I grew up with a thick Australian accent with a drawl I dislike, and have been consciously trying to change it for a while. The problem is I tried to make it sound more American at first but keep getting drawn to speaking “Britishly”. Now it’s a Frankenstein of all 3 accents and I don’t know what to go with.

Some points for both:

▪︎ American accent sounds “cooler”

▪︎ British accent sounds more “proper and elegant”

  • Australian accent sounds more “relaxed” (but I dislike this for myself, personally).
  • AWittyUsername@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    There’s no one single British or American accent. Liverpool? Florida? Newcastle? Manchester? New York. Even within these places there’s different accents.

    • Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Dont worry about that. OP is trying to change their accent.

      I doubt they have given much thought to region or dialect.

  • Pantoffel@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    I think to have this settled once and for all: The German accent is the best of them all.

      • smallaubergine@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Man I recently met a beautiful Tanzanian woman who had an amazingly beautiful accent when she spoke English. It sounded regal and dignified. I had a huge crush. Kenyan accents are great too. I think we focus too much on western accents

        • MacAttak8@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I agree that African accents can be awesome. I’m pretty ignorant of regional accent or if they are more of a national accent but growing up I had a buddy from Zimbabwe who’s parents had an amazing accent when speaking English.

  • dingus@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Just throwing out a random opinion that doesn’t mean much but…I’m an American and I actually find the Australian accent to be the sexiest of all native English-speaking areas. I’m just some random on the Internet but yeah.

  • Uncle_Bagel@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    British accent sounds more “proper and elegant”

    Let me introduce you to my Geordie family and see if tou still feel English is elegant. The high English spoken by poshos that is all over TV and movies is very different than how most Brits talk

    As for American accents, i have an absolutely bonkers accent of American Midwest with Texas drawl sprinkled in and other lazy drawn out vowels. Just speak however feels comfortable

    • JoBo@feddit.uk
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      1 year ago

      Americans think the Geordie accent sounds posh (don’t know about Australians, mind). I can’t find the relevant articles but there was a born-Geordie American official who hit the news there a while back. In interviews with the British media she mentioned how the accent caused a lot of class-based discrimination back in the UK. Meanwhile the right-wing US media were running articles about the posh British woman interfering in their politics.

    • Hobart_the_GoKart@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I was visiting Leeds this summer and was at a werherspoons when some drunk kids at the next table over heard me and figured out I was American. He said he was aspiring to be an actor and wanted me to give my opinion on his American accent. He sounded like he was from California and he must have picked up all his accent tips from movies/TV.

      I really liked this Wired YT series on American accents and would love to see a British version: https://youtu.be/H1KP4ztKK0A?si=du9M-WgkWtiw5Pjd

  • El Barto@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Define better. What are you trying to achieve?

    I’ve always found the American accent quite cool.

    Now, let me say something I haven’t seen mentioned here: don’t change your accent. Be proud of it. Have you traveled to the UK or the US yet? If not, do it. You’ll find plenty of people finding you interesting and wanting to talk to you because of your accent.

  • Endorkend@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I take what you mean with “American accent” being the accent they use on US Television in shows and most news?

    Because there’s a hell of a lot of regional accents in both Britain and the US and various ones in both sounds stupid while others sound sophisticated.

    Looking at you Scousers and Southerners.

  • RBWells@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Keep your accent, Aussie accents are lovely. I’m sure it sounds more relaxed to you because it’s yours. If you have some inner need to change it to feel more professional, isn’t there posh version? Like what newscasters sound like?

    Scottish is my favorite by far. The sort so thick you have to listen for awhile until the words come into focus. Not sure why but it is dead pleasant.

  • frankPodmore@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    As someone with a fairly ‘strong’ London accent, I personally love the Southern US accent. I don’t know why we don’t all speak that way.

    Supposedly, Scottish accents are perceived as more trustworthy and that’s why most financial services ads in the UK have Scottish voiceovers!

    However, all this is down to culture and personal taste. I don’t think one or the other sounds objectively better!

    • Wahots@pawb.social
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      1 year ago

      I was in the airport recently and family had an incredible southern accent. Their voices were like cool rain on a hot summer afternoon. It was nice to just bask in their everyday conversation from a distance. :)

      • RBWells@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Here in Florida I still sometimes hear old ladies speaking in the most proper, old Southern accents. Then they bust into perfect Spanish.

  • antonim@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    No serious linguist would advise you to change your accent like this. It’s artificial and unlikely to succeed entirely, as you’ve noticed - accents are a reflexive, instinctive thing, difficult to rewire. The characteristics of the accents you mention (what you’re referring to are probably General American accent and British “Received Pronunciation”, which are far from univesal American or British accents) are shaped purely by (pop) culture. That includes the judgment on how good an accent sounds. Is it really a coincidence that the British royalty uses an accent that sounds “elegant”?

    You don’t appear to have any external reason to change your accent. If you live in Australia and talk with Australians, why would you want to sound like a non-Australian? Why do you want to sound non-relaxed?

  • _Gandalf_the_Black_@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    The answer is of course that neither is better really. As a Brit, there are plenty of British and American accents that I find annoying or unpleasant to listen to, but that’s all subjective. Just go with whatever you want, and remember that any native speaker’s accent is valid.

  • Delphia@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    IDo a google search on “non regional diction” you can find some pretty good resources on how to sound more “universal”.

  • neon_cat@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    This is just my very biased opinion but if somebody has a US-american accent I immediately respect them less lol. It’s an instinct.

    • sock@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      i think less of people that have biased thoughts when first meeting someone due to internal biases you arent self aware enough to absolve

      you sound like an NPC might u try connecting with your consciousness a bit? you seem too much like a news oriented reactionary.

      • Mathazzar@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        When you call someone an NPC, my initial reaction is to respect you less and be more onguard to what other silly things you’re going to say.

        You were doing great in the first paragraph, then shot yourself in the foot in the second.

        • El Barto@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Completely agree with you. When I say I hate gamespeak in non-game discussions, I get downvoted.

          E.g. “Australia beat Covid” Comments: “Australia gained +10 armor XP hurr durr!”

      • Vegasimov@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        There’s nothing more cunty than calling someone an NPC

        Think you’re the only one in the world with thoughts? Grow the fuck up