Do you think you have an accent?

[sayitwell]

I do have an accent.  I have that nasal upstate New York accent because it is where I grew up.  I sound a little bit like the actors in Fargo.  That was set in North Dakota, not upstate New York.  I hate my accent!

[azathoth]

If you want to be very technical, everyone has an accent.  It's just that we become so accustomed to hearing it on the people around us that we don't even perceive it as such.

That said, my accent really shines (in the most awful of ways) when I'm speaking English.  It's kind of hilarious.

[writeletters]

I have a New Zealand English accent. But when I speak my mother-tongue, which is Bengali, I immediately transfer to an Indian accent. Perhaps this is what makes it so easy for me to learn a new accent for a new language, such as Spanish.

[justusforus]

I grew up in the Midwest, but have spent the last 30 years in California.  Many say I have a very neutral tone, not California and not back east.  I had always heard that newcasters and tv hosts were often chosen who came from the Midwest (like Johnny Carson being from Nebraska) because the "accent" is more universally accepted.

With that said, I have been "accused" of sounding like a New Yorker or a Texan, but real Midwesterners usually peg me down to the state I am from.  This true even after 30 years.

[Baburra]

I definitely have an accent, but I can correct it if I concentrate hard enough. It takes way too much effort, though, so I wouldn't do it in normal conversations. I'd prefer being more natural to having the correct accent.

[Dame6089]

I was laughing at a scottish accent on a commercial last night and began thinking about what my accent sounds like. I would love to be able to hear the typical american accent from an outside perspective. I will probably never be able to experience though because I am too used to how it sounds.

[jodig]

English is pretty hard to pronounce for us greeks, too. I've been told I'm on a very high level but there will always be a hint of accent.

Spanish on the other hand, is a lot easier, much more close phonetically. I've been told many times by spaniards that I sound native, but even then, I will misspronounce something and "get caught"!

[pluser]

I don't have much of an accent.  Many people in my country don't.  In those cases, the easiest way to tell where people are from is by the words they use.  It's kind of like a dialect, but it's still all in English.  Even so, I use a mixture because I've moved around a lot throughout my life.

[JulesX]

I was born in Grenada. I went to private schools, where I was taught mainly by American and English tutors. I traveled to a different Island every year as a kid. I looked at television programs from different parts of the world. At the end of the day, I do not have an accent. However, my lack of an identifiable accent usually causes me to stand out.

[Francisco23]

I always wonder if people who are foreign think that I have an accent when I speak English. I'm Canadian and there is an obvious English accent when I think of people in other countries speaking it such as in Australia and in Britain. However, I do not think I have an accent when I speak at all. I wonder if Australians or British people for example think us Canadians/Americans carry an accent as well. Or better yet, if they themselves (Australians and the Brits) think they have an accent when speaking.

I know exactly what you mean. The bottom line for me is that once you sound different from how i do, you are speaking with an accent. I think that's how most of us thinking. In fact, I wonder if we really know the meaning of the word accent. Don't we all speak in a unique way, with special pronounciations and expressions? Don't we all have an accent?

[ChrisUren]

I am from the Southwest of England, and have the worst accent ever. Seriously it's so awful. I've got a pretty deep voice so thankfully it masks it quite a lot however when I'm with my friends I often hear myself seeing local things and talking in the local accent. 

[KC]

I am from New York. I didn't think we had accents. Traveling to the south, I felt that they were the ones with the accents. They felt that I was the one with the accent. This was so funny

[mareebaybay]

No I do not have a accent. Although when I am speaking it sometimes sounds as if I have a accent because of how deep my voice is.

[zambothegreat]

I didn't think I had much of an accent when I was younger, but it turns out I sound like an idiot guido. I heard my recorded voice, and I remember feeling like crap knowing that I sounded like that. I've since been trying to sound more... intelligent

[kenthoang28]

I pretty sure that for those who is not native speaker has accent when they speak. The accent depends on your country language. So you will see a lot of people has different accents cause they come from different country.

However, your accent will be disappear or decreased when you live in that country. It takes long time to decrease your accents, Moreover, you should make a lot of conversation with native speaker, they will fix for you and you will learn from them alot.

Hope this helps!

[Permidian]

I definitely have an obvious French accent when speaking English.

I don't mind though, at least when I was visiting the US women seemed to love it! They would always tell me it sounds so charming.

Anyways, everyone has an accent. You may not hear it when speaking your native language as to you it's the norm but everyone has one.

[jcannon]

I'm Canadian; however, I live on the West coast, very, very close to our American friends. That being said, even Americans can't place where I am from. Once in a blue moon someone will catch me saying something oddly (such as "pass-tah" instead of "paws-tah") and I'll be outed. Generally, though, I can go from Seattle to Los Angeles -- Baltimore to South Carolina -- and I won't be spotted as an outsider.

[jbepp]

My country is known for its neutral Spanish (Colombia) so I don't think I have an accent.

This is great because my English is neutral too and I don't have any troubles trying to pronounce difficult words.

[whatupswags]

English speakers can usually tell I'm from California because I say the word "like" a lot. When I speak French, all the French people know I'm not "from around here." Between English speakers, I can usually understand the differences between us because I have quite a few Canadian and British friends. The Australian and Welsh accents are more difficult for me to pick out, but typically they are the ones I just don't recognize as the others! American regional accents are really easy to sift through, too. When I meet someone new, I try to let them tell me where they are from, though, instead of guessing and offending someone. I can be satisfied with my guesses in my mind!

[JetLiposting]

People who live in the central region of Romania have a specific accent but apparently I don't, although I was born and still live in that part of the country. Also, some people told me that when I swear in English, I do it in a British accent for some odd reason :confused:. And there's more , if I don't speak in English for a long period of time, and then I try to speak again, I develop that ruff Russian accent that a lot of Eastern Europeans have.

[Trellum]

I've been told I have no accent in my mother language, because people in the place where I live have a very distinctive accent from the one the people from the south of Mexico has.  I've been told by both people from south and north of mexico that I have a very neutral accent.  But when I speak english I do have an accent, and this is more than normal I think. 

My accent isn't very strong tho, very few people notice it... but they usually do after a while, because there are some words I really find tricky to pronounce.

[Denis Hard]

Um. . .no. Maybe I do have an accent but it's implacable. I've lived in so many places where English spoken in different accents. I never got round to acquiring any but most people think I mumble a lot so maybe I do have an accent, only it's of a different kind. . .

[scottman]

I don't know if I have an accent, but it's possible. I think there are certain dialects that are universally (or nationally) accepted as accent-free, so not everyone has an accent.

[Amalia]

I believe I do, given the fact that I'm coming from Eastern Europe but I hope it's something I'll get rid of in time, unless people will find it cute

[zackeymane]

Each region has their own accent. That being said, I've been told I have the average United States accent. Not quite Southern, not quite Northern.