Non-native Accents of English - Part III
As we know, English is 'the' global language of communication nowadays, spoken by 1.9 billion people worldwide of which some 350 million are native speakers. Therefore, most speakers of English are non-native, with varying degrees of linguistic competence. Accordingly, the influence of native accents on English will be an important factor in understanding and communication, as most people retain traces of their native accent when speaking a foreign language. For example, most of your classmates show a clear influence of Spanish or Catalan in their English accents.
Many of you will have had problems trying to understand people speaking English with heavy foreign accents (especially on the phone!). Being familiar with the main non-native accents of English will help you in this respect. Sometimes you will also be able to detect accents and therefore origins of people!
Enjoy the last chapter of the series "World Tour of British Accents" and Mr. Seanie's rendition of world accents.
NB: If you want to go more scientific or systematic, this is the link for you, with more than 700 samples from all over the world! Speech Accent Archive
Many of you will have had problems trying to understand people speaking English with heavy foreign accents (especially on the phone!). Being familiar with the main non-native accents of English will help you in this respect. Sometimes you will also be able to detect accents and therefore origins of people!
Enjoy the last chapter of the series "World Tour of British Accents" and Mr. Seanie's rendition of world accents.
NB: If you want to go more scientific or systematic, this is the link for you, with more than 700 samples from all over the world! Speech Accent Archive
