Ask A Stupid Question!

[Baby Bethany]

The topic of this conversation is that there is no topic. You can just ask any stupid question, just something you are curious about, and hopefully someone reading it will know the answer. The question doesn't have to relate to the previous post.

Stupid question 1:

I love travel and learning about other cultures and I speak a couple of foreign languages, so dialect interest me.

Now, I am aware that you guys in the US have different regional accents, so for example I can tell by their accent when someone is from California (not the difference between San Fran and LA though) and I know when someone is from Florida or NY, and if a person is from the Deep South (though again I won't know which part).

So the question is, can you guys tell the difference between English regional accents, or do we all sound the same to you?

Stupid question 2:

In Britain it's only the working class (blue collar) like myself that really have a regional accent. The upper class have a Hugh Grant type accent, regardless of which part of the country they come from. Is this the same in the US? For instance, does a guy from Illinois have an Illinois accent regardless of his background/education?

Beth

[BabyDavey]

Stupid question 1:

I love travel and learning about other cultures and I speak a couple of foreign languages, so dialect interest me.

Now, I am aware that you guys in the US have different regional accents, so for example I can tell by their accent when someone is from California (not the difference between San Fran and LA though) and I know when someone is from Florida or NY, and if a person is from the Deep South (though again I won't know which part).

So the question is, can you guys tell the difference between English regional accents, or do we all sound the same to you?

I'm from Canada, and being part of the British Commonwealth and having close ties with the UK, we tend to have a bit of Brit television on our networks, occasionally. I believe we even have a couple of BBC networks, though I don't have digital cable anymore so I cannot remember which ones. I also grew up knowing children of British immigrants and have also worked with some Brits. I can tell the difference in accents between different regions, though I probably couldn't identify which region it came from.

Can you tell the difference between different regions in Canada?

[Baby Bethany]

I'm from Canada, and being part of the British Commonwealth and having close ties with the UK, we tend to have a bit of Brit television on our networks, occasionally. I believe we even have a couple of BBC networks, though I don't have digital cable anymore so I cannot remember which ones. I also grew up knowing children of British immigrants and have also worked with some Brits. I can tell the difference in accents between different regions, though I probably couldn't identify which region it came from.

Can you tell the difference between different regions in Canada?

I've never been to Canada, but I can tell a Canadian accent. No, I can't tell different regions. For me it's comparable to an Aussie, I know they are Australian from a mile away but I don't have a clue what part.

Just out of interest, I once enquired about a working visa for Canada, but your embassy said I need to speak French. Do you guys all more or less speak French?

Beth

[Baby Bethany]

To answer your question Beth, I was a theater major in college and as part of my vocal and speech training, we studied different dialects from both around the states and the UK. I have always enjoyed different dialects, and I loved the Monty Python program when I was in school way back when.

One of my favorite dialects was cockney, which I guess would be a 'lower class' dialect from poor regions around 'good ol' lonnon' etc. and we worked on Scottish and Irish as well. A scottish dialect is very difficult to replicate due to all the "rolling 'R's " and the pitch changes and such.

Irish is a tad easier, no rolling 'R's" but there is a sing song kind of banter and pattern to it, its a fun dialect to do.

For "english" dialects we covered, most were just general english, but the 3 major ones, one being cockney as I said, and then what is called "standard english' or "standard Stage"(which is a general softening of the 'american' dialect and proper or queens english, which is much broader with many deep sounds produced in the throat.

Most of what I heard in Monty python ( I know, a poor source) seemed to be a standard english or british sound, (middle class?) where many of the upper class and 'Royals" have a much deeper and broader sounding speech.

Thats about all I can tell for 'regional' UK dialects, the social class where they may come from. Cant tell the county or locality of where they may be from.

Locally in the states we have about 4 distinctive regions that product distinctive dialects. The north east, with its "Boston' sounding dialect. The south. deep south with the gentle southern drawl and 'soft' 'r's and some consonants, ( toss in some Cajun or creole and it gets real confusing) the 'Midwestern' which equates to a cowboy kind of speech pattern (kind of a cross between southern and 'western' dialect or a kind of "texas drawl) and 'western' which is my dialect, which has a distinctive "hard 'R'" sound ( where the 'r' is distinctively pronounced rather than softened like in southern speech)

As for closer regions, like Los Angeles and San Francisco, they really are so close that there isn't a difference in dialects, it's all west coast, and all the same, from San Diego to the Canadian Boarder, even I cant tell and I have been here all my life.

Its very difficult to describe all this in writing unless you have studied any of this so you know whats is being described, but I hope that helps answer your inquiry.

Another of my favorite dialects is Australian and New Zealand, since they all have the same root dialect, cockney. I have a hard time telling them apart, and when I goof, the speaker gets a bit miffed at my error.

But it's a game I like to play when I hear a distinctive regional dialect I try to identify. Its fun, but can also be embarrassing.

I have found that the best place to hear these is in hotels where travelers from around the globe come, its a lot of fun to try and identify where someone is from by their dialect.

No stupid question for anyone at the moment....

qwack (western dialect )

Yeah, Cockney is working class from London (like myself) but someone from the counties around London will pretty much sound the same.

The interesting thing about the Cockney thing is that some of the upper class use a fake Cockney accent, as they think it sounds cooler than using the Queens English. We call these guys Mockneys.........Guy Richie is a Mockney!

Beth

[BabyDavey]

I've never been to Canada, but I can tell a Canadian accent. No, I can't tell different regions. For me it's comparable to an Aussie, I know they are Australian from a mile away but I don't have a clue what part.

Just out of interest, I once enquired about a working visa for Canada, but your embassy said I need to speak French. Do you guys all more or less speak French?

Beth

Canada is 'Officially' a bilingual country, that's about where it stops. I live in the only officially bilingual province, New Brunswick, and I do not speak French -- at least not very well. I could not hold a conversation 'en francais' to save my life, I'm sure.

According to wiki, 67% of Canadians speak English as their mother tongue, and about 21.5% are French. That being said, I would imagine that somewhere in the lower range of the middle are functionally bilingual. If you are planning on working anywhere other than Quebec, northern New Brunswick or some small places in Ontario, I can't see why you would need to speak French. More and more people are immigrating to this country and I would doubt that they speak both languages.

I have never tried to apply for a Canadian work visa, obviously, but I had once obtained a work visa for the Netherlands. Not speaking Dutch, I was able to obtain a visa as I was sponsored by the company wanted to hire me.

I would imagine that most any country does not want to issue work permits to people for a field that there is a surplus of people already. They require the sponsors to prove that they cannot find the qualified people within their own country before they can hire abroad.

At least you tried it the legit way, most people just come here and work, forsaking the permit.

Regards,

[Juliabam]

Mockney's Now THAT is funny.

As to the Canadian bi-lingual question, I believe that most of the "French-Canadians' are on the east end of Canada, Over on the west side, BC Yukon Territory, Northwest Territory, Alberta (?) etc, all have pretty much a western dialect. I didn't sense much if any French influence, (other than a few travelers didn't bother to bathe or use any deodorant )

All whom I have met were friendly people, and I enjoyed my visit

qwack

Now what I think is funny is how the americans speak.. in "the goold old black and white whestern days" pee ple said, that americans spoke like they had a potato in their mouth. Nowadays, it sounds more and more like the national trend is to speak with a potato up their nose... What is up with all that, did the americans have too many failed nosejobs, or do they learn to speak through cheap soap operas ? :-)

[BabyDavey]

Now what I think is funny is how the americans speak.. in "the goold old black and white whestern days" pee ple said, that americans spoke like they had a potato in their mouth. Nowadays, it sounds more and more like the national trend is to speak with a potato up their nose... What is up with all that, did the americans have too many failed nosejobs, or do they learn to speak through cheap soap operas ? :-)

One of my Dutch relatives once told me that when she was learning to speak English in school, it was geared more towards the Queen's English. Her teacher told her that if she wanted to sound 'American English' to talk like she had a mouth full of chewing gum.

[Crowbaby]

unfortunately sinc ei have not experianced all the english dialectsyou do sound the same. if i wasmore familiar with someone rom the sussox area vs someone from a different area, then yeah i would pick up thesubtle differences. but all i know is this, you cantfuckin understand pikey for shit hahaha.

well honestly i work with people who have coem from different areas of the states tand i think,they all for the most part (the higher ups that is) soundthe same. the only differenceare the southerners. theyre accents are veryt hick and hard to lose no matter what.

[Pipsqueak]

Just out of interest, I once enquired about a working visa for Canada, but your embassy said I need to speak French. Do you guys all more or less speak French?

I took a year of French in high school. Here in B.C. more people speak a Chinese language (Cantonese or Mandarin) or Punjabi than speak French.

[Baby Bethany]

I would love to visit Canada, but I'm not sure of the best parts to visit. I mean with the States you pretty much see it on TV or in the movies all the time, so you can work out which parts you would like to see.

Oh, talking about Canadians and Americans. Why are Canadians portrayed like that in South Park? Is it some in American joke that I'm not aware of?

Beth

[BabyDavey]

I would love to visit Canada, but I'm not sure of the best parts to visit. I mean with the States you pretty much see it on TV or in the movies all the time, so you can work out which parts you would like to see.

You could always do what my wife and I did. We live near the east coast, and we drove our (evil gas guzzling) truck all the way across the country. 12,500km in total. You see a whole lot of stuff, and meet a whole lot of people. Quite fun. To save money we 'camped' in the back of our truck (fitted with a truck cap and mattress) and used walmart parking lots as our campground. Very fun! (Plus I made a deal so I was able to wear diapers 24/7 for the whole trip)

Oh, talking about Canadians and Americans. Why are Canadians portrayed like that in South Park? Is it some in American joke that I'm not aware of?

We're their smarter cousins to the north, so they portray us as knobs to make themselves feel better.

Just kidding.

[Dill_Pickle]

I would love to visit Canada, but I'm not sure of the best parts to visit. I mean with the States you pretty much see it on TV or in the movies all the time, so you can work out which parts you would like to see.

Oh, talking about Canadians and Americans. Why are Canadians portrayed like that in South Park? Is it some in American joke that I'm not aware of?

Beth

Beth:

What to see really depends on what you want to see. I'm kind of a mountain outdoors person, so I'd tell you Grand Canyon, Bryce or Zion Canyon, Crater Lake (Oregon), Mt St Helens, Kileauea(Hawaii), Denali (Alaska). Las Vegas is a really strange city, though I enjoyed my gambling in Reno a bit more. New Orleans is also quite a place. Canada, Canadian Rockies are quite spectacular, as is the canadian ice fields. Vancouver is an absolutely beautiful city. Haven't been to Montreal long enough to know anything about the place. Shakespeare (ontario) is a fun place. Isle Royal (on Lake superior) is quite something, as is the drive from Thunder bay north of the lake.

Others may have their own ideas, and your mileage may vary. I'm trying to get to the bay of Fundy, so I can whitewater raft on the tide.

[Vic]

Well I grew up all over the place here in the good ole U.S. My parents moved around a lot (but I found them every time). I mostly grew up in southern California, in Los Angeles county, but had lived as far from there as South Dakota for awhile. I do not think that people from the west coast have a dialect, I don't.

I have no accent that I can relate to any part of the country, I currently live in Indiana, and I don't hear much of an accent from the people that live here either.

Now I have found (because I grew up mostly in the barrios of southern Cal) that the Mexicans have an accent. Even those of second and third generations living in the states. I can't help but wonder why that is that way. It would seem to me that you'd lose the accent if you were fluent in both languages, or even if you were only fluent in English.

They do have accents in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming,Texas, Georgia, Boston, New York, and Canada. These being some of the places I've been to where I've noticed an accent, but I'm not sure about other places I've been where I haven't noticed accents (like Hawaii), because maybe the people there were people who'd moved there from other places. In some places (like Maine, or the Cajun of Mississippi) the accent is so bad it's sometimes hard to understand.

I don't really think that people from the west coast have that big of an accent. Of course I lived up by San Fran for awhile too, but didn't notice much of an accent there either.

Peace,

Vic

[Baby Bethany]

Well I grew up all over the place here in the good ole U.S. My parents moved around a lot (but I found them every time). I mostly grew up in southern California, in Los Angeles county, but had lived as far from there as South Dakota for awhile. I do not think that people from the west coast have a dialect, I don't.

I have no accent that I can relate to any part of the country, I currently live in Indiana, and I don't hear much of an accent from the people that live here either.

Now I have found (because I grew up mostly in the barrios of southern Cal) that the Mexicans have an accent. Even those of second and third generations living in the states. I can't help but wonder why that is that way. It would seem to me that you'd lose the accent if you were fluent in both languages, or even if you were only fluent in English.

They do have accents in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming,Texas, Georgia, Boston, New York, and Canada. These being some of the places I've been to where I've noticed an accent, but I'm not sure about other places I've been where I haven't noticed accents (like Hawaii), because maybe the people there were people who'd moved there from other places. In some places (like Maine, or the Cajun of Mississippi) the accent is so bad it's sometimes hard to understand.

I don't really think that people from the west coast have that big of an accent. Of course I lived up by San Fran for awhile too, but didn't notice much of an accent there either.

Peace,

Vic

When I speak to my family in Oakland I think they have a really strong accent.

Beth

[DiaperBoyKR]

Ahhhh. Come on, ya'll are forgetting one of the big accents...I'm from western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and regardless of where I go in the States, I get asked if I'm from there. Its rather unique, and we even have our own way of saying things. As far as dialects/accents go, there are the 4 main accents that have been touched on, but each individual region has its own variation, and you can tell the difference. Boston is different than New York is different than Philly is different than Pittsburgh is different than Ft. Lauterdale. The only city where this isnt true in my experience is DC because of how many people blend there from all over the country.

I can tell the difference between English accents, but like the others i probably couldnt put a specific region to any of the given accents.

Stupid Question #5(?)

How many of us have traveled significantly outside of the country of our birth? If you have, where have you gone, and if you haven't do you want to and where would you like to go?

[Baby Bethany]

Ahhhh. Come on, ya'll are forgetting one of the big accents...I'm from western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and regardless of where I go in the States, I get asked if I'm from there. Its rather unique, and we even have our own way of saying things. As far as dialects/accents go, there are the 4 main accents that have been touched on, but each individual region has its own variation, and you can tell the difference. Boston is different than New York is different than Philly is different than Pittsburgh is different than Ft. Lauterdale. The only city where this isnt true in my experience is DC because of how many people blend there from all over the country.

I can tell the difference between English accents, but like the others i probably couldnt put a specific region to any of the given accents.

Stupid Question #5(?)

How many of us have traveled significantly outside of the country of our birth? If you have, where have you gone, and if you haven't do you want to and where would you like to go?

I've been to more or less every country in Europe, with the exception of Sweden, Finland, Romania and some of the Balkan countries. I've also been to the US, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya (never stayed, just crossed the border and went back) Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Kenya, South Africa, Jamaica, Cuba, Russia, and Singapore.

I would like to go to Canada (flown over it, but never stopped) China, Sweden, India, Australia, New Zealand, and some of the South American countries, Brazil maybe. Although I've been to Russia twice, one of my aims is to do the Trans Siberian Express all the way to the Pacific.

Beth

[nappyaddictUK]

"yes, we ARE all individual!" "how shall we fuk off oh lord'

[Mean Mommy]

Oh, talking about Canadians and Americans. Why are Canadians portrayed like that in South Park? Is it some in American joke that I'm not aware of?

Beth

Yes, it goes like this.

America is walking along, and he bumps into Canada.

"Oh how do you do? I'm Canada. I recycle, respect the environment, don't fight any wars, and (used to..sob) have a weaker economy. Plus, I still honor the queen!"

America smirks,

"Sup Canada, I'm America. I'm the leader of the free world, I do what I want, say what I want, and if you fuck with me I'll crush you with my gigantic balls. Me and Queenie split up a long time ago... Yeah, independence, you should try it."

And then America gives Canada an atomic wedgie.

See? Therein lies America's relationship to Canada. America is the rough and tumble nation, Canada is the more pragmatic nation that still lives with its mum. Teasing is inherent in this disparity.

[BabyDavey]

Oh, talking about Canadians and Americans. Why are Canadians portrayed like that in South Park? Is it some in American joke that I'm not aware of?

Beth

See? Therein lies America's relationship to Canada. America is the rough and tumble nation, Canada is the more pragmatic nation that still lives with its mum. Teasing is inherent in this disparity.

Plus they're still mad that we burnt down the White House during the war of 1812. (Yes, we were still under British rule - fighting for our 'mum' as you so put it, but we were Canadians at heart.)

[Mean Mommy]

Plus they're still mad that we burnt down the White House during the war of 1812. (Yes, we were still under British rule - fighting for our 'mum' as you so put it, but we were Canadians at heart.)

Canadians at heart? You mean you were a COLONY!

Buuuuuurn!!!!

[FretaBWet]

Mean Mommy, I'll bet some Canadian bacon would go great with your sissies at breakfast.

Hugs,

Freta

[bbgirlmichelle]

I've been to more or less every country in Europe, with the exception of Sweden, Finland, Romania and some of the Balkan countries. I've also been to the US, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya (never stayed, just crossed the border and went back) Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Kenya, South Africa, Jamaica, Cuba, Russia, and Singapore.

I would like to go to Canada (flown over it, but never stopped) China, Sweden, India, Australia, New Zealand, and some of the South American countries, Brazil maybe. Although I've been to Russia twice, one of my aims is to do the Trans Siberian Express all the way to the Pacific.

Beth

If you ever want to come to Canada, drop by Vancouver, in our opinion it's the most beautiful city in the country, I've been by road or plane all the way over to Montreal Quebec. If you do, drop me a line, I'll show you around, we live right downtown.

One day I'll be able to get everything together and visit a good friend of mine in Kent, I was supposed to go last year, but the timing didn't work out.

*huggles*

Michelle

[Baby Bethany]

If you ever want to come to Canada, drop by Vancouver, in our opinion it's the most beautiful city in the country, I've been by road or plane all the way over to Montreal Quebec. If you do, drop me a line, I'll show you around, we live right downtown.

One day I'll be able to get everything together and visit a good friend of mine in Kent, I was supposed to go last year, but the timing didn't work out.

*huggles*

Michelle

Thanks Michelle. A few people have mentioned Vancouver, sorry is that in the east or west? (I'm useless with Canadian geography, and I don't have a map.) I like seeing the traditional things/history (I'm such a tourist) is there lots to see?

What part of Kent is your friend in? I live in Sevenoaks. I may even know them, lol. If you ever decide to visit and want some idea of places to see, just give me a shout. The same if you want to see London (I live in Kent but come from London) just give me a shout and I'll show you and the hubby all the best places to visit.

Have you been before?

Beth

[Pipsqueak]

A few people have mentioned Vancouver, sorry is that in the east or west?

West! As west as you can go without falling into the Pacific Ocean. It is indeed the most beautiful place! (Take that you, Easterners! )

[Sophie ♥]

GEOGRAPHY WARS!!!

-Sophie <Pro-East, actually i'm going to change my profile so it notifies everyone of my eastern location.