Australian accent is a product of early settler's heavy drinking

[MiataMuc]

really? 
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-accent-is-a-product-of-early-settlers-heavy-drinking-claims-academic-a6711486.html

*run*

[NevDickens]

      That's a NewZealand add not made in Austraya. Bloody funny ad though.   

[Balaur]

really? 
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australian-accent-is-a-product-of-early-settlers-heavy-drinking-claims-academic-a6711486.html

*run*

Wasn't that obvious?

*joins MiataMuc in running but then reconsiders and surrenders* 

[GNU_Ninja]

This is funnier.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americans-think-the-glaswegian-accent-is-the-sexiest-according-to-new-poll-a6695171.html

See you Jimmy 

[Balaur]

This is funnier.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americans-think-the-glaswegian-accent-is-the-sexiest-according-to-new-poll-a6695171.html

See you Jimmy 

Is this the one that sounds like a Russian trying to speak English? 

[vk6zgo]

"many of our vowels are lazily transformed into other vowels, especially 'a's to 'e's (stending) and 'i's (New South Wyles) and “i”s to “oi”s (noight).”

The good old English word I'm thinking of is "Bollocks"!

I have never heard anyone say anything that sounded to an Australian ear like "New South Wyles"

The sentence "I  watched Whales while I was in New South Wales " spoken by an Australian is understandable by other Australians,New Zealanders,South Africans,intelligent Brits,& many others.

"Night" is not pronounced the same as "quoit".

This is the sort of crud which has been brought up for more than a century by some English people & by "artificial Poms" in Australia.

The kinds of English people who promote this are usually the same group that pronounce "horses" as "horse is".

The real reason for the Australian accent is that early Colonial Australia was a far more cosmopolitan society than many parts of the "Home Country",& people from various parts of the world had to understand each other.

The upshot was a standard way of pronunciation,as Australians could not afford differentiation in accent between regions,social status,etc.

[GNU_Ninja]

Is this the one that sounds like a Russian trying to speak English? 

Close enough:

 

 

[langwadt]

https://youtu.be/DHQRZXM-4xI

[GNU_Ninja]

The good old English word I'm thinking of is "Bollocks"!

 

[crispy_tofu]

Reminds me of this:

[GNU_Ninja]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

American

[crispy_tofu]

A person I know (Australian, first language was English) studied Japanese as their second language   

[coppice]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Almost always the wrong one, which is a large part of why native English speakers show little enthusiasm for learning a second language at school. At school I had to sit through French, German and Latin classes. The first foreign language I ever had any use for was Cantonese.

[Kjelt]

Duh the Australians live on the other side of the earth. Hold any person upside down and listen how he speaks 

[Mechanical Menace]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Bad English, worse English, and atrocious English.

[John Coloccia]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Whatever they want, I guess? I speak Italian since my family is from Italy.

[John Coloccia]

They try to shove Spanish down everyone's throat here.

[GreyWoolfe]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Bad English, worse English, and atrocious English.

Not only do I speak bad English, worse English and atrocious English, but because I am from New Jersey, I speak 'Joisey' 

[John Coloccia]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Bad English, worse English, and atrocious English.

Not only do I speak bad English, worse English and atrocious English, but because I am from New Jersey, I speak 'Joisey' 

I'm an Italian from New York living in New England....yeah, I blend right in. I feel bad for my father, who is legally blind...he can't see half of what I say.

[John_ITIC]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

My kids take Spanish in school (southern California). I assume it is the same all over the US?

[sleemanj]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Quite some years ago now, but when I started high school in the early 90s there was only French as an option (which I took for 3 years, but remember little of now), by the time I finished a few years later they had brought in Japanese and Spanish. 

Oh, actually, of course, there was Maori, but that was really more of a wider cultural study than language study, and very few of the Pakeha took it after the completing the compulsory studies which was really more awareness of legends and customs etc than spoken word. 

I hated Maori classes, because they always started with a f'ing Karakia (prayer), as a lifelong atheist, it just really got me off on the wrong foot.

[retrolefty]

I believe belief and/or religion should be the freedom of an individual, not to be forced to believe anything.

 I agree of course, but there are still way too many individuals, groups, and countries that believe they must use force to take that freedom from individuals. I think such things are slowly getting better but it sure is a slow process this evolution thingee.

[nanofrog]

Not only do I speak bad English, worse English and atrocious English, but because I am from New Jersey, I speak 'Joisey' 

Oh no.... there goes the neighborhood.    

FWIW, I studied German as a second language. But it's been so long since I've used it, I doubt I could even keep up with a 4 - 5 y/o these days. 

[Rick Law]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Almost always the wrong one, which is a large part of why native English speakers show little enthusiasm for learning a second language at school. At school I had to sit through French, German and Latin classes. The first foreign language I ever had any use for was Cantonese.

Seems like everyone in US speaks some sort of Spanish, guess it might be too many Mexicans here. In the McDonalds closest to my place all employees are speaking Spanish with each other.

BlueSkull,

I recall a movie stars being interviewed about Tibet as some military action was on going during his trip, I recalled his saying: "I understand China and the Chinese, I spend 3 days in Beijing..."

I think you said you are living in California LA area.  America is a large country.   What is going on around LA is not reflective of the entire country.    From region to region, people talk different, act different, and even look different.  Most Northerner can tell a Chinese from Texas just by his look and the way he carry himself.

My kid grew up in the north-east.  As such, like you, largely coastal.  So, I often remind her: until you spend some time in the "fly over country", you don't yet understand most of America.  Try visiting the mountain states, the mid west, the south, the Appalachian, the Ozarks...  All those regions are distinct.  I hope you will find the opportunity to see the rest of America some day.  It will give you a different view of what is America.

(Now after half a page of how the answer wont apply...)

As to your question, around big cities, probably a lot of them do learn Spanish.  Elsewhere, Latin, French, German and Mandarin are very popular second languages.  Based on friends from Alaska and Hawaii, I believe Japanese is perhaps the most popular second language there.

[SL4P]

As a kid, I learned a bit of Latin, a bit more French, and later in life some Malay/Indonesian.
None of them are worth a toss in daily conversation, but French and Latin give you great understanding of where English came from, and more importantly - how too use it dynamically / fluidly...

I was also lucky that I schooled on two continents in three countries.

I taught my kids the fundamentals when they were younger (just the principles), and it paid off big time - as - and they studied German in junior high - now they have exrensive vocabularies, and travel with new languages very easily...

I guess we're all different in different situations.

[Deathwish]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Bad English, worse English, and atrocious English.

You missed my pet peeve ... text speak.

[briselec]

Not only do I speak bad English, worse English and atrocious English, but because I am from New Jersey, I speak 'Joisey' 

Oh no.... there goes the neighborhood.    

FWIW, I studied German as a second language. But it's been so long since I've used it, I doubt I could even keep up with a 4 - 5 y/o these days. 

So did I. 4 years of it and never needed to use it but who knew back then that Mandarin would come in handy one day.

[Deathwish]

When i was a mere sprog of about 7 we lived at Akrotiri in Cyprus ( R.A.F ), my mum used to dump me with the local Greek family as she went to work, I could speak more Greek than English and it used to drive my mother nuts. I enjoyed cursing her in a language she did not understand. Now, I can speak but barely a few words.

I also once had the Cypriot and military plod searching for me as I had hidden under the house one day as my mother had peed me off, that was fun till they found me.

[VK3DRB]

Much of our accent and distrust of those in authority came from the convict days, particularly from the streets of Sydney in the early 1800's.

Accents do vary around Australia. The one I really dislike is the Adelaide pommy-type accent, where they pronounce graph as "grarf" instead of "graaf". In contrast, native Melburnians have a great strine Aussie accent, but those from outback New South Wales have the best strine accent in my opinion. Even around Melbourne accents vary, depending upon the area of Melbourne you grew up in. Those from the western and north western suburbs have more strine in their speech than those in the eastern suburbs. Fortunately, the pretentious upper-class pseudo-pommy plum-in-the-mouth accent has almost disappeared from our country. Only a few old bags from the blue rinse set in places like Toorak still sport that fake accent. Real Aussies don't need it.

Our language is changing, as the young have been influenced by shows such as Sesame Street. I suspect EEVBLOG's Dave shows symptoms of being exposed to too much Sesame Street as he says "zee" instead of "zed" and occasionally some word pronunciations are American, not Australian. Just an observation, not a complaint. I once worked with person with a masters degree from the prestigious Melbourne University, born and bred in Australia, who honestly believed the last letter of our alphabet was "zee". Even her qualifications could not train her to know the alphabet. That being said, I went to uni with engineering students who did not even know the twelve times table. If they don't have a calculator, 8 x 7 = .

I reckon engineers should know the twelve times table and even be able to do the square root of any number under a thousand to one decimal place without a calculator.

[vk6zgo]

Much of our accent and distrust of those in authority came from the convict days, particularly from the streets of Sydney in the early 1800's.

Accents do vary around Australia. The one I really dislike is the Adelaide pommy-type accent, where they pronounce graph as "grarf" instead of "graaf". In contrast, native Melburnians have a great strine Aussie accent, but those from outback New South Wales have the best strine accent in my opinion. Even around Melbourne accents vary, depending upon the area of Melbourne you grew up in. Those from the western and north western suburbs have more strine in their speech than those in the eastern suburbs. Fortunately, the pretentious upper-class pseudo-pommy plum-in-the-mouth accent has almost disappeared from our country. Only a few old bags from the blue rinse set in places like Toorak still sport that fake accent. Real Aussies don't need it.

Our language is changing, as the young have been influenced by shows such as Sesame Street. I suspect EEVBLOG's Dave shows symptoms of being exposed to too much Sesame Street as he says "zee" instead of "zed" and occasionally some word pronunciations are American, not Australian. Just an observation, not a complaint. I once worked with person with a masters degree from the prestigious Melbourne University, born and bred in Australia, who honestly believed the last letter of our alphabet was "zee". Even her qualifications could not train her to know the alphabet. That being said, I went to uni with engineering students who did not even know the twelve times table. If they don't have a calculator, 8 x 7 = .

I reckon engineers should know the twelve times table and even be able to do the square root of any number under a thousand to one decimal place without a calculator.

Funnily,just about everybody on QRZ.com refers to it informally as "the Zed",not the "Zee"!
In Fact US Hams almost always call me VK6 "ZED" GO--weird!

[Rick Law]

Have you guys seen a TV documentary called "The Story of English"?  Rather interesting a show, I may add.  Portions of it are on youtube.

[Mechanical Menace]

The one I really dislike is the Adelaide pommy-type accent

Is that the pseudo RP one? If so that sort of 'fake' accent is dying out over here too. The whole point of it was to hide where you came from...

[Halcyon]

The one I really dislike is the Adelaide pommy-type accent

Is that the pseudo RP one? If so that sort of 'fake' accent is dying out over here too. The whole point of it was to hide where you came from...

I find the Adelaide accent is some sort of weird hybrid. It doesn't sound fancy, nor UK English. Plus they call Kebabs, 'Yiros'. Those in Sydney will remember "Grace Bros." as opposed to "Myer".

Those from Victoria and Queensland almost sound a bit bogan to me. I guess that's why 'Kath & Kim' is what it is.

[vk6zgo]

West Aussies tend to speak faster than some of our Eastern brethren.
When I went to NZ many years back,I noticed that New Zealanders did,too.

Funny thing about "Kiwis"-----back then,I can't remember a lot of the "Fush 'n Chups" stuff in their speech.
Could it be that they have consciously or subconsciously emphasised that so as to be more readily distinguished from Australians?

Or are they just doing it for "Fn"?

[VK3DRB]

West Aussies tend to speak faster than some of our Eastern brethren.
When I went to NZ many years back,I noticed that New Zealanders did,too.

Funny thing about "Kiwis"-----back then,I can't remember a lot of the "Fush 'n Chups" stuff in their speech.
Could it be that they have consciously or subconsciously emphasised that so as to be more readily distinguished from Australians?

Or are they just doing it for "Fn"?

I quite liked Perth, especially Fremantle. One thing I did notice was the number of new-chums there straight off the boat from pommyland. The average accent here is definitely more English than strine.

Contrary to popular belief, POM does not mean Prisoner Of Mother England. In the early days of European settlement, they were nicknamed Pomegranates which is the colour they turned in the harsh Australian sun. They were also called new chums when they first arrived, but that term is rarely used today.

Did you hear the one about the Bristish Airways 747 that landed in Australia? The fire brigade arrived on the scene because it was reported that after the engines were cut, the whining continued.

(Note: No offence meant for our English electronics people )

[Mechanical Menace]

Contrary to popular belief, POM does not mean Prisoner Of Mother England. In the early days of European settlement, they were nicknamed Pomegranates which is the colour they turned in the harsh Australian sun.

I'd read both are probably myths and neither is likely to be true :/

(Note: No offence meant for our English electronics people )

Most of us enjoy the banter and the whining is just us joining in. We're well aware of our habit of moaning about everything and a lot of the time it's not even concious, just social animals making noise to let other social animals know we're here lol

Of course that only applies to most and not all.

[kaz911]

Quoting the film " Flying Internationally the universal language is English..." BULL... I did my first PPL flight from DK to the absolute south of France - and throughout France - Air Traffic Control REFUSED to speak english - they did not respond - or responded only in French So I just told what I was doing and if they wanted to move me they had to tell me in english. Else I would just continue on my pre-approved flight plan. - captains privilege.... But the airport(s) at least answered in English while we was 2/3 through approach....

[SeanB]

Plane at Brandenburg airport requests clearance in German. Tower comes back and asks him to repeat in English. He replies I am a German, in a German built airplane, at an airport in Germany. Why must I speak English.

Proper British accent comes back " Because you lost the Bloody War"!

[vk6zgo]

West Aussies tend to speak faster than some of our Eastern brethren.
When I went to NZ many years back,I noticed that New Zealanders did,too.

Funny thing about "Kiwis"-----back then,I can't remember a lot of the "Fush 'n Chups" stuff in their speech.
Could it be that they have consciously or subconsciously emphasised that so as to be more readily distinguished from Australians?

Or are they just doing it for "Fn"?

I quite liked Perth, especially Fremantle. One thing I did notice was the number of new-chums there straight off the boat from pommyland. The average accent here is definitely more English than strine.

Contrary to popular belief, POM does not mean Prisoner Of Mother England. In the early days of European settlement, they were nicknamed Pomegranates which is the colour they turned in the harsh Australian sun. They were also called new chums when they first arrived, but that term is rarely used today.

Did you hear the one about the Bristish Airways 747 that landed in Australia? The fire brigade arrived on the scene because it was reported that after the engines were cut, the whining continued.

(Note: No offence meant for our English electronics people )

We use the same joke about Victorians!

[kaz911]

Plane at Brandenburg airport requests clearance in German. Tower comes back and asks him to repeat in English. He replies I am a German, in a German built airplane, at an airport in Germany. Why must I speak English.

Proper British accent comes back " Because you lost the Bloody War"!

Most likely because the controller was not german *G*... In DK they have to reply in both DK and English - and we got radio certificates in both DK and English - and yes that was 2 different tests.

[Simon]

Just curious, what second languages do English native speakers learn?

Hate speach because we are ignorant fuckers

[Simon]

Plane at Brandenburg airport requests clearance in German. Tower comes back and asks him to repeat in English. He replies I am a German, in a German built airplane, at an airport in Germany. Why must I speak English.

Proper British accent comes back " Because you lost the Bloody War"!

Not that I'm a fan of the particular program and would love to see the lead presenter "taken out and shot" to use his own words.

[SeanB]

Simon, you may not know, but my father was educated in Germany. only reason he was not in der Luftwaffe or the Eastern front was because in 1939 he was in Liverpool looking to do some studies at the university there, and there was an inconvenient war declared.  Mom was at her home in Poland, 12km from the Russian border, at that time......

He did go and stay at the hotel where he convalesced as a POW. on the Austrian border with Switzerland on lake Constance.

[Rick Law]

Plane at Brandenburg airport requests clearance in German. Tower comes back and asks him to repeat in English. He replies I am a German, in a German built airplane, at an airport in Germany. Why must I speak English.

Proper British accent comes back " Because you lost the Bloody War"!

Most likely because the controller was not german *G*... In DK they have to reply in both DK and English - and we got radio certificates in both DK and English - and yes that was 2 different tests.

That "Proper British accent" reply of "Because you lost the Bloody War" is probably from an ill-informed fellow who didn't realize they lost an empire in that same bloody war.

That said, it is an international agreement of International Civil Aviation Organization member countries that if requested, English must be used.  I believe the purpose is so as you don't have to learn every language along the trip as long as you are flying within airspace managed by ICAO countries.

EDIT:  Some how this reply was done in duplicate - probably my clicking error.  I removed the duplicate reply.

[Simon]

That said, it is an international agreement of International Civil Aviation Organization member countries that if requested, English must be used.  I believe the purpose is so as you don't have to learn every language along the trip as long as you are flying within airspace managed by ICAO countries.

It does make sense. what angers me is that we have people working here that can't and aren't expected to speak english. It makes work life hard for people as they can't communicate and I'm amazed it has never been picked up as a genuine health and safety risk.