Does the American accent or British accent sound better?

DragonWasabi@monyet.cc to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 44 points –

I grew up with a thick Australian accent with a drawl I dislike, and have been consciously trying to change it for a while. The problem is I tried to make it sound more American at first but keep getting drawn to speaking "Britishly". Now it's a Frankenstein of all 3 accents and I don't know what to go with.

Some points for both:

▪︎ American accent sounds "cooler"

▪︎ British accent sounds more "proper and elegant"

  • Australian accent sounds more "relaxed" (but I dislike this for myself, personally).
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There's no one single British or American accent. Liverpool? Florida? Newcastle? Manchester? New York. Even within these places there's different accents.

Dont worry about that. OP is trying to change their accent.

I doubt they have given much thought to region or dialect.

There's not one single Australian accent either. Broadly speaking, there's three of them.

I think to have this settled once and for all: The German accent is the best of them all.

I’d say Austrian is better. Who doesn’t want to sound like Shwarzenegger?

Girls speaking German are rarely sexy sounding, although better than Portuguese.

Man I recently met a beautiful Tanzanian woman who had an amazingly beautiful accent when she spoke English. It sounded regal and dignified. I had a huge crush. Kenyan accents are great too. I think we focus too much on western accents

I agree that African accents can be awesome. I’m pretty ignorant of regional accent or if they are more of a national accent but growing up I had a buddy from Zimbabwe who’s parents had an amazing accent when speaking English.

Just throwing out a random opinion that doesn't mean much but...I'm an American and I actually find the Australian accent to be the sexiest of all native English-speaking areas. I'm just some random on the Internet but yeah.

I'm from the US and honestly I find just about any accent that different from mine really sexy. Aside from a few standouts. I'm not a fan of the Liverpool accent, whatever that's called.

British accent sounds more "proper and elegant"

Let me introduce you to my Geordie family and see if tou still feel English is elegant. The high English spoken by poshos that is all over TV and movies is very different than how most Brits talk

As for American accents, i have an absolutely bonkers accent of American Midwest with Texas drawl sprinkled in and other lazy drawn out vowels. Just speak however feels comfortable

Americans think the Geordie accent sounds posh (don't know about Australians, mind). I can't find the relevant articles but there was a born-Geordie American official who hit the news there a while back. In interviews with the British media she mentioned how the accent caused a lot of class-based discrimination back in the UK. Meanwhile the right-wing US media were running articles about the posh British woman interfering in their politics.

I was visiting Leeds this summer and was at a werherspoons when some drunk kids at the next table over heard me and figured out I was American. He said he was aspiring to be an actor and wanted me to give my opinion on his American accent. He sounded like he was from California and he must have picked up all his accent tips from movies/TV.

I really liked this Wired YT series on American accents and would love to see a British version: https://youtu.be/H1KP4ztKK0A?si=du9M-WgkWtiw5Pjd

Define better. What are you trying to achieve?

I've always found the American accent quite cool.

Now, let me say something I haven't seen mentioned here: don't change your accent. Be proud of it. Have you traveled to the UK or the US yet? If not, do it. You'll find plenty of people finding you interesting and wanting to talk to you because of your accent.

I take what you mean with "American accent" being the accent they use on US Television in shows and most news?

Because there's a hell of a lot of regional accents in both Britain and the US and various ones in both sounds stupid while others sound sophisticated.

Looking at you Scousers and Southerners.

Trans Atlantic accent

It's it even a real accent. It was made up for rich people to teach their kids from the 30's-50's and is based on any real location or culture.

It isn't real because some people sat down to make it vs it happening by accident?

You only got it because your parents were rich enough to pay a tutor to teach you to use it. It's not regionally based, it's essentially the Klingon of American accents.

Keep your accent, Aussie accents are lovely. I'm sure it sounds more relaxed to you because it's yours. If you have some inner need to change it to feel more professional, isn't there posh version? Like what newscasters sound like?

Scottish is my favorite by far. The sort so thick you have to listen for awhile until the words come into focus. Not sure why but it is dead pleasant.

As someone with a fairly 'strong' London accent, I personally love the Southern US accent. I don't know why we don't all speak that way.

Supposedly, Scottish accents are perceived as more trustworthy and that's why most financial services ads in the UK have Scottish voiceovers!

However, all this is down to culture and personal taste. I don't think one or the other sounds objectively better!

I was in the airport recently and family had an incredible southern accent. Their voices were like cool rain on a hot summer afternoon. It was nice to just bask in their everyday conversation from a distance. :)

Here in Florida I still sometimes hear old ladies speaking in the most proper, old Southern accents. Then they bust into perfect Spanish.

No serious linguist would advise you to change your accent like this. It's artificial and unlikely to succeed entirely, as you've noticed - accents are a reflexive, instinctive thing, difficult to rewire. The characteristics of the accents you mention (what you're referring to are probably General American accent and British "Received Pronunciation", which are far from univesal American or British accents) are shaped purely by (pop) culture. That includes the judgment on how good an accent sounds. Is it really a coincidence that the British royalty uses an accent that sounds "elegant"?

You don't appear to have any external reason to change your accent. If you live in Australia and talk with Australians, why would you want to sound like a non-Australian? Why do you want to sound non-relaxed?

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IDo a google search on "non regional diction" you can find some pretty good resources on how to sound more "universal".

The answer is of course that neither is better really. As a Brit, there are plenty of British and American accents that I find annoying or unpleasant to listen to, but that's all subjective. Just go with whatever you want, and remember that any native speaker's accent is valid.

This is just my very biased opinion but if somebody has a US-american accent I immediately respect them less lol. It's an instinct.

i think less of people that have biased thoughts when first meeting someone due to internal biases you arent self aware enough to absolve

you sound like an NPC might u try connecting with your consciousness a bit? you seem too much like a news oriented reactionary.

When you call someone an NPC, my initial reaction is to respect you less and be more onguard to what other silly things you're going to say.

You were doing great in the first paragraph, then shot yourself in the foot in the second.

Completely agree with you. When I say I hate gamespeak in non-game discussions, I get downvoted.

E.g. "Australia beat Covid" Comments: "Australia gained +10 armor XP hurr durr!"

There's nothing more cunty than calling someone an NPC

Think you're the only one in the world with thoughts? Grow the fuck up

Go Transatlantic American accent. It's the most clear and the least accent-y accent.

I find it to be fairly accent-y and very clipped.

It's nice in old movies, but it's extremely dated.

It literally isn't the accenty accent. It's just a made up one that picks attributes from a handful of dialects, making it hard to "place."

I'm an Aussie, and I reckon you can't beat the articulated British accent. It's just... proper.

I consider the King's English to be the gold reference.

▪︎ British accent sounds more "proper and elegant"

Ah yes the elegant accent of Enfield or Redcar

Be you there's nothing worse than someone trying to be something they're not. It causes instant mistrust when you know someone isn't being themselves

You realise we have 3 accents down here right? "Cultured", standard and strine? You could go for one of the other subtypes. :)

Maybe I'm biased because I have a Kiwi accent, but I choose American.

I love Kiwi accents. What's your favorite American accent?

Western. It almost feels cinematic. British accents just sound like someone is trying to speak tightly.

I thought being in America long enough would change my accent, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I've been raising my kid in England since about 3 years old and he sounds more American than me.

I think my favorite Anglophone accent might be the Canadian ones in Letterkenny. Distinctive but subtle.

I met this dude who could speak fluent Spanish with a thick Scottish accent. It was the funniest thing.

Whats wrong with the sound of the sharp Australian twang in your voice mate? Lots of folks love it!

I've worked as a professional actor (alongside other things) and I learned how to diagram an accent in drama school using IPA, and then matched up with a bunch of other voice paradigms - Rodenberg, Berry, Linklater...

I know a few people who changed their accents in their lives, and some who only change it for roles.

I'm British, but live in America. If I audition for an American role, I speak with the appropriate accent (usually GenAm) in all communications until I'm cast, but I don't change my every day voice to talk to my wife or whatever, because it's just a job and I'm me and everyone knows me as me.

My rural upbringing is a strength, my culture makes me feel unique. So many people (especially white people) have trouble feeling like they have a shared history to celebrate that's not problematic. Knowing I have the Straw Bear, the Green Man, Hereward the Wake, Boudica and the Iceni - even Morris and Maypole dancing - in my childhood rituals makes me feel less homesick. And my accent is unique, being between the East Midlands and London commuter belt. I can round it out to RP when I need to but it's also part of me.

Scottish - it is somehow more intelligible for me (not from anglosphere countries)

Trans Atlantic accent or contemporary American accent? I think accents are really cute. My heart melts slightly when my SO's family speaks because they have a pronounced Canadian accent.

Australian accents are my all-time favorite though. Cheerful, relaxed, lovely. :)

It's relatively infrequent, every once in awhile, I'll hear certain pronunciations in American southern accents or Australian accents that reveals age-old British accent roots. It's rather interesting.

Laughs in Appalachian American

https://youtu.be/03iwAY4KlIU?si=zGGq9lnFc2pSDgqY

I'm pretty sure you're specifically intending the mimic the generic corporate/West Coast/Midwestern non-accent American accents. That's like the way Americans talk on purpose when they want to avoid social judgment from other Americans. The way we talk when home with our families is rarely that.

To my ear my favorite accents are Irish and Scottish. Australian is good too. And Kiwi.

There are a lot of different British and American accents, depending on which part of the country they're from. Some sound much better than others. I don't know much about Australian accents. Is there just one, or many different ones depending on their location?

I remember trying to watch Mad Max a long time ago. I didn't make it very far in the movie because I couldn't understand what they were saying most of the time. I find most American and British accents easier to understand, although there are a few that are harder.

I looked to see if there was something similar to RP British or American Mid-Atlantic. Apparently Australians have no such thing, and not many variations in accent. But there are three categories: Broad, General and Cultivated (http://dialectblog.com/2011/07/10/types-of-australian-accents/).

Maybe you could try to achieve one of these? (I mean, you probably have one, so one of the other two). Maybe it will sound more natural than trying to force an accent you won’t frequently hear around you. I don’t know, just a thought. You do you, of course.

I have a very specific one: 2nd generation asian american westcoast accent. They are neutral with very clear diction that is very easy to understand even to non-native english speakers.

Yes! It's the epitome of clarity. I gotta admit, when I hear the accent, I immediately assume the person is American.

American accent is many things.

New York, maine, Wisconsin,southern, midwest, Southern California, etc etc are all different

It feels a bit like OP thinks all Brits sound like the inbred upper class fox hunters we see on tv. They have so many accents and variants of which many are far from elegant and proper.

All 3 accents span a broad range. You have people who sound posh or idiotic depending what regional accent they have. Even in the south of the US, you have high southern and hillbilly

FWIW, I'm in the PNW in America. The accent here is pretty flat. An Australian guy just got hired at my job and his accent is fun to listen to. Most of the world doesn't like Americans when they hear our accents, but Americans love brit and aussie accents

It's all about context

Most of the world doesn't like Americans when they hear our accents,

Really? Where did you get that idea from?

Traveling? Quebec, France, Germany...

Quebec is a special case.

It's not the accent on your English that is the issue, it's that you werent trying to speak French.

Hahaha, I tried at the border crossing. The guard gave me no end of shit for mispronouncing Montreal and he made me repeat it back to him 3 times.

Apparently the key is to clear your throat there the "T" is supposed to be

In French you just don't pronounce the t. I'm a Montrealer and the idea of a border guard dealing with Americans all day giving anyone shit over language is the height of stupidity. I worked with tourists in Old Montreal for a couple of years and the rare "speak French" weirdo was given the eye roll and ridicule they deserve.

I'm always so curious when this is the answer, because I've traveled a lot, including to those three places, and no one has ever said they hate the American accent in my presence, even those who hadn't heard me speak yet.

Why do you think my experiences are so different from yours? Am I just, in all my years of travel, lucky to only run into nice people, and you rude ones? or is everyone simply lying to me, but being truthful to you, for some reason?

"Most of the world" is a pretty ridiculous claim to make for this statement of yours.

I was a touring musician. In general my bandmates and I weren't always in touristy areas.

Once we were out in the sticks as obvious Americans people were rude in those places. When we were loading out of the van for our first site in Germany on a tour, someone overheard us talking and said "Fuck Americans" in perfect English.

Switzerland, the UK, Italy, all over Asia, people were fine.

Be me with a Singaporean accent. I hate it and I’m thinking of getting a vocal coach to learn proper diction.

American accents are fucking hideous, literally any other accent is better than that.

American accents are like nails on a blackboard, and it doesn't help they are 10x louder than everyone else to the point where if you're in a crowded bar that so loud you can't hear the guy next to you, you can perfectly here the one American on the other side of the room.

And that's not an exaggeration, that's actual experience.

Curious, what makes an American accent sound like nails on a chalkboard to you?

How loud they are and the sort of nasal quality they have to them. Like for American reference, imagine a whole country of people that sound like Janice from Friends.

Hey, as an American I found that quite...ah, accurate.

It does vary by which part of the states you get someone from, but yes, apparently we get quite loud (if only to speak over our abundant amounts of cars and gunfire). And is charming as it can be to some, the variations in accents you find on the south and eastern areas in particular can get old quick.