouldn't be able to geographically place any of your dialects.

This is generally true of people outside this country, so I wouldn't worry about dialects or accents. Even people from England who visit here frequently can't tell the difference between various NE US accents, e.g., Philly from NYC from Boston. Those of us that have lived somewhere in that corridor most of their lives can instantly differentiate those, and even Baltimore from Philly or Long Island from NYC, at least in cases where someone has a strong accent. Many people don't - I grew up in NYC and most people never could tell where I was from unless I used a word that sounds very different in two accents. One of the giveaways here is "coffee" which sounds very different in different cities.

 

[Designer]

Well, never mind where she attends Uni, what about where her family is?

Santa Fe, and much family in California.

O.K., there will be almost no regional accent in either place.

 

[skieur]

honestly, American English is hardly "English" anymore.
learn the Queens English and punt on the slang.

Just like Mexican Spanish isn't necessarily "proper" Spanish anymore. But if you're going to visit Mexico you wouldn't learn Spain Spanish just because it's "Spanish-er." lol

My Spanish teacher told me that I spoke South American Spanish with a German accent.


skieur

 

[Bend The Light]

im pretty sure that people from England dont have TOO much trouble when they come and visit here. our friends from germany that visit here only every few years manage to do pretty well, dialects aside. as long as you have the base language down, you shouldnt have very much trouble.

We don't have too much trouble understanding you...we might cringe a bit when you mangle certain words and still call it English though!

 

[Alex_B]

im pretty sure that people from England dont have TOO much trouble when they come and visit here. our friends from germany that visit here only every few years manage to do pretty well, dialects aside. as long as you have the base language down, you shouldnt have very much trouble.

We don't have too much trouble understanding you...we might cringe a bit when you mangle certain words and still call it English though!

Barnsley, Oop-Nooerth ... so here comes the expert

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[Bend The Light]

im pretty sure that people from England dont have TOO much trouble when they come and visit here. our friends from germany that visit here only every few years manage to do pretty well, dialects aside. as long as you have the base language down, you shouldnt have very much trouble.

We don't have too much trouble understanding you...we might cringe a bit when you mangle certain words and still call it English though!

Barnsley, Oop-Nooerth ... so here comes the expert

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​

Ay-up, Lad! Tha torx rate wen thaz brung up rate, a tell thi!

 

[jake337]

Not sure if Seth MacFarlane has ever been to England but i would probably guess not...and this is what wind me up about certain Americans that assume all English people speak like were in a Charles Dickens movie. I know its banter, and i don't lose sleep over it, but jeeeeees, it gets a little boring after a while.

Show us how an Englishman speaks!

As many have said there are numerous dialects depending where you are, but i can tell you one thing, Nobody speaks like the little girl in that Family guy episode, That dialect is strictly for old movies and ammusing foreigners

Yes, and the show depicts fat, dumb Americans with hot wives, crazy kids and perverts as well...


It's just a joke.

 

[Awiserbud]

Show us how an Englishman speaks!

As many have said there are numerous dialects depending where you are, but i can tell you one thing, Nobody speaks like the little girl in that Family guy episode, That dialect is strictly for old movies and ammusing foreigners

Yes, and the show depicts fat, dumb Americans with hot wives, crazy kids and perverts as well...


It's just a joke.

Yes i appreciate that, I can take a joke as well as the next man, and personally i love Family Guy, I think ive seen every episode...but it just "grinds my gears" (told ya i've watched them all) when pretty much every English person is depicted this way. anyway its no biggie, But i am convinced that there are some americans and probably people from all over the world that honestly think we all speak that way.

 

[Compaq]

One of my professors talked like

da da da DAAA da, da da da DAAA, da da da da da da da da da DAAAAA, da

She's British.

 

[Designer]

Yes i appreciate that, I can take a joke as well as the next man, and personally i love Family Guy, I think ive seen every episode...but it just "grinds my gears" (told ya i've watched them all) when pretty much every English person is depicted this way. anyway its no biggie, But i am convinced that there are some americans and probably people from all over the world that honestly think we all speak that way.

Unfortunately, Americans are represented the world over by "Family Guy" and similar.

 

[o hey tyler]

Give it a try: Fargo (1996) - IMDb so many American dialects in that movie and a really nice dark story with lots of black humour. One of very few american movies I really like. It is the proof that in the US there is more than brainwashed cheesy Hollywood

As for Oxford English ... I always enjoy the attention I get when talking un-American English in the US

Dude, any Coen Bros. film is worth a watch. They put out one or two mediocre films.... But for two people directing films they turn out incredible.

O brother where art though
Blood simple
No country for old men
Raising Arizona
Etc.

They don't mess around.

 

[skieur]

Speak Canadian English and you will be more appreciated in Europe.

skieur

 

[rexbobcat]

Unfortunately, Americans are represented the world over by "Family Guy" and similar.

And The Simpsons before that.

 

[pixmedic]

Unfortunately, Americans are represented the world over by "Family Guy" and similar.

And The Simpsons before that.

 

[invisible]

The story about the Spanish king with a lisp is utter rubbish. Mexican Spanish is not closer to traditional Spanish, they have just evolved differently. Latin American dialects show influence from some regional accents in Spain, carried by settlers back in the day. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter which variety you learn, unless you are going to communicate with a specific group of speakers. Written Spanish is fairly similar across the board, but spoken accents are different. I would suggest learning an educated version first, which is more likely to be widely understood.

Co-signed. I come from Argentina, and part of my family lives in Mexico. I've visited some Spanish-speaking countries (Mexico, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay) and am friends with people from Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Spain. Every single country has a different brand of Spanish. If you ask me, Mexican Spanish is one of the versions of the language that has evolved the most away from the original – they have even "developed" unique names for the majority of the fruits and vegetables!

So yeah, like HiddenPearl, learn the educated version of Spanish first (i.e., Spanish from Spain) and you'll be fine everywhere.