english accents?

Question

I have an American, normal accent. Not southern or Jersey or anything. If I were to go to England, would they think that *I* had a sophisticated accent, like we think that THEY have a sophisticated accent?

Answer 1

No, they think our English is sloppy.

Answer 2

Everyone has got an accent,and most people can tell the area you live in by that.I being English have never give it a lot of thought about American accents being sophisticated or not,its just American, even though it is quite easy to seek out a Jersey or Southern accent.

Answer 3

Having the back ground of having been raised by Scots parents in England and Canada and having visited many parts of the US, there is no definitive answer, in my opinion. I will qualify that by saying the accents from some areas, "appear" to be more sophisticated than others to listeners from a different area.

In England people from the north especially rural Yorkshire, Lancastershire and northern Debyshire have distinct accents, as do Cockneys from London.

This is also true in the US with the Appalachian twang and the western drawl.

In Canada we have the Newfoundland and down east accents and also the more common working class pronunciations of Ontario, for example "goin dowen the rode te trana then eh?" = are you visiting Toronto?

The accepted more sophisticated accents appear to be what we call "mid Atlantic" and the closest to these, in my opinion, are the educated Maryland accent and the so called "BBC English".

The bottom line is, there is no "normal" accent, whether you like it or not you have an accent.

People should be judged on their good manners and intelligence, judging one by their accent is ignorant and rude and hearkens back to the antiquated class system of England.

Answer 4

First off, the British don't have an accent, they invented the language (it's like we Brazilians who make fun of the Portuguese's accent which is, of course, inexistent). Secondly, they find the American accent to be quite funny, if not a direct result of what they consider a lack of culture on your part. Then again, it's hard to find a cockier group of people such as the British, especially those in the upper strata of society. Thirdly, there is NOTHING sophisticated about any accent, only what the speaker actually says. Nabokov, for instance, had an atrocious accent but wrote and spoke better than most American writers.

Answer 5

No dear, they would not. As far as 'they' are concerned, you'd be just another American trying her best to speak proper English.
PS: Is there really such a thing as a sophisticated American accent?

Answer 6

As far as England is concerned, only THEY speak with sophistication and the rest of the world are uneducated. I could just imagine how they'd pity my education (btw....I'm a graduate of university). I'm a Canadian, speak as if from 'down south USA' but with a little homegrown twang thrown in there. People here have a hard time understanding me, I couldn't imagine the poor English people having to. lol.

Answer 7

oh..all of these negative answers!! i like the american accent and i think you will find that many people do. we would also be quite pleased that out of the whole world..you chose our country to come to. tourism keeps many people in work here.

sophisticated is the wrong word...i think we will find your accent warm and charming..just like americans can be!! i hope you enjoy your stay here!

Answer 8

I do not think so, they just consider your s an american accent

Answer 9

Most Brits of my acquaintance find the American accent atrocious and offensive.

Answer 10

No, they would just consider you a yankee, and not all English accents are sophisticated, take cockney for example.

Answer 11

No, most of them would not. But if you talk like you know what you are talking about then maybe they will respect you. Just dont use slang or offensive terms. Maybe using some big words might help as well.