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Do you put an accent on your internal voice?
2

Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

(OP)
My mother is native Italian, I hear a common accent, grammatical errors and cadence in native Italians speaking English based upon their native tongue. I grew up around a family of Polish emigrants. They and their friends all spoke with a common accent, grammatical errors and cadence as well. In fact maybe as a result, I can home in on non-native English speakers and usually determine their country of origin even if I don't hear their name (a dead giveaway most of the time), as long as I have heard someone from their country speak English before.

I was reading a post earlier tonight in another forum from a Polish engineer. I suddenly realized that while reading it, I was putting a Polish accent on the internal voice in my own head as I read it! I stopped and realized that the same grammatical errors and cadence came through in typed text, so my brain then applied what I already knew about those parameters and applied a Polish accent to it.

Does this happen to anyone else? And for you non-native English speakers, did you just read my post and apply an American accent to it?

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Sometimes a German-accented professor in my head explains technical things to me as I read.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I've found it depends more on what accent I am arround at the time. Being in Scotland at the moment, my internal voice tends to have a Scotish accent, purely because that is what I am used to hearing at the moment.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Coming from New York City, I can ID different accents and cultural tendencies, however, I do not hear any voices in my head :P.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Tick, I think the same German professor is in my head too.  To be honest, I usually only apply the internal accent to be humorous or cruel, but it is a conscious effort.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

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RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

The problem I have is the internal accent creeps out.  I was trying to tell my boss what the ops VP had told me a while back.  The Ops VP is I believe from the Indian subcontinent originally with the corresponding accent.

As I was telling my boss I started doing an impersonation of him!  I didn't mean to it just came out when I was trying to tell my boss exactly what he'd said.

As to the accents of all the other voices in my head, well JMirisola beat me to the punchline.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

(OP)
That happens to me too. It's embarrassing really, plus it could someday get me fired if I do it to someone without a sense of humor. I work for a German company now, I have a foreboding that I will let my Arte Johnson accent slip out (Arte Johnson is the comedian who played the German soldier on Laugh-in who said "Verrry intereschtink, but schtupit!")

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Hmmm if you mimic an accent in the original country, will they pick up that you are making fun of them?  It would seem that you are speaking there tounge.  Well I would guess if somebody from Idnia came to the US and used a John Wayne accent to mimic Americans, it would be funny.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

The Office Season 1 Episode 2 "Diversity Training": the boss can't figure out why it would be offensive for him to do Chris Rock's routine mimicing Chris Rock's voice in the office, when it's acceptable for Chris Rock to do the routine himself on HBO.  Not a whole lot to do with this thread, but that boss is hilarious.

TwoBallCane - Offsensive is in the eye of the beholder and it can certainly be offsensive to mimic anyone as I'm sure you know. But a funny  picture you painted about foreigners mimicing Americans in English.   (is mimicing spelled right?)

The voice in my head talks just like me, even when he is narrating grammatically incorrect gibberish for me.  Hmmm.





=====================================
Eng-tips forums: The best place on the web for engineering discussions.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

You might have to differentiate between the UK and US versions of The Office.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

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RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Star to Mirisola,

I deal often with internationals and I tend to think in my head how they would say things when i read emails, mainly becuz I have had funny experiances when talking with them.



RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I've caught myself falling into someone else's accent at times.  When it's an American accent I don't think they notice or care (they probably see it as my funny accent fading rather than their funny accent kicking in), but when it's a foreign accent, I have to wonder whether they think I'm making fun of them.

Hg

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RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

My wife makes fun of my accent all the time. I am US she is CZ

Careful with calling people Americans, Canadians are "Americans" also and still different culture from the US.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

For linguistic purposes, Canada is as close to the US as any given US dialects are to each other.  I doubt most speakers from outside North America can hear the difference.

Hg

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RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Everyone from Argentina to Alaska are 'Americans'.  

Back in the UK though when we said Americans we meant inhabitants of the U.S.A.

I do a lowsy american accent when I try, although apparantly I've started losing my Brit one so must be picking it up.

Just realized off topic, sorry.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

HgTX,

I'm not so sure about that, my English cousin can pick up on the diffences enough to have seperate fake American and Canadian accents.  I'd like to hear from some of the Europeans here, can you tell a Canadian from an American someone from the USA, I mean)?

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

You can tell Canadians by the way they say "Eh".

I can distinguish regional US accents to some extent.  

However HG has a point, to the uneducated ear non French Canadian is as similar to say New York accent as say a Georgian one.

They are all different but it's not immediately obvious that Canada is a different country.

What gets me is that I get accuse of being an Aussie more than a Brit.  Clean your ears out Americawinky smile.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

HEHEH

Ahhh yes, been there done that...and the poor New Zealanders have it the worst.

People first think their English, then Aussie...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Having spent some time in New Zealand, they really wouldn't appreciate that.
Mind you, when I get accused of being English by Americans and I explain that I am actually Welsh, I usually get a long pause, followed by "But that's part of England, right?"

The horrible mirror image of this, is when usually Americans (sorry to get on your case again!) claim to be Irish, or Italian, when they had some distant relative in the past from that country.
You aren't Irish, you're American!
I once spent a drunken 10 minutes in a bar explaining why this was annoying to a Californian girl, who responded with "yeah...but I am actually Scotch"
It beggars belief.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Well I dont take it personally...

I agree its a sad thing SOO many Americans do, I used to do it to. It is ironic that i had to spend a year in Europe to realized I AM American. After that I started saying my Great Grand parents came from Germany.

Now everytime I hear an american using a fake Italian accent saying their italian its like nails on a chalk board...
I used to argue with people that they are american of X decent, till i reallized it didnt do any good

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

OK to hear accents in voices from the brain, REALLY BAD to answer them with any accent!

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

My inside voice doesn't have an accent. But it don't fall for the mispronunciation trap I usually fall to when I speak english, japanesse, spanish or any other language.

Also, I will, uncounciously, quickly adopt some typical sound from an other accent, along with their expressions. I experience it a lot among french canadian from different part of canada and event different part of the Quebec.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Well this Ozzie can tell a Canadian from a Merkin, typically after aboot three sentences.

Cheers

Greg Locock

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RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I can't usually diagnose Canadians.  Every once in a while the "aboat" comes out (or oat), but till then, I can't really tell Toronto from Cleveland.  The less colorful dialects of the northeastern and northwestern US aren't significantly different, to my ears, from southeastern and southwestern Canada.

I'm starting to be able to tell east Texas from west Texas, though.

Hg

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RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

When you think, do you think in Texan?

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

... whenever I see the phrase "The enemy is in sight" I switch on my internal Sean Connery voice.  Childish I know.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I don't think I think in words at all.  I do talk to myself, but that's different.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I definitely put accents on my internal voice, but only if I know what the writer sounds like. I don't seem to atribute foreign accents to emails from people with foreign sounding names unless I have heard them speak.
Have you tried to read Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh-- it only makes sense if you read it with a Scottish accent.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Ditto anything by Niall Griffiths.  I am personally a slow reader, mainly because I get half the entertainment from making the book into a play in my head.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I've done that once, reading Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.  It wouldn't have occurred to me to do so except that I'd seen it as a play, and the Indian/Pakistani accent definitely puts a different spin on things (great for bringing out subtle ironic humor).  But I had to consciously remind myself to keep doing it.  Normally I don't have an internal narrator when I read.

Hg

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RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Quote:


For linguistic purposes, Canada is as close to the US as any given US dialects are to each other.  I doubt most speakers from outside North America can hear the difference.

Actually I found by and large the Europeans COULD tell the difference. I couldn't though (except for the very obvious eastern Canada, Quebecois, and Southern US).


SLH

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I have run across some Texans that have never been anywhere (Except Oklahoma - The Indian Territories) They learn accents from the Movies and TV. So to some Texans, all Aussies sound like Mick Dundee, and Brits sound like Sean Connery (although he is Scottish) I guess some times he's scotch, but that would be with a good cigar.
I have never had a conversation with a Welshman, so I get mine from Liza Doolittle’s father in "My Fair Lady".
I must admit that I have to do an Indian accent for a few seconds before calling Tech Support to tune my ear to the accent, or else I have to make them repeat themselves a couple of times. Not racist...just fact.
I had a young person of Indian descent working for me for a while and his accent was very slight, but he spoke softly. After 20+ years working around aircraft I had to have him repeat himself several time every time. We talked at length about my hearing loss, but that was just the way he spoke.
(I'm to vain for hearing aids...yet)

Rerig

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

"I have never had a conversation with a Welshman, so I get mine from Liza Doolittle’s father in "My Fair Lady".
"

Um, I assume you're talking about the film, and it's been a while since I've seen it but...

I don't think he's Welsh, it's cockney (East London/within hearing distance of Beau Bells) if I recall correctly.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

KENAT,
If you don't mind my asking, what part of the UK do you hail from?  I'm at a loss as to what accent to put with your posts.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

KENAT ... shame on you! Beau??? Bells.

cheers

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Ahh, well.

I'm from Basingstoke in Hampshire (South of England) and spent a lot of time in Southampton & Portsmouth too (both Hampshire).

So, if you're from London then I sound like I have a fairly rural accent, a right carrot cruncher as it were, straight off the last turnip truck.  The sort what would talk of cackleberry's (or is that cackleberries) and Hampshire Hogs.  (Probably influenced too by my mums accent who grew up in a small village outside Basingstoke and whos parents were from further West).

However, growing up in Basingstoke and attending the schools I did when I was younger, I also picked up some 'Cockney' as a lot of Londoners moved to Basingstoke after the war and so the local accent is heavily influenced by them.  So to someone from the sticks I sound like a right geezer from the big smoke.

Then of course I've been here in the US a few years and have had relatives and a few strangers from England say I've started to lose my accent.

And all this despite my 2 sisters and Dad having far more refined accents!  Oh yeah, and I have a slight speech impediment, I've got better with my R not sounding like W but my th still tend to sound like F (as in things) or D (That, The).

So, I don't know what accent you should put!

If all else fails do Hagrid from the Harry Potter movies with a touch of the Gecko from the Geico commercials!

Whenever I hear a recording of my voice I hate it, I think it makes me sound stupid/unintelligent but my US born wife finds it cute so I can't complainwinky smile

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

CBL, I knew it didn't look right but couldn't decide what it should be!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

(OP)
I just had a class session from a man who's accent was completely new to me. He spoke English as a native, but the accent was not typical Brit (Cockney, Liverpool or otherwise), Scot, Irish, Aussie, Kiwi or Sou' African, all of which I am familiar. Turned out he is Welsh. That's a new one to me. Interesting inflections.

I heard that Tom Jones (the singer) is Welsh, but probably by the time he made it big he had been Americanized and lost the uniqueness that I heard last week.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I don't know, when he gets going you still hear Tom Jones accent when he talks.

However as with most chanteuse, he has something of a mid Atlantic accent when singing.

Also North and South Wellian accents are different.

As to typically Brit, British is typically taken to include inhabitants of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland & Wales.  All of those countries have regional variations (to the point that I can't understand half of what my relatives from Newcastle say).  

Most English accents you hear in American media are either a variant of Cockney (Spike in Buffy, Geico Gecko etc.) or Recieved Pronunciation/Queens English (Maxwell Sheffield & the butler in 'the nanny', the butler in fresh prince almost every Roman in screen history etc).

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Yes, Tom Jones definitely doesn't sound American to me, and I have lived in South Wales for my entire life, perhaps he puts on the accent when he's on tv over the pond.

Quite right about the North and South Walian accents, to my South Walian ear the North Walian accent is pure comedy, it is very nasal, but then I dare say that they might find my accent equally amusing.

There is also a discernable difference between South and West Wales accents, and I can also usually tell if someone has Welsh as their first language by the way they speak English.

If you started out in West Wales, and drove towards London you would pass through West Wales, South Wales, Bristol, Westcountry, Home Counties, and Cockney accents (apologies if I have missed anyone) all in the space of a 3-4 hour drive.
You could also find a similar diversity of accents if you travelled that distance in a straight line anywhere in the UK, are there any other countries that people know of with the same density of accents?

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I've often noticed that Brits start to sound Australian after a few years in the USA.

Note also that if you started out in Bristol and drove south west (towards Penzance) you would also pass through various different regional accents - each distinct (e.g. Plymouth has a distinct accent).

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?


To hear Charles Aznavour or Julio Iglesias, singing in English, are good examples of peculiar French and Spanish accents.


luis

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

You want to try walking the 14 miles between Wolverhampton and Birmingham and listening out for the differences in dialect as well as accent.

Just ever so slightly back on topic I know but:
Seen on a T-shirt recently: "I do whatever the voices in my wife's head tell me to."

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

SomptingGuy ... I have also noticed that in Canada. It's probably the main reason North Americans confuse so many ex-pat Brit accents as Australian.

cheers

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

CorBlimeyLimey, I doubt it.  I've had the following conversation many times with waitresses:

Waitress: Gee, you have an accent.  Where are you from?

SG: Think of a country that speaks English?

Waitress: Uh, Australia??

SG: The answer is in the question.

Waitress: Uh?

SG: Ok, I'll have 4/5 of a pint of ice cold horse p155 then.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Yeah, I got accused of the Aussie thing when I was still relatively fresh in the States.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

won't've thought there would be any wanna-be Ozzies after the lamentable world cup

singing "Eeeeemanuel Kant was a real pissant ..."

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Now I am really curious what KENAT and Guy talk like...and if I would think you were Aussie or English

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Whenever I try to put an English accent to that inner voice, the first kind that I think of is the one in Quadrophenia's "Bellboy" (cockney?).  I can come up with others, but that one always pops up first.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Gymmeh, I wouldn't lose any sleep over what I sound like.  Trust me on this one!

ewh, ignorance prevents me from responding to your post I'm affraid.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Quadrophenia - The Who's 2nd rock opera about the mods vs the punks.
Great British rock - better than Tommy IMO.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I've lived in Brighton.  I've seen "the back alley".  Those who've seen the film will know.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I'm aware of Quadrophenia just haven't seen if for so long (in fact I'm not sure I ever saw the whole thing) that I couldn't even remember the character.

Inexcusable ignorancewinky smile  But hey, I am under 30, what do you expect of the younger generation.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

It was Sting, putting on a rather curious southern working class accent.


Probably a bit of a stretch for a Geordie schoolteacher.

Cheers

Greg Locock

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RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

I thought the expletive: "Bellboy!!" was yelled out by the Phil Daniels character when he saw the Sting character doing his day job.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

The voice I was thinking of is that of Keith Moon on the original album release.  It is actually referred to as "Bell Boy (Keith's Theme)".

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Hehe, I laughed a lot with that of the accents. It is common to other languages as well.  

Maybe when I read text in english, I have an internal CNN newsreader doing it for me.  As a spanish native speaker, I can hardly tell the difference between AU,CA,UK or US english flavors.
Personally, I've found asian speakers easier to understand by phone.  Of course, this is just a personal impression from the english level of those customers.
Some AR customers are funny on english ('goose-talk' for Woodstock), with a strong italian accent. Fortunately, I got them and offer switching to spanish.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Embarrassed myself recently when I asked one of my son's friend's mom if she was Australian, when her accent was clearly British.  

And, yes, find myself replying in text to Italians in a broken-English fashion.

Or talking to the gentlemen working on our house siding in Spanglish.

But, so far, I have managed to avoid the classic fatdumbyankee method of dealing with furriners, which is to talk to them in slower, LOUDER american-talk, so they can understand...

Recently the wife forced me to watch "Mr. Bean's Vacation" or "...Holiday", or whatever.  There were subtitles for the French being spoken on-screen, and Mr. Bean would occasionally reply to questions with "Oui".  The French person would then say "Your French is very good".  He would always reply, "Gracias!"

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Shouting slow English to foreigners is as much an English trait as it is American.  Indeed I would suggest we (English) are better (or is that worse) at it than anyone else. "COD AND CHIPS!"

- Steve

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

My 'ooh aye lad' grandfather1 was yorkshire, my 'blessed be gawd' grandmother1 was west coast indecipherable irish, my 'you takin' the mickey then' cheeky grandfather2 was geordie and my 'anyroads' grandmother2 was gloucestershire.

I grew up in Ottawa and my young son of 6 is pure Harry Potter.....You really don't want to know anymore! Ok my vife is Danish...You vill comply.

I read almost everyhing in an accent of some sort. Ever tried Tis by Macourt? It's very easy for me to laugh aloud.

RE: Do you put an accent on your internal voice?

Most people acts the same with foreign-speakers, tourists, etc.  I've found the same attitudes with US/european tourists on street, or sometimes on the phone, if I'm not up to the other's talking speed in english.

LEVEL 1: Courtesy, assistance, talk repeating slowly, politely. Sense of humor from both sides.

LEVEL 2: Patience tank draining out, the other guy is now mentally challenged. Talking louder, hoping that volume helps in decoding.

LEVEL 3: Patience is over, attempts to get rid of the guy, nervous search for other people to pass over the language problem. Help turns into direct orders "Follow me. that person could help you", "I'm sending an email to you later"

Of course, the level reached depends on your language skills, the culture towards foreigners in your location, the context of the meeting, education, etc.

Regards,
GonzaloEE

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