So I was reading a thread that popped up in the cue, and it mentioned recording your accent so people could here it. I got all excited because I’ve been wanting to participate in one of those threads. I went to the linked thread I posted and said I’d have recordings shortly.
What I didn’t notice is that I’d resurrected a zombie. Someone else had resurrected the other one. Thing is, I’ve already made the recordings, and I’d really like to share them.
So I thought, why not do a part 2? I’m sure we’ve picked up new people, especially since we left pay-to-post. So have at it new people. Get a microphone and record you saying the title. I’d love to hear your accent.
Just kidding! I said I tend to mimic accents, and so I mimicked the first poster in the old thread. Probably would have been funnier in the original thread. Oh well.
Yeah, with 5 total recordings, you can see why I wanted to post these. I’ve even got less-than-perfect recordings of part of the Gettysburg Address, but I’m not going to share them unless this thread doesn’t bomb.
Oh, and if you have trouble recording as an MP3, see the last post in Part 1.
I don’t have an accent persay, at least not one that anyone can pinpoint, but I DO pick up accents super quickly unless I try not to. I’m talking like within 5 minutes of speaking with somebody, I’ll start to mimic their speech patterns. I think it’s served me well over the years.
Mighty Girl, you have the oddest accent I’ve heard. I like it, but it’s odd. Australian or Kiwi, but your parents came from somewhere else? You have elements that could come from any number of places, but they don’t necessarily match one another. Yet it all comes together in a rather delightful accent!
Do you find it hard with stutterers, like I do? Do you also start trying to rhyme things after you’ve hear a bunch of poetry?
Anyways, I’m glad the thread is picking up a bit of steam. Here’s my Gettysburg. (Sorry about the popping. Bad editing software.)
Also, if anyone wants, I can convert your stuff to MP3 and put it on box.net, where it will stream. That way people with slower connections can download it easily. (I already mentioned instructions on how to do it yourself here.
I speak English since I was a child, my first teacher was Irish (I think, everybody called her “la inglesita”, but she was a Catholic nun, so it figures).
Anyway, after her I had some American teachers, then MTV, books, music, travel, friends. Then I met my husband, a Dane, who also speak perfect English since he was a child, and we settled on English as the home language (my daughter’s main language is English, although she speaks Danish and Spanish at the same level. Ironically she sounds more “American”).
Native speakers are always baffled at my accent. It sounds native, but “native from where?”. Most people who talk to me without knowing how I look, or where I am from, assume I am from “somewhere USA”. People who meet me assume “somewhere in the US, perhaps English Caribbean”.
I also spell some words with an English spelling, out of habit. So I assume I just picked whatever spelling/pronunciation/enunciation I heard/read when I first learned a word. Mine is a collage of accents.
I joke with a friend that I should just pick an accent I like and run with it, it is not affectation if you don’t have a native accent to start with. I am split between a Geordie, or a Southern American drawl. What do you say?
I was wondering why my old stuff was being downloaded! Not that I mind. I already have a couple of voice clips on box.net. Including the OP’s suggestion and part of the Gettsyburg address.
