kitchen table math, the sequel: accent

Thursday, November 11, 2010

accent

I love this!

Only problem: I can't figure out which accent is my accent.

I think I just heard Cassy T, so apparently I'm clicking on flags too far north...
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6 comments:

Unknown said...

I cannot imagine what you are talking aboot!

November 11, 2010 at 3:51 PM
Richard I said...

I currently teach in Vancouver, BC but I was born and bred in the north of England.

When students (and fellow teachers) tease me about my English accent I reply that since we're speaking English and I'm from England then my 'accent' is actually how the words are supposed to be pronounced and that there is no such thing as an 'English accent'!!

"Cat, pigeons ..... pigeons, cat"

November 12, 2010 at 9:08 AM
momof4 said...

There's an old saying about US and the UK being two countries divided by a common language. My oldest son acquired a soccer coach from Liverpool and years later, a newly-arrived Scottish player joined my youngest son's team. In both cases, it was not just accent but vocabulary. It started with football, of course, but we all learned each's other's terminology for the game and for everyday use, with lots of chuckles in the process.

November 12, 2010 at 2:40 PM
Redkudu said...

Very interesting.

I tried several of the speakers in Texas, and didn't really hear my "accent" - but probably because they aren't using contractions.

(You know that in Texas, we all grow up thinking "barbed wire" is "Bob wahr.")

All three in Texas represented accents I'm familiar with and probably represent my various speaking styles.

I then went to Mexico and found that the two flags in Mexico represented two different accents I hear in my students - one for the students born in the U.S. to non-native parents, one for those not born in the U.S. who have good command of English. I didn't hear the accent for students not born in the U.S. with poor command of English.

It's funny how things dovetail: the other day a student asked me, quite thoughtfully, if I was "Mexican or White." She said sometimes I talked "Mexican" and sometimes I talked "White."

To add to that, my students recently read the story "Shoofly Pie" by Naomi Shahib Nie. I also let them listen to a recording provided by our textbook company. They liked the story, but many students complained about the reader's voice. They didn't know quite why they didn't like it, but I thought I knew. The story is set in Texas, but the reader's accent is subtly...Suthahn, is what we call it. No growl on the r's, if that makes sense. When I pointed it out the kids were all over it.

"It didn't sound like us," they said.

November 14, 2010 at 4:48 PM
Stuart Buck said...

This website is actually more comprehensive: http://web.ku.edu/~idea/northamerica/usa/usa.htm
I love this Tennessee accent: http://web.ku.edu/~idea/northamerica/usa/tennessee/tennessee1.mp3

November 16, 2010 at 9:27 AM
Stuart Buck said...

The last link is found on the "Tennessee" page, labeled as "Tennessee One."

November 16, 2010 at 9:27 AM

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