Andaira Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 . Well, I've only been to the touristy area of Orlando. I'm a huge kid and am in love with Walt Disney World. I'm not sure how you cope with the heat though. I adore going to the Disney theme parks, and I'm lucky that it's only a four or so hour drive from where I live . The heat is sometimes unbearable. But one gets used to it after a while. I don't cherish it in the very least though. Quote
BookBee8 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 I adore going to the Disney theme parks, and I'm lucky that it's only a four or so hour drive from where I live . The heat is sometimes unbearable. But one gets used to it after a while. I don't cherish it in the very least though. It's all backwards in Florida. You go inside to cool down and outside if you're cold. I love it though. Talking of accents, I'm very bad with them. I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between someone from New York and someone from Florida! I know there is a difference but I would struggle. Quote
Andaira Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 It's all backwards in Florida. You go inside to cool down and outside if you're cold. I love it though. Talking of accents, I'm very bad with them. I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between someone from New York and someone from Florida! I know there is a difference but I would struggle. That's exactly right. I'm pretty good at defining the accent of a person from time to time. It actually amuses me when I meet someone whose accent is different from mine. Though of course I don't jump out and say "Aha! You're from___" or anything, especially if I don't know them . But it's still fun to try and figure out when the opportunity presents itself. Quote
Nollaig Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Oh I don't do American accents. I know someone whose generally from *a* southern state. But theres 'southerners' and 'the rest of them' when it comes to americans for me. And I can't tell americans or candians apart either. edit: which has gotten me surprisingly dirty looks. Quote
BookBee8 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Oh I don't do American accents. I know someone whose generally from *a* southern state. But theres 'southerners' and 'the rest of them' when it comes to americans for me. And I can't tell americans or candians apart either. That's exactly the same as me. I can tell a southern accent because they're really distinct. And something New York. But other than that I'm lost. *Wants to visit America* Quote
Nollaig Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 That's exactly the same as me. I can tell a southern accent because they're really distinct. And something New York. But other than that I'm lost. *Wants to visit America* Oh I've *been* to america. Thats where I got the dirty looks! I can tell distinct Noo Yoik accents too but only the movie gangster style ones Quote
BookBee8 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Haha, I think I know what you mean about the gangster accents. I bet that's exactly what I'm thinking of! I've been to Florida quite a few times. Just nowhere else (in America). Quote
Echo Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 There are so many different accents in America! There's a few in New York...one for Manhatten, one for Long Island, one for Staten Island... Then there's the Boston accent (think JFK), the upper Midwest accent that people from Minnesota and Wisconsin have, the California Valley Girl, the Texas twang, the Southern Drawl...it goes on and on! But I'm from Washington. *sigh* No accents here. EDIT: And yes, Americans and Canadians sound VERY different. Quote
BookBee8 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 There are so many different accents in America! There's a few in New York...one for Manhatten, one for Long Island, one for Staten Island... Then there's the Boston accent (think JFK), the upper Midwest accent that people from Minnesota and Wisconsin have, the California Valley Girl, the Texas twang, the Southern Drawl...it goes on and on! But I'm from Washington. *sigh* No accents here. EDIT: And yes, Americans and Canadians sound VERY different. I bet I wouldn't be able to differentiate between any of them! I'm useless, hehe. And I bet you do have an accent, you probably don't realise. Quote
bethany725 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 There are so many different accents in America! There's a few in New York...one for Manhatten, one for Long Island, one for Staten Island... Then there's the Boston accent (think JFK), the upper Midwest accent that people from Minnesota and Wisconsin have, the California Valley Girl, the Texas twang, the Southern Drawl...it goes on and on! I laughed as soon as I saw this thread title this morning: "Accents." I have a pretty strong southern US accent.. I actually think it's gotten much less distinct after our moving around, but it still sticks out quite a bit in the places we have lived so far. People can automatically tell I'm from the South. It's funny because my husband is Indian, and also raised in the South, but has 0 accent -- I guess his parents speaking Hindi his whole life cancelled out the risk of a southern accent. So people are always like "What?? Why don't you sound like her, Raja?? Weren't you raised in the South, too?" when they first meet me. Quote
Ceinwenn Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) Echo, yes they can sound very different, but that depends upon where they are from, really. Someone from Boston, no question, sounds different from someone from Toronto, but there are sooooooo many places where Canadian & American accents are virtually identical. Especially in cities/towns which are close to the border. In my experience, for example, people from Northern Washington (& I would include Seattle in there) sounds virtually identical to someone from Southern BC. I'm Canadian & unless someone is from an area where there are obvious accents (like Boston, the South, Detroit, etc) I struggle to tell where they are from. There are certain words which help, mind, like the way we say about, lol Edited January 28, 2009 by Ceinwenn to correct a couple mistakes Quote
poppy Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 I love listening to people's accents and trying to figure out where they come from. We get a lot of tourists here and also lots of US and British TV and films so I think generally we can understand most accents unless very broad. I have a Kiwi accent, which means I have no accent at all. Don't we all think that? My most favourite accent is the Cornwall one, but also love Geordie, Scottish and Irish. I have an American sister-in-law who was raised in Indiana and Oregon. She has a lovely soft American accent I think. Echo, I find it hard to distinguish between the North-Western accent and the Canadian one ... are they similar? Quote
Karen1 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 I was born in Oxford and lived in the Buckinghamshire area until I was about nine when I moved to Scotland so all in all I have a bit of a mixture when it comes to my accent. I am totally in love with the Canadian accent though! Quote
Inver Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 The second one is Geordie, which I speak with family members as we're from Northumberland originally. The third is Scottish, but it's not Aberdonian - it's softer than that and is CERTAINLY not Doric (which is very harsh and full of horrid glattal stops). You have a lovely accent(s) having heard you:D As for soft spots - Scottish accents make me melt. John Hannah. My god. Have to agree there:lurker: Have a soft spot for the Geordie accent have to say. Also love Morgan Freemans accent, where would that be from? Also James Nesbitt (nobody can swear like him...lol) Not quite sure where people would think I am from, originally from Fife (and still have my Scottish accent) but having lived in London for 6 years when at work I had to slow down a bit to make myself understood a bit better !! Which annoyed me. I am certainly not as broad Fife as my dad is, think it is a combination of moving and then living with someone who maybe doesn't have the same accent as you too changes it. You couldn't really say my boys have a particular regional accent to anywhere specific either, just that they are Scottish. Quote
Ceinwenn Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 As for soft spots - Scottish accents make me melt. John Hannah. My god. Me, too! Quote
jewell Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 I was brought up in a new town full of scousers. So i have a liverpuddlean accent. But the town was near a few other places with strong accents. I then moved to wales when i was 17 and i came back with the welsh lilt. And now i live in Bolton which is near Manchester and i have picked up their rather strong 'Bakers born and bread' accent. It's strange really but i tend to pick up accent a lot easier than most. And if i stay somewhere even for a week i can hear in my voice that i'm picking up their sound. It really bugs me! Quote
Guest ii Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 *waves at poppy and bethany* Over here. Quote
bethany725 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 *waves at poppy and bethany*Over here. Hiiii! Yoo hoo! Here I am Quote
Guest ii Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Actually, I think your story about your husband, Bethany, just showed that in the end both Poppy and I were talking about the same thing. Parents and surroundings are the same thing, if your parents speak a different language than your school, for example, when growing up. So it's about language-specific exposure. If you're only hearing one accent per language, you pick that up (like your husband did with Hindi). But if you're hearing several accents (like he did with English, what with the Southern and his parents Hindi-influenced English, and what else there were around), they sort of negate each other and nothing sticks. For me personally it's also because of the different languages. I didn't learn to rely on only one language, I switched from one to another several times a day (French at school, English when DD was around, French with maman, Finnish with the nanny/au pair. Or when we lived in an English-speaking country it was English at school, French at home, Finnish with the nanny again...) so it was hard to stay 'tuned' to one accent. I heard several, and more importantly, I switched not only accents but languages. (speaking of which, that's the easiest way to make your kid crazy, seriously, it totally messes with your mind.) Quote
Nollaig Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 You guys *need* to hear the accent where I'm from. Fortunately I don't have it, but it is what is affectionately known as a 'Kerry/Farmer's/Bogger' accent. Its thick, its rough, its hard to understand, it usually employs terrible grammar and is usually spoken by farmers or people who live up mountains, which is essentially where I grew up. Even ask Crotalus about the Kerry country accent (as opposed to the Townie accent, which isn't QUITE as bad) and I'm fairly sure he'll probably start smacking his head off the wall at the mention of Kerry people Or Cork people. Or Limerick people. Actually, we pretty much all hate each other round here Quote
poppy Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Now what were we talking about again??? Least favourite words wasn't it???? I only speak one language, we were always taught that if you wanted your children to learn another language, you needed to start very young. Also that if you have parents who speak different languages it is OK to speak both to them from birth. It may slow them down starting to talk but they will catch up. But from what you are saying ii, it can be very confusing? Quote
bethany725 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Actually, I think your story about your husband, Bethany, just showed that in the end both Poppy and I were talking about the same thing. Parents and surroundings are the same thing, if your parents speak a different language than your school, for example, when growing up. So it's about language-specific exposure. If you're only hearing one accent per language, you pick that up (like your husband did with Hindi). But if you're hearing several accents (like he did with English, what with the Southern and his parents Hindi-influenced English, and what else there were around), they sort of negate each other and nothing sticks. For me personally it's also because of the different languages. I didn't learn to rely on only one language, I switched from one to another several times a day (French at school, English when DD was around, French with maman, Finnish with the nanny/au pair. Or when we lived in an English-speaking country it was English at school, French at home, Finnish with the nanny again...) so it was hard to stay 'tuned' to one accent. I heard several, and more importantly, I switched not only accents but languages. (speaking of which, that's the easiest way to make your kid crazy, seriously, it totally messes with your mind.) This makes perfect sense! It was all confusing when I was writing it, but between you and my husband, it really makes sense why you can swap accents easily, and he can speak perfect English but only accented Hindi. You guys *need* to hear the accent where I'm from. Fortunately I don't have it, but it is what is affectionately known as a 'Kerry/Farmer's/Bogger' accent. Its thick, its rough, its hard to understand, it usually employs terrible grammar and is usually spoken by farmers or people who live up mountains, which is essentially where I grew up. Even ask Crotalus about the Kerry country accent (as opposed to the Townie accent, which isn't QUITE as bad) and I'm fairly sure he'll probably start smacking his head off the wall at the mention of Kerry people Or Cork people. Or Limerick people. Actually, we pretty much all hate each other round here This sounds..... dreadful....... Quote
Nollaig Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 It is, luckily, I don't have such an accent. I get considered posh by such people Quote
Guest ii Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 Now what were we talking about again??? Least favourite words wasn't it???? I hate the word 'nibble'. *cracks up* But from what you are saying ii, it can be very confusing? It can, yes. You learn to speak them, yes. But you find yourself making mistakes with phrases and figures of speech. Like... 'write down' in English. In Finnish it's directly translated 'write up'. So I say "Let me write that down" in Finnish. Or 'take a shower'. The verb used in Finnish is the same as 'visit', so I'm literally taking the shower here. My friends are cool though, they just ask me politely to return it as soon as possible. *laughs* I also find myself using a 'less positive' adjective instead of a negative one in English, which I blame French for. Like... it's not 'boring' but 'less interesting'. Bad example as I do use 'boring', but it illustrates the problem. Also, if I've been speaking French lately, I make more French-based mistakes, and if I've been in Finland for a long time I make Finnish mistakes (like 'writing things up', which is quite different activity to 'writing down'). Usually it's English creeping into Finnish and French, though. Quote
bethany725 Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 That sounds REALLY confusing and hard to keep straight when speaking and writing. I'd be a MESS. Constantly. Quote
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