English Accents

You will hear the some words spoken by girls of similar ages. These are fairly standard (not colloquial) accents….

1st: LONDON* (Side ponytail)
2nd: SCOTLAND (Shaved one side of head)
3rd: NEW YORK (White top)
4th: TEXAS (Blonde with ponytail)
5th: CANADA (Heart necklace)
6th: AUSTRALIA (Black hair with ponytail)
7th: NEW ZEALAND (Loose brown hair)

*This is basically my accent, although she shows a London tendency when she drops the ‘T’ in ‘See you later’ at the end of the video.

These words will be repeated by all these girls. Before you start, read each word out aloud, then try to guess which words will cause most differences between the various accents…

1. AUNT 2. ROUTE 3. WASH 4. OIL 5. THEATRE 6. IRON
7. SALMON 8. CARAMEL 9. FIRE 10. WATER 11. SURE 12. DATA
13. RUIN 14. CRAYON 15. NEW ORLEANS 16. PECAN 17. BOTH
18. AGAIN 19. PROBABLY 20. SPITTING IMAGE 21. ALABAMA 22. LAWYER
23. COUPON 24. MAYONNAISE 25. SYRUP 26. PYJAMAS 27. CAUGHT

Now listen to the accent. Repeat each word with each accent!

It’s a shame there was nobody from Ireland, Jamaica or South Africa- go to English Accents 2.

The girl from Texas talks about having to pronounce the ‘L’ in Salmon, and not confusing ‘Route’ with ‘Root’- If we followed this rule, English would implode with its inconsistencies (for example, in her pronunciation of ‘Aunt’ she does not use the ‘U’ sound, making it the same as ‘ant’).

That same difference of pronunciation can also be applied to ‘Can’t’. In the UK it rhymes with the British pronunciation of ‘Aunt’, and the same worldwide.

Look at the words below. Read them out loud, and then double-click the word. Two dictionary boxes will appear- the loudspeaker in the white box will give you the standard UK accent, and the black box the standard US accent:

Chance
New
Fertile
Were
Dirty
Example
Vitamin
Brochure
Tune
Writing
Aluminium
Hospitable
Privacy
Ask
Bar
Class
Laugh
Better
Mobile
Bath
Herb
Ballet
Organisation

(US: organization)

Bottom

Do you know any other words that are worth mentioning? Wite them in the comments box below!