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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 20:03:32 GMT
Post by rhyls on Oct 3, 2014 20:03:32 GMT
Not important but I just spent 2 hours playing skyrim.. I deliberately listened very carefully to Vilja's accent. Now though. I should say 'lack of any accent'. Maybe time and practice has worked on you but to my english ears, I couldn't hear any accent. It sounded to me like any English speaker apart from about 2/3 words slightly accented. How do other native English speakers hear it.
Just thought I'd tell you my tthoughts. rhyls
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 20:26:15 GMT
Post by wotan on Oct 3, 2014 20:26:15 GMT
Emma has a what sounds like a good school English to me. Like for the majority of us, there is an influence of the Americanised English.
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 21:05:16 GMT
Post by Emma on Oct 3, 2014 21:05:16 GMT
I think that if you compare my english to my daughter's english (Sindra, Tindra), my accent is by far stronger and I make more mistakes. Simply because I'm older and swedish children nowadays learn better english pronouncation in scool. I don't think school influence us to speak americanised english, but the huge amount of american television series for youngsters influence them quite a lot (we don't have any dubbing here, just subtitles). Myself, I watch by far more british programs than american ones.
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 21:42:21 GMT
Post by blockhead on Oct 3, 2014 21:42:21 GMT
That link is ... to an empty post? Or, rather, that link seems to be trying to cause one to make a post?
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 21:50:15 GMT
Post by CollinMacleod on Oct 3, 2014 21:50:15 GMT
Hmm.. To my ears Maja at times has a more definite accent than yours Emma. At other times she has practically none. You may let her watch English or American television for example.
Your accent is of course less prominent than it was in Oblivion. It's all about who you learn the language from. By my standards your and Maja's English is very very good. If you do say words a little bit off center it certainly adds to the charm of your voice. I am quite certain if you taught me a few words in Swedish you would spend more time laughing at me then teaching.
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 21:58:30 GMT
Post by rhyls on Oct 3, 2014 21:58:30 GMT
Most of the foreign students I meet here in Manchester UK say they can tell the difference between American and English 'English' They tend to think the Uk version? is softer with more inflexions and not as monotone as USA. I know many Americans on youtube love the UK version. Not knowing any Americans I can't comment personally. All I was doing was stating that I don't hear much accent in Vilja speech anymore. Maybe it's because we are used to her voice after playing so long with her.
Are Swedish children taught English in School? rhyls.
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 22:04:54 GMT
Post by rhyls on Oct 3, 2014 22:04:54 GMT
That link is ... to an empty post? Or, rather, that link seems to be trying to cause one to make a post? That was caused by a shake I sometimes develope in my hand and it's my mouse hand. Sometimes I click spasmodically, Only that right hand. It's a leftover from an accident I had many years ago. Breaking some bones in my back. So that's all it was. I didn't even know it was there. rhyls
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 22:14:45 GMT
Post by Emma on Oct 3, 2014 22:14:45 GMT
Most of the foreign students I meet here in Manchester UK say they can tell the difference between American and English 'English' They tend to think the Uk version? is softer with more inflexions and not as monotone as USA. I know many Americans on youtube love the UK version. Not knowing any Americans I can't comment personally. All I was doing was stating that I don't hear much accent in Vilja speech anymore. Maybe it's because we are used to her voice after playing so long with her. Are Swedish children taught English in School? rhyls. Yes, swedish kids start learning english when they are 8 years old. I think you are getting so used to my accent that you don't hear it anymore .
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 22:18:59 GMT
Post by Sniffles on Oct 3, 2014 22:18:59 GMT
I'm not sure where this thread is going but, accents come from exposure to an environment with the majority of people speaking with a certain accent. The longer the exposure, the more the accent is adopted. My tech gives an example. His cousin born and raised in the American midwest moved to Australia around 1970. In 1990 the only people who could detect his midwest accent were a select group of local Aussies. He then became highly isolated and most of his contact with other people are aborigines speaking their version of Australianized English. And now, none of the local people there can tell he's from America and most can't understand why he speaks 'abo'.
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 22:26:33 GMT
Post by jet4571 on Oct 3, 2014 22:26:33 GMT
Her accent is definitely more noticeable when you first hear her voice, but after time you begin to no longer notice the accent. I had a friend in Australia and I am from California and after some months of talking I no longer heard her accent. It's normal to no longer notice an accent after you become familiar with that persons voice, but others who have the same accent that you are not as familiar with will be noticeable.
It is a normal function your brain performs. It does it with sights, sounds, smells, and touch. The more you become familiar with something your brain stops paying attention to it's details. When you first put shoes on you notice them but an hour later? Not so much. Put the same perfume/cologne on daily? you stop smelling it. Have a fan running? you stop hearing it. With an accent the brain pays attention to the words meaning and less to the sounds. The reason your brain does that is so it has more time to process new and less familiar stimuli as well as what you are doing. Less familiar stimuli like a new voice is noticed more than one you have heard many times.
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 22:35:04 GMT
Post by rhyls on Oct 3, 2014 22:35:04 GMT
Sniffles You certainly have a rich and varied circle of friends, acquintances and relatives. Your life seems pretty full and challenging. It's nice, I think.
I'm away now to eat shortbread with turkish tea,then bed. I've rubbed the nightcream on, put the rollers in, warmed the PJs. plumped the pillows and then a read of 'Snuff' By Terry Pratchett. I think I've read all of the Discworld books at least twice now. I always enjoy them.
rhyls
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 22:35:53 GMT
Post by CollinMacleod on Oct 3, 2014 22:35:53 GMT
Sniffles, we aren't going anywhere really. We are just chatting. Comparing ears.
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 22:49:24 GMT
Post by rhyls on Oct 3, 2014 22:49:24 GMT
Sniffles, we aren't going anywhere really. We are just chatting. Comparing ears. Colin, I like that phrase, comparing ears. Will photo's do? in colour or black and white? rhyls
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 22:49:52 GMT
Post by Sniffles on Oct 3, 2014 22:49:52 GMT
Try this ear on for size. Language derivation is a cornerstone of anthropology. Emma's accent is a derivation. She notices the difference between hers and the more anglicized version her daughter speaks. It was the same with my mom and her mom. Grandma was old school Svenska, elite social level, mom's was international schools with several years spent in England. Oddly, the only people who could discern mom's original accent clearly were some Danish friends. They not only could discern the Swedish-English-French-German-Chinese influences, they could discern she was from the Stockholm area.
You want wacky accent? A friends brother, American, learned Swedish, via German then Russian. Nobody can figure his accent out.
Or even wackier. My native speak, around second grade western Lakota Oglala-ish makes Lak speakers cringe. My other's fluent Lakota is Lak Dakota heavily laced with gutter speech like Americaneeze heard in the ghettos. We can barely understand each other.
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Emma
Oct 3, 2014 23:07:00 GMT
Post by Seyheb on Oct 3, 2014 23:07:00 GMT
To my ears, Emma, I wouldn't describe your accent as in any way strong, but instead I would describe it as very gentle with soft Swedish intonations. Your english is excellent and mistakes are rare. I think most native english speakers make more mistakes! Rarely an english word might be pronounced a little towards how it is written rather than how it is spoken, but that only adds to the charm. Maja's english is excellent too. Occasionally she varies her voice into a slight american accent, no doubt picked up from listening to american programs, as you suggest, but it isn't continuous.
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