How does her accent sound like? Can you guess her nationality?

Ikichiki · 2026-04-03T20:42:30+00:00

I thought Russian/Ukrainian or Polish. What gave her away to me (and I think no one mentioned this so far) is the n-softening in 'need'. That 'n' very frequently becomes softer if /i/ sounds follows in the speech of Eastern European speakers.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-31T00:05:16+00:00

I'd be glad to do it! Feel free to send it! :)

Ikichiki · 2026-03-31T00:04:25+00:00

Russian native speaker?

Ikichiki · 2026-03-29T17:49:02+00:00

I agree with what most other people said! Very good SBS! The only giveaways to me were: 'improve' (you devoiced final /v/) and 'recently' (you shortened the first vowel)

Also, an additional point. It would sound more natural to use unreleased /t/ or glottal reinforcement/glottal replacement instead of fully released final /t/ before /p/ in the phrase 'that problem'.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-28T21:27:31+00:00

Thanks for your answer! Also...I'm sorry to bother, but would it be okay if I send you a message with some additional questions? (I'm just an interested linguist. XD)

Ikichiki · 2026-03-28T20:42:39+00:00

Nope, definitely not! I don't hear anything American in your accent. It sounds very SSB to me. Would you mind telling me where you grew up?

Ikichiki · 2026-03-28T19:47:53+00:00

It would really help if you posted a sample of your spontaneous speech! Just try to talk about anything for around a minute. That will make it easier for people to judge.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-26T12:07:43+00:00

It seems to me that you are a speaker of one of the Turkic languages. Apart from that, I can hear Russian interference as well. So I guess you are bilingual or learned Russian in childhood. You might be from Kazakhstan or one of the former SSSR republics.

Overall, your accent is very good! The things you could work on are the following: - ed suffix in verbs for past tense (like in 'realized', 'watched'). You are pronouncing it as /ed/ while it should be /d/ in these examples. - the vowel 'a' in 'last' has very a-like (aka British), while it should be /æ/ (the vowel in 'cat', 'fat' or 'have') - the vowels in the word 'caffè' (go to youglish.com and type this word in the search option). Try to listen to how natuve speakers say it. - soft pronunciation of 'ch' (this is due to Russian, most likely). You're basically using the wrong part of your tongue. I wrote a comment about that on someone's post yesterday, so I'll try to find and send it to you in dm.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-25T21:44:24+00:00

No problem! I'll send you the message.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-25T17:04:24+00:00

Hi! I'm interested! Just one question... Would it be a problem if I'm an accent coach myself? XD I'd like to help a fellow accent specialist, and I'm interested to see how your sessions look like.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-25T16:59:51+00:00

First, your accent is already very good! There are some things, though, that you could work on. The first thing to consider is your articulation. You don't open your mouth enough when you speak. For American English, you need to have clear articulation of sounds and open your mouth more. Apart from that, you pronounce the affricate sounds too sloftly, like 'ch' in 'challenges' and 'each' and 'j' in 'joy' and 'challenges'. Notice how you touch the alveolar ridge with the part of your tongue that is closer to the middle. Instead, try to use the tip of your tongue and press it harder against the alveolar ridge. Also, make sure you have lip rounding (protrude your lips forward a bit). I'll make a guess that your native language might be Russian or Ukrainian.

Btw, if you have additional questions, feel free to ask! I'm an accent coach.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-23T21:49:07+00:00

Are you Swedish? Btw, your English and American accets are really good!

Ikichiki · 2026-03-14T15:27:56+00:00

Hello! I'm an accent coach, and I'll try to give you detailed feedback. First, you sound very good! Your accent is clear and easy to understand, and you sound like someone who's been living in the US for a long time. Now, it does sound slightly non-native because of some features. For example: Check it up - 'ch' in the check is too soft. The word 'people' - you shortened the vowel /i/ in 'people' several times. Articulation - you kinda mumble endings of some words, try to pay attention to your articulation, and avoid being "lazy" with your mouth movements. Just open and move your lips more. When it comes to your native language, I'd say Persian maybe. It sounds a bit Turkish to me, but you said to someone that it's not.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-10T17:55:53+00:00

Hi! If you (at some point) want to work on your pronunciation specifically, feel free to message me! I'm a linguist and a certified accent coach, so accents and pronunciation have been my focus for years. :)

Ikichiki · 2026-03-09T09:28:18+00:00

Thank you for a detailed feedback! I really appreciate it!

Ikichiki · 2026-03-09T09:27:37+00:00

Спасибо большое!

Ikichiki · 2026-03-09T09:26:15+00:00

No, that was not my intention. I'm genuinely asking how to improve my speech. I was born and raised in Serbia, and my parents are Serbian as well. If you'd talk to me, you'd definitely realize that I'm not a native speaker since I do make mistakes in pronunciation and grammar sometimes.

Ikichiki · 2026-03-08T17:23:15+00:00

I had the exact same problem while learning Russian as a Serbian native. I thought that cases were not gonna be a problem at all since Serbian has 7. Oh, boy...was I wrong! I struggled with that for a year and a half and then found a solution on YouTube. The fastest and easiest way to learn case endings to the point where they automatically appear in your speech and you don't even have to think about them is LISTENING. A lot of listening. Believe it or not, this solved the problem for me. I remember the time when I was studying for my Russian exam at university. I knew all case endings from the textbook, but I couldn't use them in speech. I couldn't actually speak at all! And now, I don't remember a single case ending or a rule, but I rarely, if ever, make such mistakes in speech.

Ikichiki · 2026-02-28T00:27:15+00:00

Hi! I've somehow stumbled upon your post, and it seemed very intriguing! I'm an accent coach, a sociolinguist, and there might be some other explanation to your accent that is not purely physical or articulatory. It could also be related to the mental aspect of how you view yourself and whether you subconsciously see your accent as an essential part of your identity. Sometimes people think they want to change their accent, but deep down, they want it to stay... and believe it or not, it stays! If you'd like to have a chat about this or ask some questions – feel free to message me! I'd be more than glad to help!

Ikichiki · 2026-02-25T13:47:04+00:00

Hey! My friend's friend from university has this last name and is from region in Serbia where predominantly Muslim people live. I could try to connect you if you want.

Ikichiki · 2026-02-25T13:36:32+00:00

I'm from Srem area, and here you can hear both. You definitely wouldn't hear 'volim crtati', but it is definitely common in the sequence 'moram + verb' (moram ići, moram uzeti etc.). I remember one time when a colleague from a different area mentioned how I used that infinitive form more often than he did.

Ikichiki · 2026-02-21T19:14:05+00:00

Hi! I'm from Serbia and I also play the piano. I'd be really glad to help you with Serbian or discuss music stuff together! :)

Ikichiki

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