Could it be that the english pronounce some vowels differently?

[Az]

I still remember my visit to London. Goddamn Cockney english is probably one of the worst. I was quite pleased and relieved during the poly meet.

[C0ckney]

i remember that someone had to translate what i was saying for etchy's benefit.

you seemed to manage alright though az.

[Asher]

You have a heavy cockney accent I assume?
How can you live with yourself?

[C0ckney]

i can usually tell what part of london someone is from by their accent.

i can tell the difference between the various welsh accents (newport, cardiff, swansea, valleys, west wales, north wales). these days i can differentiate between accents from the various parts of swansea (or places like neath or port talbot). it's taken me about 5 years to get to that stage though.

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
BeBro, you can mimick the effect decently by putting a little "uh" between the TH and the R sounds. Several native English speakers do that too if you listen carefully.

"Thuh-roo"

And British people often do that with words they can't properly pronounce, especially when there is a multiplicity of consonants at the beginning. For example, "Canute" instead of "Knut."

My British grandmother learned German when she married my grandfather, but she could never squeeze out words like "pfenning;" it always came out "puh-fennig."

[C0ckney]

Originally posted by Asher
You have a heavy cockney accent I assume?
How can you live with yourself?

yes, although these days i sound like a bit like a welsh cockney, which is even worse.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
BeBro, you can mimick the effect decently by putting a little "uh" between the TH and the R sounds. Several native English speakers do that too if you listen carefully.

"Thuh-roo"

Good idea, but I'm afraid I sound like some geek learning Klingon then

[Alexander I]

Originally posted by BeBro
Good idea, but I'm afraid I sound like some geek learning Klingon then

Qapla'!

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by C0ckney
i remember that someone had to translate what i was saying for etchy's benefit.

you seemed to manage alright though az.

I heard the "beer" story involving MikeH.

"Andy, more beer?"

"Uh?"

"More beer?"

"Uh?"

"Moooooorrrrrreeeee beeeeeerrr"

"Mobius? Eh? I don't unterstanden"

"Fosters?"

"Ja!"



There are people from the North that I struggle to understand. Personally I think Leeds folk mumble so as not to be understood, and Geordies speak Scandinavian by default.

[Meticulous Man]

BTW, do Poly's non-native English speakers (not having lived in an English-speaking country) prefer British or American English? I personally find myself using American expressions & pronunciation whenever I have to use English, for reasons I'm myself not fully aware of... is it just the media or is American English somehow easier for speakers of some languages?

[Az]

I heard the "beer" story involving MikeH.

"Andy, more beer?"

"Uh?"

"More beer?"

"Uh?"

"Moooooorrrrrreeeee beeeeeerrr"

"Mobius? Eh? I don't unterstanden"

"Fosters?"

"Ja!"

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by Aivo½so
BTW, do Poly's non-native English speakers (not having lived in an English-speaking country) prefer British or American English? I personally find myself using American expressions & pronunciation whenever I have to use English, for reasons I'm myself not fully aware of... is it just the media or is American English somehow easier for speakers of some languages?

Funny you should say that. As a Brit I've noticed lots (but not all) of Scandanavians have an definate American accent.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
and another whose name currently escapes my mind but which I remember being told actually is linguistically closest to the US accent. (It's that one where people always stereotype by saying "Oo-arrrr! Get orf moi laaaaaaaaand!" and then mimicking a shotgun blast... so in other words it resembles the US behavior too )

Edit: It was the Dorset accent. It came back to me.

Call it a "Dorset accent" and you'll get blank looks. It's a West Country accent.

An awful lot of the early English-speaking settlers of New England and Virginia came from the West Country- hence the links to American. There's the same hard and open vowel sounds and tendency to drawl.

Incidentally, when you join in with "International Speak Like A Pirate Day", what you're actually attempting is a bastardised West Country accent. It's based on how the Bristolian, Devonian and Cornish pirates sailors would have sounded..

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by reds4ever


Funny you should say that. As a Brit I've noticed lots (but not all) of Scandanavians have an definate American accent.

The Asbo kid is a notable exception. Asmodean speaks fluent royal family English.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by Lazarus and the Gimp

Call it a "Dorset accent" and you'll get blank looks. It's a West Country accent.

I ran this by a friend in Cambridge and his response was:

"You may have mistaken Dorset for Devonshire. Touched in the head, Allie?"

He then gave me a jpeg of an electrode in a monkey's exposed raw brain, which I think we can all do without.

But Laz is right, I realized my mistake but by then too many people had quoted that post and I didn't want to look like I was trying to cover up an incorrect post.

...

Instead, I tried to pretend it never happened and hope it goes away Brave Allie!