Thanks again to Rosetta Stone for sponsoring this video. You can get 60% off all 25 languages for life using this link. partners.rosettastone.com/dave-huxtable
Rosetta Stone's fine print clearly states that they can cancel their web services at any point and nobody is allowed to download their code. So selling this as "lifetime" is meaningless, since they specifically deny any agreement to ensure access for any length of time, and they deny our ability to ensure access ourself. This is in violation of FTC rules, but few governments have successfully enforced these complex issues yet. Very many software companies have done this kind of thing in recent years, selling "lifetime" service then eliminating the service a couple years later. Rosetta Stone also has a forced arbitration clause, which is an effort to stop anyone from suing them for what is obviously false advertising; if you sell me a service for life, that means I own access to it for life. It does not mean I may access it for as long as they unilaterally decide.
Great video, Thank you! This video made me notice something for the first time in my life. Having lived all over North America, In the UK and Switzerland while also traveling extensively in other parts of the world and learning multiple languages proficiently I've developed a sort of knack for usually knowing where someone is from by watching their facial gestures, or seeing them speak without being in earshot. I now realize that it is their 'Articulatory Setting' that I am often able to recognize from a distance. When you spoke French, your face looked French (even when I muted the video and played it back randomly). Your video of the German accent was the same. Excellent channel!
Thanks so much for all your videos, Dave. I too was the class mimic way back and everything you say about listening and preparing to be able to reproduce accents resonates a great deal with me. I took my language geekery and ran with it and am now an interpreter working with 7 languages. I only wish I had the energy to learn more! Keep them coming!!
The immitation of an english accent in french is basically every Canadian politician outside Québec trying to give an interview or answer a question in their second language.
I set my Amazon Alexa to french so I can practice my french every day, but when it reads out notifications it does it in English with a french accent. It always takes me by surprise and it's so hilarious 😂😅
When I started studying Russian, a friend of mine who spoke Russian said that a good way to work on the accent was to try to imitate Russians speaking English. To that end, he suggested listening to the outgoing messages at the Soviet Consulate. The very heavily Russian-accented greeting “Hello. You have reached Soviet Consul” was an entire lesson in itself.
Just brilliant‼: you covered a lot in under 15 minutes! This is also the first video I’ve come across on this topic: I enjoyed it immensely, and learnt quite a bit too (UA-cam recommended it while I was watching a languagejones video). One criticism: the subtitles need more attention, e.g. “effort” is missing after “as little” at 8:31, something which the auto-generated English captions gets right, ironically! (Seems like a lot of videos have poorly-checked captions these days, which is particularly annoying for open - or “burnt-in” - captions 🙁… which, happily, you don’t have.)
What you call the accent of a language is what I often call the ‘song’ of an accent or how people speak. I love learning and practicing them having generally got a good ear for them. I also look for the ‘undertones’…the voice people habitually use that gives away their personality type eg the moaners, whingers, eternal optimists, worriers, bossy etc.
I found that if I imitate separate words or short phrases, I almost nail the local British accent. But the longer I have to speak, the more immigrant I sound.
I have a friend who only knew Hugh Laurie from the US TV series “House”. He absolutely would not believe me when I told him that Hugh Laurie was British. It was only after I let him borrow the first episode of “Jeeves and Wooster,” which I had on VHS tape, that he reluctantly admitted that Laurie wasn’t American.
I have trouble with the subtleties of many accents in my first language, English, but I have very little trouble acquiring one or more native accents in other languages that I speak (Italian, Irish, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese). I have always used the IPA in learning and teaching languages.
Another wonderful video, Dave. I went to a Drama workshop, when I lived in France, and having to sing with native French speakers made me conscious of the different ways we move our mouths. I think it helped my accent when speaking French.
As an accent mimic, have you ever felt the need to use your abilities to modify the accent you default to, ie. your own accent? I’d be especially interested if you did so in a way which doesn’t have clear class connotations, eg. as with those who learn to speak posh or more down to earth to satisfy their social aspirations.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages i am doing the ECL B2 in Hungary, the complex (writing and speaking), Im really hoping to pass it I might even consider to get that Rosetta Stone to improve my english. I won my districts (they are like boroughs in london) english competition but im still feeling unsure for some reason
I find that there are some accents I can do spontaneously, some accents I can't yet do, but also a third mysterious group of accents that I can only do *if I've just heard somebody else do them*. Scottish accents are like this for me, I can only do them when I'm imitating one that I've recently heard
Great video as always Dave! As a native French speaker though, I have to say that there is nothing more charming than an English person speaking French with an English accent. You'll find many French people who'll agree! 🙂
I can definitely resonate with the articulate setting part. I couldn't really master the Dublin accent until I started to speak with my nose and tighten my lower lip XD.
Your manner of speaking, by which you seem to randomly introduce subtle shifts with your various accents as you go along, has left me with somewhat of a perplexed feeling. It is as if there is something within that wanted to expect consistency, probably arousing from the desire to know where one is from, and those various shifts kept throwing it off. Quite fascinating nonetheless
Do you have any tips for the alveolar trill? There are many UA-cam videos (some better than others) that describe how it's produced and, unless I'm getting something seriously wrong, I think I understand the place and manner. But they all say "relax your tongue" and I think that's the instruction I'm failing at. It frustrates me that so many fellow native English speakers seem to be able to do it without any interest in foreign languages/linguistics: for them it's an unvalued skill, but for me it's essential and I just can't do it !!! 😬😂 Have you always been able to do it, or was there a particular time in your life when you acquired it? And was it easier/harder to acquire than other non-native sounds?
I struggled a lot learning to do the alveolar trill when I was learning Latin. The only thing that worked for me was practising over and over and over (and over and over). Like learning to whistle, it took a lot of failure and perseverance. Must've taken a few months of trilling in the shower, lying in bed, walking to class, etc.
I struggled with that, too. What helped me was just practising the sound by itself - not trying to pronounce words that include it. Practising the sound by itself, over and over throughout the day (only a few minutes at a time). After some days, I essayed a few words: some improvement. More practice, and trying words every now and then. After a few weeks: substantial improvement and ease of use. I'm long out of practice these days, and it no longer comes as easily, but I can still produce the sound. If you don't use a sound regularly, you tend to become rusty - at least, I do.
I think I’ve always been able to do it. It’s one of those sounds that ‘knowing how’ doesn’t help with. For most others you can just put your vocal organs in the right place and do the thing and it will work. For trills I think the key is not to think about it and try to imitate. Taking a deep breath beforehand also helps. For me the trickiest sounds are implosives ɓ ɗ ɠ ʛ which you get in some African languages and some kinds of Caribbean English. I can do them, but nowhere near as well as a friend I studied with. I’ve always envied his implosives!
@@ButzPunk How did you practise it? I mean what were you doing mechanically? I find I can sound like I'm doing a trill if I try to do a geminate tap, but not sure if practising that will actually help..
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages Yes, implosives are tricky. I think I can only do them as part of a constant stream of talking while breathing in, which doesn't sound quite right!
I often wonder if my perception of the “oral posture” of the “standard” southeast English accent (maybe how a generic London newscaster would sound) as being somewhat “forward” in the mouth and maybe slightly “breathier” (wrong word, probably) than US accents is right. Am I imagining it? As an American, I can actually do it with an American accent-it sounds weird, like how no American would ever speak-but I wonder if it’s just something I made up.
Loved this video! It really resonated with me as I’ve had to recently navigate, once again, my journey of assimilating into Mexican culture. For me anyway, it's home, but I start my 25th year in a quizzical mood. I thought I had figured out who I was, but maybe that’s where the challenge lies. My Spanish teacher’s work on my pronunciation last year was transformative, but now I’m struggling to choose an accent that feels true to who I am and reflects where I’ve lived. How much should I adapt without losing a part of myself? It’s a tricky balance, whether you’ve lived abroad or stayed where you were born. Going back to Ireland, I get reactions from “Lost your sense of humor, then?” to “Where are you from? England is it?” Curious to hear how others have handled this journey!
@@darraghogrady3350 Maybe you should sound more Mexican when you go to Ireland. For me, I have always tried to adopt a native-like accent in languages other than English, but one that reflects where I learned the language. That means Ecuadorean Spanish, Italian and Chinese with a slight southern flavour and Russian with a St Petersburg slant. My English has changed through living in non-English-speaking countries and because I was a language teacher, but I don’t want to sound too American even though I live in California. My south-eastern Englishness is indeed part of my identity.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages As always, on the ball; I knew you'd have this covered! Think you may have pushed me over the fence into doing what's intuitive. Now... are you Quito or Guayaquil? And, do they sound different?
Question for you… When I meet people with accents or dialects, I can’t stop myself from taking on their speech patterns. I have no idea why this happens. Is there a word for this phenomenon? Is it uncommon? I am able to put on various accents at will as well. I also happen to be bilingual from childhood. Thanks in advance. (It’s sometimes embarrassing.)
Definitely relate to this! I’m not sure there’s an actual word for it but I call it being a linguistic chameleon. I find Australian English particularly contagious. I was also in Northern Ireland recently and a friend asked me if I imitated people without realising. My wife said, ‘Yes, he does. Annoying isn’t it?’
I think it is commonplace, especially when young, which is why children can learn an accent so easily after moving to a new region. I used to do it all the while, now at age 61 I don’t. It’s a desire to fit in with another culture, a natural human tendency, unless you’re a UA-cam political blogger of course. In that case a regional difference is all too often a sign of mental illness.
I find myself decent at an accent when speaking a foreign language, but difficult to speak in a different convincing accent when speaking English, is that normal?
Perhaps you haven’t exposed yourself enough to those accents? It takes a long time to train the ears, and without that natural understanding of an accent, you can’t reproduce it.
I’m puzzled that you think the title is Click Bait, if only all UA-cam titles were so honest. I shared an office a two years with a Scot from Dundee, and learnt his accent. Acquiring an accent requires massive exposure to native speakers, which you obviously know. I’m told by natives that my Scots and Northern Irish are decent, my Southern Irish is a pastiche, my South Yorkshire is decent and my Leicester is native level. But American is impossible, as is Geordie. I think they are too different phonetically. By the way, do you think Scots and French are very close in terms of many features of the accents? And yet Welsh, a celtic influenced accent, is so distinct from Irish, Scots and French.
Yes, probably not that far along the scale of clickbaityness. Yes, exposure is key. I shared a house with someone from Hollywood, County Down. That did wonders for my Norn Iron. I also shared an office with a Dubliner for 3 years but never really got him down - much too subtle. As for Scots and French, they have some monophthongs in common : tray/très, pat/patte, bow/beau etc. shoot and chute are similar but the Scots one isn’t as far forward in the mouth (though further forward than in accents from England). Pronunciation can change quite quickly so languages in the same family can have very different phonologies. French is a real outlier among Romance languages for having so many vowels - probably under Germanic influence - but you can see the same processes towards nasal vowels in Portuguese. The big difference between Irish and Welsh is the distinction between broad and slender in Irish, that Welsh doesn’t have at all.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages I was thinking that Scots favours pure vowels over diphthongs, and it has a fluidity, almost a slurring (though that term is pejorative) that is shared with French. It also sounds closer to syllable timing as per French. German and English tend not to elide syllables together, and they are stress timed of course.
Do you ever find yourself drifting unconsciously into the accent of the person to whom you're talking? I have been accused of taking the p.ss, but i don't seem able not to! (Tips on how not to wd be appreciated...)
At first glance, I thought this title said, "How to Protect Any Accent" and I wondered if it was possible. Accents are dissipating more and more these days, aren't they?
I'm from Alabama and I have recently found that I cannot say "Keir Starmer" without sounding ridiculous. I have no idea how I am supposed to say it, as I only hear Brits say it and it doesn't come out of my mouth that way at all.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages thanks for the speedy reply Dave! I'd read that content creators had some control over this. I've unsubscribed from many channels due to it previously. I gave up on having a TV about 30yrs ago for similar reasons. I often think youtube should have a button which allows you to notify advertisers that you will never buy their products for interrupting a video. Personally I will never purchase anything from a company that intruded on a video or podcast with an ad. Anyway I'll shut up now. Great video
@@ablestringer9063 I think I say both and can never remember which side of the Atlantic does what. Apparently, it used to be pronounced sedul and both the sk and sh versions are spelling pronunciations.
The point you made about adopting accents, or even more so languages, is one I found myself making awhile ago. You are going to sound wrong. You’re going to sound silly, abnormal, like you are mocking someone. Depending on the departure from your home base, you whole mouth, to include your jaw, is going to hurt.
The mocking thing is a tough one. I once did a course in the Scots language, which is of course closely related to English and most speakers are bilingual. I had to strongly overcome the feeling that I would offend people.
I enjoyed your video a lot. It’s great to sound almost like a native but it depends on your purpose. I teach English so it is vital for me to be a model for the students. On the other hand I couldn’t care less about how I sound in German. I live in Germany and my friends say they love my French accent. A light accent has charm. Then for Arabic one has no choice but to pronounce exactly or no one will understand you.
Thanks again to Rosetta Stone for sponsoring this video. You can get 60% off all 25 languages for life using this link. partners.rosettastone.com/dave-huxtable
Rosetta Stone's fine print clearly states that they can cancel their web services at any point and nobody is allowed to download their code. So selling this as "lifetime" is meaningless, since they specifically deny any agreement to ensure access for any length of time, and they deny our ability to ensure access ourself. This is in violation of FTC rules, but few governments have successfully enforced these complex issues yet. Very many software companies have done this kind of thing in recent years, selling "lifetime" service then eliminating the service a couple years later. Rosetta Stone also has a forced arbitration clause, which is an effort to stop anyone from suing them for what is obviously false advertising; if you sell me a service for life, that means I own access to it for life. It does not mean I may access it for as long as they unilaterally decide.
at second :40 your 'American' 'accent' is horrible.
1:59 your attempt at a Southern U.S. vowel/drawl is HORRIBLE.
2:07.. you're terrible.
2:45 scottish accent is horrible.
Your ‘sampling’ of various English accents on both sides of the Pond is truly masterful! Kudos, and many thanks.
@@allencallahan1478 wow, thank you.
As an Irishman, thanks for your interest in our language
@@bano363 it’s fascinating and beautiful!
Great video, Thank you!
This video made me notice something for the first time in my life. Having lived all over North America, In the UK and Switzerland while also traveling extensively in other parts of the world and learning multiple languages proficiently I've developed a sort of knack for usually knowing where someone is from by watching their facial gestures, or seeing them speak without being in earshot.
I now realize that it is their 'Articulatory Setting' that I am often able to recognize from a distance. When you spoke French, your face looked French (even when I muted the video and played it back randomly). Your video of the German accent was the same.
Excellent channel!
That's interesting that his facial structure actually changes. It makes sense now that you mention it.
Thanks so much for all your videos, Dave. I too was the class mimic way back and everything you say about listening and preparing to be able to reproduce accents resonates a great deal with me. I took my language geekery and ran with it and am now an interpreter working with 7 languages. I only wish I had the energy to learn more! Keep them coming!!
Fantastic. Thanks for sharing Mike.
The immitation of an english accent in french is basically every Canadian politician outside Québec trying to give an interview or answer a question in their second language.
Quel horreur !
Which English accent?
I set my Amazon Alexa to french so I can practice my french every day, but when it reads out notifications it does it in English with a french accent. It always takes me by surprise and it's so hilarious 😂😅
@@naomiparsons462 yes, that must be fun.
When I started studying Russian, a friend of mine who spoke Russian said that a good way to work on the accent was to try to imitate Russians speaking English. To that end, he suggested listening to the outgoing messages at the Soviet Consulate. The very heavily Russian-accented greeting “Hello. You have reached Soviet Consul” was an entire lesson in itself.
Just brilliant‼: you covered a lot in under 15 minutes! This is also the first video I’ve come across on this topic: I enjoyed it immensely, and learnt quite a bit too (UA-cam recommended it while I was watching a languagejones video). One criticism: the subtitles need more attention, e.g. “effort” is missing after “as little” at 8:31, something which the auto-generated English captions gets right, ironically! (Seems like a lot of videos have poorly-checked captions these days, which is particularly annoying for open - or “burnt-in” - captions 🙁… which, happily, you don’t have.)
@@MLGadget thanks so much. I’ll have a look at the captions. I do try to get them right but clearly missed this one. So glad you enjoyed it.
What you call the accent of a language is what I often call the ‘song’ of an accent or how people speak. I love learning and practicing them having generally got a good ear for them. I also look for the ‘undertones’…the voice people habitually use that gives away their personality type eg the moaners, whingers, eternal optimists, worriers, bossy etc.
cadence/intonation..
@@AAA-fh5kd Ah - thank you.
@@Windowswatcher also "lilt"
@@AAA-fh5kd thank you.
I found that if I imitate separate words or short phrases, I almost nail the local British accent. But the longer I have to speak, the more immigrant I sound.
I have a friend who only knew Hugh Laurie from the US TV series “House”. He absolutely would not believe me when I told him that Hugh Laurie was British. It was only after I let him borrow the first episode of “Jeeves and Wooster,” which I had on VHS tape, that he reluctantly admitted that Laurie wasn’t American.
@@carolfaber585 Laurie is impressive. Apparently he didn’t let them know he was British when he auditioned.
I have trouble with the subtleties of many accents in my first language, English, but I have very little trouble acquiring one or more native accents in other languages that I speak (Italian, Irish, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese). I have always used the IPA in learning and teaching languages.
Another wonderful video, Dave. I went to a Drama workshop, when I lived in France, and having to sing with native French speakers made me conscious of the different ways we move our mouths. I think it helped my accent when speaking French.
@@maryleenhagger8145 interesting singing is easier to imitate than speaking.
As an accent mimic, have you ever felt the need to use your abilities to modify the accent you default to, ie. your own accent? I’d be especially interested if you did so in a way which doesn’t have clear class connotations, eg. as with those who learn to speak posh or more down to earth to satisfy their social aspirations.
thank you for making such a great video! I'm gonna do my b2 exam this week and I really needed a bit of help with my british pronunciation
Good luck!! Which exam are you doing? The main thing is to be clearly understood and consistent.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages i am doing the ECL B2 in Hungary, the complex (writing and speaking), Im really hoping to pass it
I might even consider to get that Rosetta Stone to improve my english. I won my districts (they are like boroughs in london) english competition but im still feeling unsure for some reason
It turns out im going to Britain soon!
@@kokusz1236 There are countless accents and dialects. not "one".
@@AAA-fh5kd i was talking about the posh accent
Always enjoy your videos, thanks for making them.
@@cliffkolinger395 Thank you.
I find that there are some accents I can do spontaneously, some accents I can't yet do, but also a third mysterious group of accents that I can only do *if I've just heard somebody else do them*. Scottish accents are like this for me, I can only do them when I'm imitating one that I've recently heard
Can you ever move them from the third to the first?
Scottish "accents" are derived from the SCOTS language.
I don’t think I’ve ever been this early to any video.
Looks great so far!
Congrats on being the early bird.
Great video! Thank you
@@AndrewOudin thank you! So glad you think so.
Great video as always Dave! As a native French speaker though, I have to say that there is nothing more charming than an English person speaking French with an English accent. You'll find many French people who'll agree! 🙂
Thank you. Jane Birkin made a career out of it. think some English speakers like French accents in the same way.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages We love Jane Birkin!
Antoine de Caunes did the same (strong French accent when speaking English) whilst presenting "Rapido".
@@maryleenhagger8145yes and really went to town on it 😂
Thanks again for a very entertaining and interesting video. 😊
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you for this, I love your videos! I admit to becoming frightened around 12:40 though. 😂
Very good.
How fun that you're learning Swedish! Jag ser fram emot en utförlig video om svensk fonetik och hur det är att lära sig svenska som engelskspråkig.
Tack! Jag ser fram emot att kunna göra det.
Thanks for teaching us all about thongs! lol. The ending was funny
Glad you enjoyed it
Have you ever tried the chorusing method described by Olle Kjellin?
No, but I’ll look into that.
I can definitely resonate with the articulate setting part. I couldn't really master the Dublin accent until I started to speak with my nose and tighten my lower lip XD.
Thanks for sharing!
Dave, for some reason I'm much better at accents and impressions when I listen to proficient NON-native speakers. Any idea why?
@@TomHasVideo maybe they isolate and emphasise the most salient features. Often impressions are imitations of other impressionists.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages Great video mate
Your manner of speaking, by which you seem to randomly introduce subtle shifts with your various accents as you go along, has left me with somewhat of a perplexed feeling. It is as if there is something within that wanted to expect consistency, probably arousing from the desire to know where one is from, and those various shifts kept throwing it off. Quite fascinating nonetheless
Saya daftarkan :
Josia Silaban
Ani Purba Pakpak.
Do you have any tips for the alveolar trill? There are many UA-cam videos (some better than others) that describe how it's produced and, unless I'm getting something seriously wrong, I think I understand the place and manner. But they all say "relax your tongue" and I think that's the instruction I'm failing at.
It frustrates me that so many fellow native English speakers seem to be able to do it without any interest in foreign languages/linguistics: for them it's an unvalued skill, but for me it's essential and I just can't do it !!! 😬😂
Have you always been able to do it, or was there a particular time in your life when you acquired it? And was it easier/harder to acquire than other non-native sounds?
I struggled a lot learning to do the alveolar trill when I was learning Latin. The only thing that worked for me was practising over and over and over (and over and over). Like learning to whistle, it took a lot of failure and perseverance. Must've taken a few months of trilling in the shower, lying in bed, walking to class, etc.
I struggled with that, too. What helped me was just practising the sound by itself - not trying to pronounce words that include it. Practising the sound by itself, over and over throughout the day (only a few minutes at a time). After some days, I essayed a few words: some improvement. More practice, and trying words every now and then. After a few weeks: substantial improvement and ease of use. I'm long out of practice these days, and it no longer comes as easily, but I can still produce the sound. If you don't use a sound regularly, you tend to become rusty - at least, I do.
I think I’ve always been able to do it. It’s one of those sounds that ‘knowing how’ doesn’t help with. For most others you can just put your vocal organs in the right place and do the thing and it will work. For trills I think the key is not to think about it and try to imitate. Taking a deep breath beforehand also helps. For me the trickiest sounds are implosives ɓ ɗ ɠ ʛ which you get in some African languages and some kinds of Caribbean English. I can do them, but nowhere near as well as a friend I studied with. I’ve always envied his implosives!
@@ButzPunk How did you practise it? I mean what were you doing mechanically? I find I can sound like I'm doing a trill if I try to do a geminate tap, but not sure if practising that will actually help..
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages Yes, implosives are tricky. I think I can only do them as part of a constant stream of talking while breathing in, which doesn't sound quite right!
Físeán iontach eile! Go raibh maith agat!
Tá áthas orm gur maith leat é.
I often wonder if my perception of the “oral posture” of the “standard” southeast English accent (maybe how a generic London newscaster would sound) as being somewhat “forward” in the mouth and maybe slightly “breathier” (wrong word, probably) than US accents is right. Am I imagining it?
As an American, I can actually do it with an American accent-it sounds weird, like how no American would ever speak-but I wonder if it’s just something I made up.
me encanta tus videos perrrrro🥵 (dawg)
Loved this video! It really resonated with me as I’ve had to recently navigate, once again, my journey of assimilating into Mexican culture. For me anyway, it's home, but I start my 25th year in a quizzical mood. I thought I had figured out who I was, but maybe that’s where the challenge lies. My Spanish teacher’s work on my pronunciation last year was transformative, but now I’m struggling to choose an accent that feels true to who I am and reflects where I’ve lived. How much should I adapt without losing a part of myself? It’s a tricky balance, whether you’ve lived abroad or stayed where you were born. Going back to Ireland, I get reactions from “Lost your sense of humor, then?” to “Where are you from? England is it?” Curious to hear how others have handled this journey!
@@darraghogrady3350 Maybe you should sound more Mexican when you go to Ireland.
For me, I have always tried to adopt a native-like accent in languages other than English, but one that reflects where I learned the language. That means Ecuadorean Spanish, Italian and Chinese with a slight southern flavour and Russian with a St Petersburg slant. My English has changed through living in non-English-speaking countries and because I was a language teacher, but I don’t want to sound too American even though I live in California. My south-eastern Englishness is indeed part of my identity.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages As always, on the ball; I knew you'd have this covered! Think you may have pushed me over the fence into doing what's intuitive. Now... are you Quito or Guayaquil? And, do they sound different?
@@darraghogrady3350 Quito and yes very different. Guayaquil is similar to Caribbean Spanish.
Question for you…
When I meet people with accents or dialects, I can’t stop myself from taking on their speech patterns. I have no idea why this happens. Is there a word for this phenomenon? Is it uncommon? I am able to put on various accents at will as well. I also happen to be bilingual from childhood. Thanks in advance. (It’s sometimes embarrassing.)
Definitely relate to this! I’m not sure there’s an actual word for it but I call it being a linguistic chameleon. I find Australian English particularly contagious. I was also in Northern Ireland recently and a friend asked me if I imitated people without realising. My wife said, ‘Yes, he does. Annoying isn’t it?’
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages haha! Thank you for the quick and sympathetic reply! Good to know I’m not the only one!
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages😂😂😂
I think it is commonplace, especially when young, which is why children can learn an accent so easily after moving to a new region. I used to do it all the while, now at age 61 I don’t. It’s a desire to fit in with another culture, a natural human tendency, unless you’re a UA-cam political blogger of course. In that case a regional difference is all too often a sign of mental illness.
My French wife understands my English. If I speak as a Frenchman would, that is.
😎. That’s often the case.
I find myself decent at an accent when speaking a foreign language, but difficult to speak in a different convincing accent when speaking English, is that normal?
Interesting. I’m wondering if that’s because you have formally studied the foreign languages.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages yep
Perhaps you haven’t exposed yourself enough to those accents? It takes a long time to train the ears, and without that natural understanding of an accent, you can’t reproduce it.
Basildon?
That's where unique and wonderful Depeche Mode formed.
Indeed.
I’m puzzled that you think the title is Click Bait, if only all UA-cam titles were so honest. I shared an office a two years with a Scot from Dundee, and learnt his accent. Acquiring an accent requires massive exposure to native speakers, which you obviously know. I’m told by natives that my Scots and Northern Irish are decent, my Southern Irish is a pastiche, my South Yorkshire is decent and my Leicester is native level. But American is impossible, as is Geordie. I think they are too different phonetically. By the way, do you think Scots and French are very close in terms of many features of the accents? And yet Welsh, a celtic influenced accent, is so distinct from Irish, Scots and French.
Yes, probably not that far along the scale of clickbaityness. Yes, exposure is key. I shared a house with someone from Hollywood, County Down. That did wonders for my Norn Iron. I also shared an office with a Dubliner for 3 years but never really got him down - much too subtle.
As for Scots and French, they have some monophthongs in common : tray/très, pat/patte, bow/beau etc. shoot and chute are similar but the Scots one isn’t as far forward in the mouth (though further forward than in accents from England).
Pronunciation can change quite quickly so languages in the same family can have very different phonologies. French is a real outlier among Romance languages for having so many vowels - probably under Germanic influence - but you can see the same processes towards nasal vowels in Portuguese. The big difference between Irish and Welsh is the distinction between broad and slender in Irish, that Welsh doesn’t have at all.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages I was thinking that Scots favours pure vowels over diphthongs, and it has a fluidity, almost a slurring (though that term is pejorative) that is shared with French. It also sounds closer to syllable timing as per French. German and English tend not to elide syllables together, and they are stress timed of course.
As an American I find Scots/Ulster-Scots and Geordie accent/dialect quite simple.
Learning Swedish with a Stockholm accent no less.
@@DennisJosefsson I’m sure my friends from Boden will be impressed.
Do you ever find yourself drifting unconsciously into the accent of the person to whom you're talking? I have been accused of taking the p.ss, but i don't seem able not to! (Tips on how not to wd be appreciated...)
No idea how not to. Oz and Northern Ireland and most contagious for me.
At first glance, I thought this title said, "How to Protect Any Accent" and I wondered if it was possible. Accents are dissipating more and more these days, aren't they?
I'm from Alabama and I have recently found that I cannot say "Keir Starmer" without sounding ridiculous. I have no idea how I am supposed to say it, as I only hear Brits say it and it doesn't come out of my mouth that way at all.
That's hilarious! Thank you so much for sharing. How about if you make it rhyme with Beer Farmer?
Kia (like IKEA but without he i) Stahmeh. Cut the last syllable short. Like in meh 😂
Kee-ur Star-murr, what is hard?
@@tantuce What? Americans have rhoticity. Its Keeur Starmurr< For f sake.
Not ALL 'brits' are non-rhotic.
As usual a decent video Dave, but way too many ads creeping in for such a short video
@@jamesmoletuck How frustrating! UA-cam decides how many to show, I’m afraid.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages thanks for the speedy reply Dave! I'd read that content creators had some control over this. I've unsubscribed from many channels due to it previously. I gave up on having a TV about 30yrs ago for similar reasons. I often think youtube should have a button which allows you to notify advertisers that you will never buy their products for interrupting a video. Personally I will never purchase anything from a company that intruded on a video or podcast with an ad. Anyway I'll shut up now. Great video
brave browser is your friend.
9:14 I would of watched your video without the clickbait
That’s good to hear.
You said skedule.
@@ablestringer9063 I think I say both and can never remember which side of the Atlantic does what. Apparently, it used to be pronounced sedul and both the sk and sh versions are spelling pronunciations.
@@DaveHuxtableLanguages Skedule in America, Sched-ule in britain.
Queen Elizabeth II didn't have an accent. Absolute fact.
"an accent"
Should be any - many thanks for pointing that out,
Any accent. Because it's much funner if one can switch between accents here and there
You ever do a collab with Geoff Lindsey?
Not yet, but that would be fun.
The point you made about adopting accents, or even more so languages, is one I found myself making awhile ago. You are going to sound wrong. You’re going to sound silly, abnormal, like you are mocking someone. Depending on the departure from your home base, you whole mouth, to include your jaw, is going to hurt.
The mocking thing is a tough one. I once did a course in the Scots language, which is of course closely related to English and most speakers are bilingual. I had to strongly overcome the feeling that I would offend people.
your accent is hard to understand for me.
your accents aren’t very convincing
He’s not trying to convince you of anything.
I enjoyed your video a lot.
It’s great to sound almost like a native but it depends on your purpose. I teach English so it is vital for me to be a model for the students. On the other hand I couldn’t care less about how I sound in German. I live in Germany and my friends say they love my French accent. A light accent has charm.
Then for Arabic one has no choice but to pronounce exactly or no one will understand you.