Celebrititis

[kimba1]

I can`t really tell chinese accents apart but if I hear taishan I normally can tell because it`ll the most understandable chinese to me. mandarin simply sounds angry to me.

[Plane]

What is the target accent?

Do you want to soound like you are Urban , from the capitol or big city of the nation ?

Do you want a university sound?

Do you want to hit the advradge ?


American Accents are being pooled such that the extreme examples are less and less heard and we are all speaking more and more midwestern city. TV and other media is leading us all to the center.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Standard American Broadcast English is generally upper Midwest urban. If you are from Des Moines, or Omaha, you already speak it.

[kimba1]

the funny part is everybody in the u.s. hears on the radio & tv broadcast english and all schools teach the same english and still the variance continues.

we really don`t have to worry about losing accents. if anything we gotta worry what kinds of changes it`ll become.

[Xavier_Onassis]

In the 1960's there was a much greater difference between the Midwestern and Southern accents. The influence of TV and radio has been huge. Black English has also become much more like White English, and has become more uniform thoughout the country. Take the show "Martin": the actors do have an accent, but they are intelligible to all Americans, but without "sounding White" to other Blacks.

[Plane]

Standard American Broadcast English is generally upper Midwest urban. If you are from Des Moines, or Omaha, you already speak it.

If I ever succeed at learning Spanish (at which I have a dozen false starts) what is the sort I want?

I don't suppose I would ever pass as a native , but I would like to avoid sounding hilarious.

[kimba1]

I believe XO disagree with me last time I said this textbook spanish is quite different than spoken spanish.

I learned straight from the book and everytime I speak it the response is alway "you speak that fancy spanish" or sometimes called high school spanish"

I suggest learn it formally then look at tv shows to get the real pronunciations.

[Plane]

I have a practical reason for asking.

My Wife is about to have a birthday and she wants a Spanish training computer disc.

I want one too , I may eventually learn enough Spanish to actually use some.

I have to decide whether to get the "Rosetta Stone" well advertised and convinceing immersion method.

Or the much cheaper Berlitz.

By the way....

Not long ago I told a Spanish joke.

I said "Como se desay "Loco"?"

And the Mexican person I asked this of thought it pretty funny, well.... considering my handicap , I guess.

[Xavier_Onassis]

There are always a number of excellent computer Spanish programs available. I would go to Amazon and read the reviews written by people who have used each of them. Get a program that comes with a book, and of course, buy a Spanish-English dictionary. I have not used Rosetta Stone, and comparatively speaking it is overpriced, but it could be much better.

There is less difference between spoken everyday Mexican Spanish and textbook Spanish than there is between similar versions in both English and French. The telenovelas are either Mexican or Colombian, and are seriously overacted, but they do pronounce words correctly and intelligibly, and they are free. The woman with the long dark hair is the good person. Men with facial hair are evil. Women with blonde hair, especially short, blonde hair are almost always wicked and evil.

There is a variety show on Saturday nights called "Sabado Gigante". The host, Don Francisco is a Chilean Jew, almost as old as God, but he is a jovial sort and they do a lot of nutty things. At the end of some shows, they give away a small car. Lots of really dumb games. I have been in the studio audience. It takes four hours to film one hour of content. You might enjoy it: it is like an American show from the 1950's.