In a queue for Ann Frank museum in Amsterdam,
I was in a short conversation with an american,
He asked were in Australia I was from..I'm 100% English, lived all my life (up 'till now anyway) in the city of dreaming spires.
When Ice Road Truckers started, their was a man from Yelloknife in Canada and it was like no language you have ever heard or more like a mixture of all languages.
The accent sounds the same to us but does it sound different to Americans from their own accent or can they only tell the difference when a Canadian pronounces about "aboot" or when they end a sentence with "eh"?
Even I can tell the difference, and I am from Belfast so I am sure Americans and Canadians both know they do not sound the same.
We have a guy at work who moved here from Canada in 2005, from that city across from Detroit, Windsor Ontario? There was a 'slight' aboot accent, but not too strong. Watch the American film "Fargo" and you'll see similarities, as i tend to think people up north (US and Canada) towards the center, tend to have similar accents. My mothers side in north western Montana close to the Canadian border have a certain accent. Lots of '-eh?'s and "ennits?"
Larger cities like Vancouver and Toronto are melting pots filled with people from every corner, so you'd not hear that stereotypical accent as strong as you might, say in Calgary or Edmonton.
Jim Carrey, Seth Rogen, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, they just sound American to me, can Americans tell, they're not that good with accents usually.
probably because theyve lived here for years. Some even decades. When you're amongst a group of people, you tend to mimic and lose your ~isms. I always tend to think that 'aboot' accent is more towards the center of their country. Also, I read that something like 90% of the Camadian population lives within a short distance from the US border. Not to mention Television. Although Canada has their own television industry, they still watch American program(me)s as well.
In a queue for Ann Frank museum in Amsterdam,
I was in a short conversation with an american,
He asked were in Australia I was from..I'm 100% English, lived all my life (up 'till now anyway) in the city of dreaming spires.
I somehow knew there'd be a comment on how an American would mistake a Brit for an (insert here.. Auz, NZ, South african etc lol)
A couple of posters have said this and yet it's my experience that most Canadians - or perhaps I should say Ontarians - slur over their vowels or miss them out altogether! As for the original question, it probably depends where the Canadian comes from, if he's a Newfie for instance, then it's pretty obvious!
Americans all claim to have an Irish granny, Canadians do not. Just ask them.
Actually I think Canadians do it more! Most of them are "hyphenated Canadians" and I rarely come across anyone who just says they're Canadian. Typically they'll say "I'm Italian" and when I ask them how long they've been in Canada they proceed to tell me that they've never been to Italy but one of their grandparents came from there!
Ohio boy here form the middle of the Midland American accent. We'd see Canadians come down and it depends usually some you can pick up instantly like ohh they're from up north, others sound just like us.
But the accent of the prairie provinces has a whole bunch of similarities to the Northern Great Plains accent which you would expect because they're right next to each other. I can't tell the reason that some Canadians have stronger accents than others whether it has to do with city or suburbs, or rural areas, whether it has to do with what province they're from or something else, it's just that some you can pick out like instantly and others blend right in.
I visited Alberta many moons ago and it tickled me that people used the same words as me. The same words had the same meaning. This tickled me - after all we are nation divided by the same language- I'm sure a famous person said this or along those lines.
The accent sounds the same to us but does it sound different to Americans from their own accent or can they only tell the difference when a Canadian pronounces about "aboot" or when they end a sentence with "eh"?
I'm American and generally no, not until certain words pop up such as your example.
Some American accents are lovely, some are not. I find the Southern accent quite grating and the New York one. Other than that, they're ok.
There are more English accents I dislike. I won't list them as that's not what the thread is about.
It's as ridiculous to generalise about American accents as it would be to generalise about English ones.
Generalizing doesn't mean that there are no other types of a particular accent. The fact remains, there certainly is a general American and Canadian accent that outside of certain words sounds identical.
Comments
:eek: What a crazy notion.
You mean they're also putting on a bit of an American accent?
That's a possibility.
There's not a black and white answer to your question, OP.
I was in a short conversation with an american,
He asked were in Australia I was from..I'm 100% English, lived all my life (up 'till now anyway) in the city of dreaming spires.
I think the strongest canadian accent is the Newfie accent. It's pretty difficult to understand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8rIbitJAbQ
As far as identifying the general canadian accent. Yeah. Here's a commercial that was just on tv:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEwXgjxbmAQ
I have no idea who that actor is, but I know he's canadian from his accent.
Even I can tell the difference, and I am from Belfast so I am sure Americans and Canadians both know they do not sound the same.
Larger cities like Vancouver and Toronto are melting pots filled with people from every corner, so you'd not hear that stereotypical accent as strong as you might, say in Calgary or Edmonton.
probably because theyve lived here for years. Some even decades. When you're amongst a group of people, you tend to mimic and lose your ~isms. I always tend to think that 'aboot' accent is more towards the center of their country. Also, I read that something like 90% of the Camadian population lives within a short distance from the US border. Not to mention Television. Although Canada has their own television industry, they still watch American program(me)s as well.
I somehow knew there'd be a comment on how an American would mistake a Brit for an (insert here.. Auz, NZ, South african etc lol)
Maybe he had Crododile Dundee on his mind.
I don't see how you can tell he's Canadian, Sounds like a typical jock to me.
Listen to the vowels.. especially the (numerous) times he says "hour".
Me too. Their accent sounds rusty compared to the average American. Also, their prounciation of certain words makes it even easier to spot them.
I've been to Canada many times, and I've *never* heard a Canadian say "aboot", nor indeed end a sentence "eh".
You say the same thing in every thread about Americans.
Not only that, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the OP.
I can only tell if it's super obvious. Canadians talk more slower and alot more toned down and diluted to the garish American accent.
Can you imagine the outrage if an American came on here and implied that there is only one British accent?
A couple of posters have said this and yet it's my experience that most Canadians - or perhaps I should say Ontarians - slur over their vowels or miss them out altogether! As for the original question, it probably depends where the Canadian comes from, if he's a Newfie for instance, then it's pretty obvious!
They do that all the time, and so do Canadians.
Actually I think Canadians do it more! Most of them are "hyphenated Canadians" and I rarely come across anyone who just says they're Canadian. Typically they'll say "I'm Italian" and when I ask them how long they've been in Canada they proceed to tell me that they've never been to Italy but one of their grandparents came from there!
But the accent of the prairie provinces has a whole bunch of similarities to the Northern Great Plains accent which you would expect because they're right next to each other. I can't tell the reason that some Canadians have stronger accents than others whether it has to do with city or suburbs, or rural areas, whether it has to do with what province they're from or something else, it's just that some you can pick out like instantly and others blend right in.
I'm American and generally no, not until certain words pop up such as your example.
Garish? Seriously?
Some American accents are lovely, some are not. I find the Southern accent quite grating and the New York one. Other than that, they're ok.
There are more English accents I dislike. I won't list them as that's not what the thread is about.
It's as ridiculous to generalise about American accents as it would be to generalise about English ones.
Generalizing doesn't mean that there are no other types of a particular accent. The fact remains, there certainly is a general American and Canadian accent that outside of certain words sounds identical.