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Understanding American English

Where can I go to make my American English better ?

Anyone know any web sites or message board where I can help my American English skills? And what is this Boston ,Chicago ,New York and deep south English people talk about ? Do people in states or different areas ( of these cities ) have other accent or dialect ?

I look at some youtube videos on American English and for most part all sound the same.
 
There is a Boston accent, a NY accent, multiple southern accents (for example georgia/alabama and south carolina are completely different). There is a northern accent, but its really north, like upper peninsula of michigan and minnesota and north dakota, it is almost like a canadian accent. Outside of that I think most other places sound the same. People in the midwest and west coast sound similar to me (and are what I consider normal american english).
 

ban-one

Works for panties
About the only thing you can do to make your American English better would be to watch American shows. But really, there's not much difference between American English, and what the Brits, Canadians, and Aussies use, although there is the joke about how we're all separated by a common language.

The main differences are in spelling and pronunciation. Americans use 'color' and 'armor,' and the others add a 'u' for colour and armour, but they're pronounced the same. But then there's American "aluminum" and British "al-lou-min-ium." Also, Americans say, "Take me to the hospital," Brits, "Take me to hospital." There's also the American 'Z' "zee" to the other's "zed."

As for different areas of the US having different accents or dialects, oh, yes, there are many. The area around New York City has probably a dozen accents and dialects all by itself. And as for the rest of the country, it's the same, only over larger areas. Generally it's broken down into New England, Southern, Mid-West, West, and West-coast, but each of them have their own little variations within each area. Florida however, has some of everything, with the native Floridians having a Southern accent and speech, with northerners coming south for the winter or to retire. We all wound up with different accents and dialects due to the influence of various peoples from various other countries coming here and settling where they did. It's why those in Minnesota have a more Scandinavian flavor, those in Louisiana have more French, and those around New York have Italian and Irish.
 
In Texas we get a kick out of Bostonians saying "I went to the party and stayed there all night" .........it sounds like they said "I went to the POTTY and stayed there all night"
 
The way people in the UK they speak is easy to pick out .

But I was doing some reading and general US and southern accent come up a lot. What is the main features of accent and dialect thing that makes them apart.
 
There is not a whole lot of significant difference in the various US accents as far as being able to understand them. If you can speak American English, you can understand any US accent. There are not really any dialects in the US...just accents.

But within the States, yes, they can be pretty different in how they sound. Even within the south itself, there are a number of different accents. A Texas twang sounds different than a South Carolina accent, which is different than a North Florida accent. And they're all different than an upper south drawl.

But....they're all the same language, and honestly, there's not a need to learn "American English." As long as you speak the language, you'll be understood, even if you refer to an apartment as a "flat" or a truck as a "lorry" or whatever.
 

Petra

Cult Mother and Simpering Cunt
There is not a whole lot of significant difference in the various US accents as far as being able to understand them. If you can speak American English, you can understand any US accent. There are not really any dialects in the US...just accents.

But within the States, yes, they can be pretty different in how they sound. Even within the south itself, there are a number of different accents. A Texas twang sounds different than a South Carolina accent, which is different than a North Florida accent. And they're all different than an upper south drawl.

But....they're all the same language, and honestly, there's not a need to learn "American English." As long as you speak the language, you'll be understood, even if you refer to an apartment as a "flat" or a truck as a "lorry" or whatever.

I think Louisiana might be the only state with an actual proper dialect, which is Creole. I heard it a bit when I was last there in 2003, but I think with a lot of things, it's probably dying out.
 
Here's a good site for people trying to improve their American accent. :thumbsup:
 
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