I don’t think that being unable to differentiate Canadian/American or American regional accents is in the same ballpark as England/Oceania.
I can tell the difference most of the time, and even sometimes can tell the difference between Aussie and Kiwi, which is a good comparison between Canada and America. There is very little difference between a Canadian and American accent but the practiced ear can tell. Television and lots of moving about has eroded accents in North America.
When I’m doing my English impression, I sound pretty much exactly like when I do my Australian impression, but with fewer "mate"s and "g’day"s. The accents might sound totally different to people more familiar with them, but to a lot of Americans it’s very hard to pick up the differences between them. The accents might be different from each other, but they’re different from typical American accents in a lot of the same ways.
One example you can probably understand is that the “Southern” American accent is very different from a Texas or Oklahoma accent, but most foreigners wouldn’t be able to tell. Hell, most Americans would probably call them the same accent, but because I’ve been exposed to the Texas/Oklahoma accent so much I can pick it up instantly. An American Chicago accent is more different from a New York accent than it is from an Australian one, but can foreigners tell the difference between Chicago and New York accents? It all just comes down to what you’re exposed to, and how it compares to what you’re comfortable with.
I totally disagree with that last statement. People in the SAME CITY in America have vastly different accents depending on their social class, education level, where their parents are from, race, and a thousand other factors. It’s common for whites in places like Tucson AZ to pick up part of a Mexican accent, for example. Accents haven’t eroded at all here from what I can see.
The Southwestern accent is still going strong but I notice a weakening in say the New York accent or the Southern accent.
The NY accent(s) is alive and well in the workingclass, and (interestingly enough) among intellectuals and academics of a certain age. (If you ask me, it’s one of the few regional accents that doesn’t get you discriminated against in intellectual circles. Even dipthong-smearing r-dropping Brooklynese is not all that incompatible with an air of learning and cerebral achievement.)
Whoa. By “provincial” I didn’t mean anything derogatory. But I realize it can have negative connotations, so I apologize for using it. I was trying to say that many Americans are not exposed to Australian accents that much as something distinct. Just a couple weeks ago I heard a worldly guy confuse Ian Masters for an Englishman.
And I agree that the many British might not know the difference between a New York accent and a Minnesota accent. They just hear “American.” In the same way, many Americans hear an Australian or NZ accent and just think “Commonwealth.”
I wonder how much of this has to do with code-switching. When I’m talking with my family and friends, I have a Southern accent. At work, I don’t. It’s not conscious, but most of the people I work with aren’t native Southerners, whereas pretty much all of my family and friends are.
I agree that most Americans are just not exposed to many English/Australian/New Zealand accents outside of the movies, and that’s why most of us have a hard time telling them apart.
Yup, I’m American and I can usually spot the difference. It’s short u instead of short i, and long e instead of short a. “Eepple” instead of “Apple.” “Thus” instead of “this.”
There are other differences but these are the ones I pick up on most readily.
Don’t say Peter Jackson never did anything for your country.
-FrL-
Well, there’s your problem. When in America, speak American.
That’s all very well, but will you Americans speak English in England, Australian in Australia, or New Zealand in NZ? Perhaps immigration should impose language tests on foreigners. (Or perhaps not, because if it did, I wouldn’t be allowed back in the US: my idiolect is a blend about halfway between Received Standard English and Educated Australian*).
If people there can’t even tell the difference, how do you expect us to be able to? :smack:
Gee, thanks. Have a nice day! Do you want fries with that? You have the right to remain silent. Paris Hilton.
That’s America summed up pretty well, except that Paris Hilton is old news. We’re crucifying Tom Cruise at the moment.
I’m in Kiwi in the US. I think I’ve had about equal numbers of people guess that I’m either English or Australian. I don’t think anyone has guessed New Zealand. That might be something to do with our size and significance in the world. In lots of ways that’s not necessarily a bad thing
I can certainly understand someone here not being able to distinguish NZ and Australian even though I can after only a few words.
I didn’t think Canadian and US accents were much different but that soon changed when I spent a few weeks on Prince Edward Island. Out there they almost sound Scottish to me. Getting a Canadian to say “out and about” is a sure way to hear the difference.
Australia and NZ seem to have the i and e sounds reversed. Six and sex is a good example.
I agree with those who said lack of contact. When I was traveling around the world, I could usually tell the difference between an English accent and an Australian accent. I had a tough time telling the differnence between a British South African accent and an English accent, but got better after being in South Africa for a while. I thnk when I was in New Zealand I could tell the difference between Kiwi and Oz, but since have lost it. It helped to be on safari with Ozzies, Kiwis, South Africans, and Brits to help pick up some of the differences.
I have a hard time distinguishing Canadians from Americans unless they start sounding like Bob and Doug McKenzie. I think a lot of Minnesotans sound a bit like Canadians. However, British Columbians and West coast Americans sound very similar to me except for the ‘eh’ and regionalisms.
An English friend of mine and I were hanging out here in America and there was a gorgeous lass talking near by. He couldn’t place her accent, but this gave us a good chance to chat her up. She was South African.
On the other hand, I don’t think I have a really great ear for language, so I think I miss out on obvious cues. On the other hand, I’m the best I know at figuring out what people who are not native English speakers are trying to say.
Correction: Six and sex is a good time.
In the US I’m often asked what part of Ireland I’m from. I usually just reply “the Scottish part”. So it seems that some people in the USA do confuse Scottish and Irish accents.
I suppose I can understand confusion between UK and Australia/NZ accents, although I don’t make the mistake myself. In the UK we see a lot of Aussie TV and we tend to meet Australians - one of the things they’re known for is travelling the world. I wasn’t able to differentiate between Ozzie/NZ accents until I worked with a couple of guys from NZ. I’ve found that New Zealanders like it if you correctly recognise that they aren’t Australian.
Southwestern accent? What’s that? I lived in New Mexico for four years, and noticed two other accents besides the modal US Midwestern/Midland Northern:
The never-move-your-lips-when-you-talk “horsey” accent that is common amojng ranchers and horse owners in the Rocky Mountain region. It’s an accent that is common to rural areas of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and other areas in the Rocky Mountain region.
The New Mexico Hispanic accent; ver-y-mon-o-syl-la-bic-with-the-last-syl-la-ble-of a-sen-tence-stretched-ouuuuuuuuuuuuuut.
People in the USA can tell the difference between a Scottish and Irish accent, we just can’t tell the difference between Scotland and Ireland.
Heh, maybe that’s it. I suspect that most people in the US would be able to pick out the accent difference if they heard me and an Irish person at the same time.
Strange aside - before I came to the US, I heard Brits complaining about being asked where they learned to speak English. “Nonsense!”, I thought. I’ve been asked that very question about five times in the three years I’ve lived here.