I was in Mall of Asia in Manila Philippines a few months ago and stunned at how loud it was. Much louder than I ever recall USA malls are.
Yeah! I’ve got a 100 Watt half stack that’s built in…umm…half in England and half in Canada?
But I think Americans have a wide range of volume levels they consider normal. My wife (also from the US) was positively terrified by how loud the dinner table was the first time she ate with my family. She was actually kind of worried a fight might break out. Nope, that’s just normal dinner conversation, and her family is a group of mice by comparison.
OTOH, it might be genetics. I have a really loud voice that I have learned to control well. My brother has a similar voice, and will not notice he’s echoing when he gets excited. Maybe we were somehow selected for loud voices. Hollering for help, maybe?
On the third hand, I might be exceptionally loud for an American. I apparently shout things at strangers that I believe I’m only thinking. Not all of the time, just when I get…distracted.
Yeah, it’s a zombie. I don’t care. American zombies are the BEST zombies! U S A! U S A! U S A!
I think how one notices into accents will affect how the volume is perceived. You naturally notice accents and languages that are outside your bounds of ‘normality’ more, and so those tend to sit at the forefront of your perception. It’s harder for you to sub-consciously ‘ignore’ them.
So as a rule - all foreigners appear loud, all people with a different accent to you appear loud.
We HAVE to speak loudly when we go overseas. How else will other people understand English?
More possible contributing factors are that some Americans are taught to speak clearly. And the accent has clearor consents anyway. And they speak English.
Which means that you can clearly understand (some) Americans, when you wouldn’t be able to understand anybody else speaking at the same volume.
Australians notoriously spoke without moving their lips (you can still see it on the TV rural affairs program “Country Wide”), and the accent is “softer” anyway.
Which leads me to ask, are people from Alabama “loud”? Or is it only the Yanks?
I blame noise pollution. We play loud video games. We play music loud. We mow our lawns with power mowers without ear protection. We give babies loud toys.
I think a lot of Americans are a little hard of hearing by the time they turn 20, so they speak loudly, and…it’s a vicious cycle.
And … Another “Scientific Theory” by Me.
Smaller nations (language groups) tend to be quieter. I am sure there could be some PhD researcher’s life work I’d like to never read.
I don’t mind being accused of being loud. When you meet me and hear me you will find that is not accurate, but everyone has confirmation bias.
I am a little offended at being accused of being loud because a bunch of drunken young men were loud and obnoxiously American. Young drunk men are always the loudest people around and are generally to be avoided. That’s cross-cultural.