NationStates Jolt Archive

Can anyone pull off accents not native to your county? Such as an American being able to pull off a British accent, an Australian pulling off a Japanese accent, etc.

Did you teach yourself? How?

I'd like to know. It'll be fun pretending to be different types of people wherever I go. :)

And has ANYONE been able to pull off a movie trailer narrator voice? I so want to be able to do that. Just do it in class..."The classroom was thought to be a safe place...until JESUS CHRIST RETURNED! This Fall, experience a saving like no other! Harrison Ford as President Bush, Tom Cruise as Colodia, and Mel Gibson as Jesus Christ."

Can anyone pull off accents not native to your county? Such as an American being able to pull off a British accent, an Australian pulling off a Japanese accent, etc.

Did you teach yourself? How?

I'd like to know. It'll be fun pretending to be different types of people wherever I go. :)


Even though I'm Scottish, most people say I sound nothing like a Scot.

I've had it all: Russian, Bolivian, French, Kenyan. Irish, German, Sweedish et cetera.

I'm from Glasgow (Scotland), but other Glaswegians say I haven't got a Glasgwegian accent. I dunno why, exactly. I have a Scottish accent, but I lived in South Africa from ages 5-7, so I think I've picked up a "twang."

I can pull off accents: New-York, Australian, French, English-speaking Quebecer, English-speaking Latin, some kind of British (just don<t know from where)...

If i listen to an accent long enough, i just pick it up and start spekaing it without noticing... It happens a lot when i travel.

Maybe that's why people can't exactly pinpoint my accent...

I can speak like the Swedish Chef.

Bork bork bork.

Many people say I have a british accent, yet I'm Canadian born and bred.

I can do a sort of British (mainly enhanced by prefacing every sentence with "I say...". Please don't tell me Brits still talk in that pretentious way.) and a sort of American Southern. I can also try a Russian. I myself speak without an accent, so it's easy.

I can do a really thick southern accent, a typical slave's accent, and a British accent. I'm not sure if it's something you can learn, though. I think it might be a gift.

What the hell is a "British accent"? That's like saying there's such a thing as an Asian accent.

I can do a great German accent (specificly: Bavarian) but since so many people in my area have a real German accent, including some of my family members, thats no biggy. I can do a really good Irish accent too, picked it up from the same man that taught my Dad how to speak good, proper English. My Dad is German, but from a part of Germany where they rolls their Rs and speak German a little softer as well (actualy, its Alt HocheEutsche-Old High German...the dialect my father speaks) so the result of having an Irishman help him polish and refine his English is that he gets mistaken for an Irishman...by other Irish, no less.

My Dad also picked up a lot of the colourful phrases used by Iriishmen of the generation of the one who helped him with his English. I've heard them being used all my life.

ie: "Ahh, ye gobshshike! (sp?) Yer as ignorant as the back o' me balls, and alls they've seen is shit!"

or "He's so ignorant, he doesn't even know if his arse is plank bored or reamed out."

"ugly as the ripple on a slop bucket!" etc.

I seem to pick up the accent of wherever I am within a couple of hours of exposure

What the hell is a "British accent"? That's like saying there's such a thing as an Asian accent.
I think a "Britsh Accent" over here in NA is regarded much the same way a Chinese Accent is. There are a multitude of different ones, but to an untrained ear, they're all generally the same. Not fair, not true, I know, but such is the case.

I think a "Britsh Accent" over here in NA is regarded much the same way a Chinese Accent is. There are a multitude of different ones, but to an untrained ear, they're all generally the same. Not fair, not true, I know, but such is the case.
Absolutely no-one ever could confuse a Scottish and an English accent, yet both are British.

I knew this guy that was in London UK for the beginning of his life, and then moved to toronto. The funny thing is in the middle of a sentence he would suddenly switch his accent from british-london to an English-Canadian accent. And he woud claim that he did not notice this. It was very weird...and very annoying after awhile

I can do a range of impressions and accents, some better than others. I think the skills required for singing are the same ones required for this sort of thing. You need a good ear, and be able to modulate your voice well.

Language has its own music, with the same words said at different pitches to mean different things. Accents are basically speaking the English language to a different song. Once you pick up the tune, it's easy, though, as I said, some are easier than others. My favorite is an Indian accent, because you can also re-arrange the words in Yoda-esque fashion. When someone cuts me off on the freeway and I want to yell "douchebag!," it's just funnier to say something like, "Why are you bagging your douche!?" in an Apu accent.

One night in Australia, even though we were Americans and therefore exotic foreigners already, my buddy and I decided to pass ourselves off as a Scot and an Irishman. And we pulled it off. I was the Irishman, btw. I like the Irish accent... very musical.

Announcer voices are easy for me, but I already have a strong voice. You just speak very clearly, forcefully, and melodramatically.

i can do an american accent, some english accents, not very well though, and i can do an alright scottish accent. i can sort of do a russian accent as well but it always ends up as a jamaican accent :confused:
oh, yes, and i can also do irish accents as well. spectacularly, i might add and i will.

I can do Irish, some English, and a bit of Scottish. That would be about it.

Absolutely no-one ever could confuse a Scottish and an English accent, yet both are British.

Very true, but I was thinking more along the lines of a Geordie accent versus a Nottingham accent...both are English, but sound nothing alike. Maybe the problem is that over here, British and English are used interchangabley when reffereing to accents. I gather there is difference between being British and being English?

Oh yeah, I forgot...I can do a Jamaican accent...including a good deal of patois (batybwoi, bumbaclaat, I and I, etc.)

Very true, but I was thinking more along the lines of a Geordie accent versus a Nottingham accent...both are English, but sound nothing alike. Maybe the problem is that over here, British and English are used interchangabley when reffereing to accents. I gather there is difference between being British and being English?
Yes, being "British" means living in the British isles. For this reason, Eire is still British (though they'd probably hate me saying that,) as well as Scotland, Wales and England. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are part of the United Kingdom, whereas Eire is not. Each country has it's own distinct culture and accents, and each country also has many different accents to boot. For example, the Glasgwegian accent is totally different from the Edinburgh accent, despite there only being ~50 miles between the two cities.

Very true, but I was thinking more along the lines of a Geordie accent versus a Nottingham accent...both are English, but sound nothing alike. Maybe the problem is that over here, British and English are used interchangabley when reffereing to accents. I gather there is difference between being British and being English?
A huge one.

Call a Scotsman English and he will not like it. Call him British, and he probably wont mind. Same for Wales and Northern Ireland (although calling people British in NI is always a bit risky)

the UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland....England is just a part of it, calling people from outside England is always insulting...because nobody likes the English :D

Yes, being "British" means living in the British isles. For this reason, Eire is still British (though they'd probably hate me saying that,)
the Republic is very definitely not British....

I can pull of a Welsh accent, unless I'm talking to a Welsh person, in which case they clock instantly that I'm faking it. I'm not very good with any other accents, I'm too Northern. It shows in whatever voice I'm trying to do.

One of my best mates is from Pakistan but I swear to God her accent is American. And so does everyone else who meets her.

the Republic is very definitely not British....
Is Eire still attached to Northern Ireland? Yes? Then it's still British. Britain is a group of islands. Eire is part of one of them.

Yes, being "British" means living in the British isles. For this reason, Eire is still British

little bit of advise for you, don't call any irish person british if you value your life, if you don't then fire ahead

I can do a Cockney accent pretty well. Not the stereotypical one, either (Aye, g'vnah!).

Others? Not so sure. Well, my dad's CERTAIN ( :rolleyes: ) that I'm faking the way I talk, so I guess I can do a Pennsylvania accent very well :p.

Is Eire still attached to Northern Ireland? Yes? Then it's still British. Britain is a group of islands. Eire is part of one of them.
no...its not. Britain is a short name for the UK, Great Britain is an island, Ireland is an island. the Republic is not British.

no...its not. Britain is a short name for the UK, Great Britain is an island, Ireland is an island. the Republic is not British.
Ireland is a British Isle, therefore it's inhabitants (all of them) are British by their very definition.

Actually... they are "The British isles". It's the Roman name for it. the United Kingdom of Great Britain *the name of the mainland* and Northern Ireland... it's not actually called Britain... it's like calling Russia Asia. Except we're used to calling the UK Britain.

OT, I can do a slight English, a good southern gentry accent, a bit of Jamaican... that's about it.

Ireland is a British Isle, therefore it's inhabitants (all of them) are British by their very definition.
.....no.


there are two main islands. Great Britain and Ireland.

part of Ireland is owned by the UK, but it is still Irish, as well as British. the Republic is Irish. Great Britain is British.

The full name of the UK is "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." Note the separation of Britain and Ireland there.

.....no.


there are two main islands. Great Britain and Ireland.

part of Ireland is owned by the UK, but it is still Irish, as well as British. the Republic is Irish. Great Britain is British.
Pfft, go look it up on Google or something. For someone who claims to be Irish you're quite far in denial about the globally recognised designation of your island. Anyway, we're off topic, so time to leave for sleep.

The full name of the UK is "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." Note the separation of Britain and Ireland there.
"Great Britain" is the mainland. "The British Isles" is all islands, including Ireland, in the British archepelago.

I speak how the people around me speak. So over time, I've picked up several "accents"... and I've been told I have them by people when I least expect it.

The funny thing is that Connecticut'ers doesn't have an accent. The Boston and NYC influences cancel out... :)

Anyway:
* I can do Southern US, as I lived in Virginia for 3 years.
* I can do Irish. No, not Bostonian/fake American Irish, but a sort of Dubliner.
* I can do "Eastern European Movie Stereotype", since I am Slovak and speak it and Polish and some Czech.
* I can do London/English, since I grew up watching British TV on PBS. (Amazing what a diet of I, Claudius, Dr. Who, Are you being served? Blake's 7, and Blackadder will do...)

It's embarrassing sometimes, though. Like when I go to Virginia for a week and come back to NYC... and sound like a refuge from a Lynard Skynard concert...

"Great Britain" is the mainland. "The British Isles" is all islands, including Ireland, in the British archepelago.
Correct. However, you are confusing your own terms. Originally you said: "Ireland is a British Isle, therefore it's inhabitants (all of them) are British by their very definition."

Ireland is a British Isle, as it is a part of the archipelago bearing that name. However, the term "British" as you used it the second time applies to a nationality associated with the particular island of Great Britain, and NOT shared by their Irish neighbors. There is no nationality associated with the British Isles, though that would not be the case if centuries of campaigns to eradicate the Irish had been more successful.

though that would not be the case if centuries of campaigns to eradicate the Irish had been more successful.

well, it wasn't really as much the campaigns for the eradication of the irish as it was for the eradication of the irish culture and integration of british laws and culture in ireland but enough of the irish history. we're steering way off topic and i didn't particulary like learning irish history in school and i don't want to be reminded of that time.... ughhh.....

Pfft, go look it up on Google or something. For someone who claims to be Irish you're quite far in denial about the globally recognised designation of your island. Anyway, we're off topic, so time to leave for sleep.
...I don't claim to be Irish. I'm British (Irish as well, but that would just complicate things).

But the Republic of Ireland is not.

i can do Russian, German and British

I do a great Foghorn Leghorn.

English I can do, put not BBC English, more of an upper-crust one. (Many of my friends are from Oxford)
French is very easy. Just narrow your mouth, hestitate somtimes, use big words improperly, make it nasal, stick out your bottom lip slightly when you talk, shrug sometimes, use your eyebrows, swallow your "r"s... See I lived there... ya actually don't try that one... very hard.
I'm a ninth generation Texan, but my Texan accent is terrible!

I speak how the people around me speak. So over time, I've picked up several "accents"... and I've been told I have them by people when I least expect it.

The funny thing is that Connecticut'ers doesn't have an accent. The Boston and NYC influences cancel out... :)

Anyway:
* I can do Southern US, as I lived in Virginia for 3 years.
* I can do Irish. No, not Bostonian/fake American Irish, but a sort of Dubliner.
* I can do "Eastern European Movie Stereotype", since I am Slovak and speak it and Polish and some Czech.
* I can do London/English, since I grew up watching British TV on PBS. (Amazing what a diet of I, Claudius, Dr. Who, Are you being served? Blake's 7, and Blackadder will do...)

It's embarrassing sometimes, though. Like when I go to Virginia for a week and come back to NYC... and sound like a refuge from a Lynard Skynard concert...

I love those Brit Coms!

I can pull off Aussie, and an English accent that sounds kind of like I read news for the BBC. I can also do a hispanic/latin american accent. Partly because I'm an actor by training, and partly (on the latin-american accent) because I lived in Texas for many years. I can also do a Texas twang.