English Accents Around The World

1. Standard accent

From Hollywood movies to pop songs, the American accent dominates pop culture. It’s hard not to encounter the American accent, even if you don’t live in America!

The standard American accent requires you to pronounce your L’s and R’s. However, some of the American accents listed below drop the L and R sound.

You also have to understand the schwa sound in American English. The schwa sound is an “uh” sound that takes the place of an unstressed vowel. For example, the letter I in the word “pencil” is pronounced with the schwa sound.

Of course, there are other things to pay attention to when trying to speak with an American accent. For more tips, check out the video below!

2. Southern accent

The Southern accent is spoken in the Southern states such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky.

To speak with a Southern accent, draw out your vowels. Drawing out your vowels means exaggerating the vowel sounds.

Another important tip includes mixing your vowels. For instance, to say the number “ten,” replace the E with an I sound.

3. Texas accent

Texas is one of the southern states in the U.S.. The Texas accent is similar to the Southern accent, but it’s slightly different.

The Texas accent has a few key characteristics. For instance, the E sound turns into an I sound, so a word like “kept” would sound like “kipt.”

In addition, the “eye” sound turns into an “ah” sound. For example, the word “sky” would be pronounced “ska.” Also, the “awe” sound becomes an “oh” sound.

Lastly, the letter R is pronounced in a different way. To pronounce the R with a Texas accent, curl your tongue back a little more to achieve the proper sound.

4. Transatlantic accent

The transatlantic accent isn’t native to any particular region or location. It’s actually an accent used specifically for the purposes of acting and radio during the early twentieth century. Since nobody grows up speaking with this accent in America, people have to train themselves to acquire it.

The transatlantic accent is like the American accent but with influences from received pronunciation, a British accent that was considered prestigious among the upper class during the British Empire.

5. Boston accent

Boston is a city in New England, a northeastern region of the United States.

To speak with a Boston accent, don’t pronounce your R’s whenever the R follows a vowel. When you say the word “car,” you wouldn’t pronounce the R.

However, there are some exceptions, as people in Boston sometimes add an R sound to the end of words. For example, instead of saying “idea,” people would pronounce it like “idear.”

Types of British Accents

1. Received Pronunciation

Received pronunciation is considered the standard British accent. It’s an accent that’s not specific to any single region of Great Britain.

To speak with this accent, you only pronounce the R sound when a vowel comes after the letter R. For instance, the word “mother” doesn’t include a vowel after the letter R, so the R sound is dropped.

Also, unlike other British accents, you need to pronounce the letter H at the start of words.

1. Scottish

The Scottish accent is a rhotic accent, meaning that you have to pronounce the R’s. With the Scottish accent, you roll your R’s so that you’re gently pronouncing them (this is also known as a tapped R).

The pronunciation of the letter O also changes in the Scottish accent. The letter O in words sounds more like “aw,” so a word like “Scottish” would sound like “Scawttish.”

In addition, the sound of “ou” becomes “oo.” For example, “house” would be pronounced “hoose.”

Another key characteristic is that the short E sound turns into an elongated “ee.” For instance, the word “head” would sound more like “heed.”

2. Welsh

Since there are multiple kinds of Welsh accents, it’s difficult to simply summarize all of them. Whether you travel north, south, east, or west, how a Welsh accent sounds depends on which part of Wales you go to.

Despite the variety of Welsh accents, they do have some things in common. For instance, the Welsh accent has a reputation for sounding like singing because people in Wales stretch their vowels.

Another important point is that the vowel I sounds more like an E.

3. Northern Irish

The Northern Irish accent has a distinct sound that stems from how the vowels are pronounced. Whenever you come across a dipthong that has an “ow” sound, it becomes more like an “ai” sound.

Additionally, the pronunciation of words with an “ing” ending also changes. You drop the G sound and emphasize “in” instead.

4. Liverpool

Liverpool is a city in northwest England. The way the Liverpool accent sounds is quite unique compared to the other British accents.

One characteristic of this accent includes the fricative T. The fricative T sounds more like the letters T and S combined, making a “ts” sound.

In addition to the letter T, the letter K also sounds different than in standard British English. Whenever a word ends with K, speakers of the Liverpool accent make a “huh” sound.

Additionally, the vowel sound “uh” turns into “oh.” A word like “up” would sound more like “op.”

Lastly, the “th” in words turns into a “duh” sound.

5. Cockney

The cockney accent is spoken in the East End of London.

This accent has several special rules. The “th” sound is replaced by the sounds of the letters F, V, or D depending on the word.

Also, using this accent requires a specific way of pronouncing diphthongs. The diphthongs “au” and “ai” are said faster than in standard British English.

The cockney accent drops the letters H and T, too. A word like “house” would sound like “ouse” while “better” would sound like “be-uh.”

Types of Australian Accents

1. General

The general Australian accent is the most commonly spoken accent in Australia. It’s considered the standard accent for television and media.

To speak with this accent, pronounce your T’s more like D’s. Also, the R is not pronounced when it’s in the last syllable.

2. Cultivated

The cultivated Australian accent is associated with the high social class. Its influences stem from received pronunciation and the transatlantic accent.

The way vowels are pronounced makes the cultivated accent distinct, as the length of vowels is shorter. Also, the letter T is strongly pronounced with this accent.

3. Broad

The broad Australian accent is the most familiar to people outside of Australia. However, it’s not the most common accent in Australia.

Compared to the other Australian accents, the broad accent is the strongest and requires a nasal voice.

Types of Canadian Accents

1. Standard Canadian

Canadian English sounds a lot like American English. However, there are a few differences.

Canadian English has a special way of pronouncing vowels called Canadian raising. Instead of pronouncing diphthongs, you pronounce single-syllable vowel sounds.

You have to apply the concept of Canadian raising whenever you encounter the “ow” and “ou” sounds before voiceless consonants. For instance, the word “out” would be pronounced as “oot.”

2. Newfoundland

Newfoundland is an island that’s a part of the eastern province called Newfoundland and Labrador. The Newfoundland accent is quite unique in that the “th” in words like “mother” turns into a D sound.

The Newfoundland accent has other distinct qualities. For instance, some words drop pronunciation of the letter H whereas other words have an added H sound.

Diphthongs are also pronounced differently. The “aw” sound turns into “ah,” the “ow” sound turns into “ehw,” and the “eye” sound turns into “oy.”

3. Ontario

Ontario is a province located in east-central Canada. The Ontario accent’s primary distinction lies in the dropping of the letter T. You drop the letter T whenever it follows the letter N.

For instance, “Toronto” would be pronounced without the second T.

English Accents Around The World Guessing Game [VIDEO]

Now that we’ve covered lots of English accents around the world, challenge your accent recognition skills by watching the video below!

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