Anonymous  +  249805 Fri, 28 Jul 06 12:15 PM Hello everyone, Many people in this forum seem to be interested in discussing differences between British and American accents, as well as which accent they prefer learning. Some people have  gone as far as to express their desire to learn very specific accents, e.g. some people wanted to acquire a Scottish accent while others wanted to learn Cockney. I'd like to ask all of you who choose to imitate speakers of a particular accent: why is this? Why do you want to learn Cockney, for instance? Is it because you feel comfortable speaking Cockney? Is it because people understand you better owing to your Cockney or near-Cockney accent? Some of you have highlighted that almost all non-native speakers have an accent typical for their country/first language. While this is largely true, I also think it should be mentioned that anyone learning English needs to imitate native speakers and to learn to pronounce English sounds so as to be understood. Imagine a person with Chinese or Polish as their mother tongue speaking English with his or her native phonemes. I personally doubt native speakers would understand what he or she says (unless they knew Chinese or Polish), and I think most of you'll agree. So, in conclusion, learners of English clearly need to imitate native speakers. The question is: whose pronunciation should you try to imitate? Queen Elizabeth II's? Tony Blair's? George Bush's? Or somebody else's? I'd love to hear what you guys think. Anonymous Accents, American Accents, Pronunciation, Scottish Accents, Learning English, Speaking English

	Alienvoord  +  249877 Fri, 28 Jul 06 04:25 PM I'd say one should model one's English on the English of the community one is a part of. So if you're in Canada, learn Canadian English. If you're in the UK, learn the standard English of the UK so that you can understand and be understood by people anywhere in the country. Alienvoord Joined on Tue, Jul 25 2006 Toronto Full Member 345 Pronunciation

	CalifJim  +  250050 Sat, 29 Jul 06 02:14 AM I would model my speech on the most neutral and standard accent of the country I was going to live in.  If not traveling there, I would base it on the accent of the English speakers I would be in contact with most as part of my job. CJ (By the way, here's a completely technical point:  speaking English with his or her native phonemes is an anomalous idea.  A phoneme is impossible to say or hear; a phoneme is an abstraction.  -- But no big deal; everybody knows what you meant!) CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,389 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Accents, Pronunciation, Speaking English

	CalifJim  +  250665 Mon, 31 Jul 06 04:54 AM Have you done a lot of traveling in Canada?  In the U.S.? CalifJim

	nona the brit  +  250752 Mon, 31 Jul 06 10:14 AM The 'conservative RP accent' as spoken by the Queen is NOT the standard UK accent or even the standard RP accent. In fact, very few people speak like the queen and everyone else finds the accent hilarious! nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all. Accents, Pronunciation

	KickingCat  +  252988 Sun, 06 Aug 06 11:11 AM But in swedish schools are RP standard. I agree that it sounds silly but that's the way it is. Nowadays it is allowed to use GA (general american) accent also but only if you can stick with that and not mixing dialects. I don't think I sound like Queen Elizabeth II, nor aristocratic either. I know that I would never sound lika a native speaker but close enough anyway. Our Prime Minister Göran Persson sounds like the Swedish Chef in the Muppet Show. Do you what I mean? That is unacceptable! What do you guys think? KickingCat Joined on Fri, Aug 4 2006 Sweden New Member 42 I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception. - Groucho Marx Accents, Dialects, Pronunciation