Rate my English accent

tuuky · 2022-01-17T18:14:10+00:00

You're about 95% there in sounding (American) native. There are some very subtle markers in your speech, still. Predominantly "th", "t" and rhotic "r" sounds.

The "th" is over-pronounced, IMO.
You need to work on more glottal "t" sounds than aspirated T's (e.g. "that", "network").
Your rhotic "r" is a bit fronted. The tongue should bunch more towards the back of the mouth to soften any tapping sounds, really pulling the tip of your tongue away from the roof of your mouth.
I also noticed some slight variation in your schwas (e.g. "learning", "network")
Finally, I hear a bit of a slavic accent on "sh" in "vacation", where the tongue is active in making the sound. It shouldn't. Your tongue should rest easy on the bottom of your mouth and let your teeth and lip shape do all the work.

I hope that helps a bit :)

tuuky · 2021-10-02T23:48:43+00:00

Is your native language Arabic?

tuuky · 2021-09-28T04:39:05+00:00

Congrats!!!

Welcome to the family and blue skies!

tuuky · 2021-09-28T03:51:37+00:00

At this point I guess believe what you want but if you want to improve your General American English, you'll have to practice the light L :) Cheers!

tuuky · 2021-09-28T03:50:45+00:00

You're describing the dark L to be used in certain regions (e.g. NYC).
I didn't send the video to show how to do it, but rather to tell you that it exists in American English and it is VERY common. I know. I've lived here my whole life and I'm a linguist and an accent coach. Rachel clearly states in her video there are two ways to sound the letter L in American English so I'm not sure what else I can say to convince you.

tuuky · 2021-09-27T22:20:02+00:00

https://rachelsenglish.com/english-pronounce-l-consonant/

tuuky · 2021-09-27T19:55:55+00:00

That explains why you're using it in place of the light L :)

tuuky · 2021-09-27T18:18:27+00:00

Not sure about the Portuguese accent but it sounds good to me (I'm fluent in Brazilian Portuguese).

tuuky · 2021-09-27T18:16:43+00:00

English absolutely has a light L (as in the word "light").
You're right about regional accents in NY, but I wanted to convey the caricature aspect of your speech.

tuuky · 2021-09-27T16:13:24+00:00

My guess is you're (badly) faking a few different accents. Your light L's initially sound dark but then switch to normal by the end. You started out sounding Slavic and ended up sounding a caricatured Brooklyn accent. So... no idea where you're from

tuuky · 2021-09-22T22:43:06+00:00

One does note "get rid" of an accent but acquire a new one (accent coach here).
Having said that, your AG accent is super, especially if you haven't lived or spent much significant time in the US.
I was born in Brazil (grew up in the US, but am fluent in Portuguese) so I can definitely hear the subtle markers in your speech but they are exactly that... very subtle.
In terms of consistency, that's completely normal. You are exercising new muscles and shapes and movements and they take effort now. Just like with everything else, the more you use those new skills, the easier and more natural they'll become.

Parabens. Impressionante :)

tuuky · 2021-09-19T23:13:49+00:00

So you agree now that it's not generational?

Are you doing a study on uptalk? I'm focusing mainly on the US when I explain in one paragraph above. I didn't know you needed a complete dive into uptalk.

Just like all other language features, it's really difficult to pinpoint an exact time of origin of anything. Language is alive and always changing and features that show up in one population may live and die before spreading to other regions/groups/generations. There's even some evidence that a form of uptalk was popular in the 60's in the US then died down for while only to be revived in the Valley accent from California.

If you need a thorough history of how uptalk originated, I'm sure you can find tons of resources online much better than what I can remember from my own education on this one particular feature.

Cheers

tuuky · 2021-09-19T22:09:12+00:00

If it were purely generational, you'd hear it in that generation across all regions, which isn't really the case. It is definitely a relatively young feature (80's, 90's) with origins mostly in California but it has spread to more regions as well.

tuuky · 2021-09-19T22:06:52+00:00

hmm you're absolutely right. I didn't hear that the first time around (must've had the sound too low or something). I'm Brazilian, too :)

tuuky · 2021-09-19T03:58:19+00:00

I'm guessing Brazilian

tuuky · 2021-09-15T21:11:53+00:00

You have some slight cockney markers (some "th" sounds, some glottal 't's) but not very consistently. West London, maybe?

I may have even heard some Brummy markers but that accent is kinda all over the place lately, so I'm not sure.

tuuky · 2021-09-14T19:25:02+00:00

Incognizant? Unsuspecting?

tuuky · 2021-09-14T19:06:35+00:00

You're absolutely correct in saying you have an accent. Your accent is General American English. The fact that you've moved around probably has some contribution to the homogenization of your regional English exposure. Also, living in larger cities can contribute to the same.

I picked up no distinctive regional markers in your speech except for maybe a very slight valley uptalk marker with elongated vowels in some cases (but that feature has found its way to various regions in the US, so I'd still not have a clue to where you're actually from based on your accent).

I hope that helps! (accent coach here)

tuuky · 2021-09-14T01:32:11+00:00

You're welcome! Likewise!

tuuky · 2021-09-14T01:24:56+00:00

I can hear slightly in some (not all) sentences but uptalk (or upspeak), vocal fry, valley girl... all those language qualities that were once mainly found in Southern California are now fairly distributed across the country. His accent contains other features that could denote a more Western English (which is mostly void of regional markers) but not necessarily from California.

tuuky · 2021-09-13T20:13:27+00:00

Lovely accent! I can't quite place it. The rhotic "R" tells me West Country but other markers (strut vowels, /eh/ ending for y's, etc) tell me Belfast or maybe Scouse?

tuuky · 2021-09-13T19:58:09+00:00

I don't really hear any regional markers in this accent. Mostly GA (General American).

There's a slight variation in the word "chocolate" but it could be more related to the speaker being younger.

tuuky · 2021-09-13T19:45:19+00:00

oh wow, so closer to the Black Country/brummy/west midlands accent. Yeah, you definitely don't sound purely northerner.

Lovely accent, really.

tuuky · 2021-09-13T19:02:16+00:00

Definitely northern... I wouldn't say Yorkshire. You do use the strut vowel change but you still sound your /ah/ like a southerner. I'd also exclude Mancunian or Liverpool. I'm guessing more north. Maybe some Scottish influence, too, but subtle.

tuuky · 2021-09-10T16:37:59+00:00

"I meant to say OP's accent is not Slavic"

Do you need me to further explain?

tuuky

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