Mówić z amerykańskim akcentem (2)

• Some accents are easier to imitate than others. For example, unless you are a frequent visitor or live in or around the New Orleans area, avoid doing a Cajun accent until you are absolutely positive you have it down cold. Good imitators are few and far between and any variations are quickly spotted as fakes by the natives.
• Keep an eye on region-specific terms. For example, in northeastern Pennsylvania we drink soda instead of pop and eat hoagies rather than subs. Sites like this Dialect Survey can be of use.
• Know that the same word is pronounced differently in different states. In New Jersey (or other atlantic states.) , we say "wudder," unlke the rest of the country, which calls it "wahter."
• Similarly, most of the country says "co-ffee" but in some areas of New Jersey/New York, they say "caw-ffee."
• Maryland has accents within their own accent. Watch out of people who think they can do a Baltimore accent. They usually cannot unless they are not trying.
• In the Midwestern accent, it's typical for people, especially the older generation, to occasionally slip up and say "warsh" for "wash," as in "I warshed (washed) my clothes in the Warshington (Washington) river." They also tend to speak with a very soft southern twang, as in their pronunciation of nothing ("nuthen") and use of "ain't."
• When trying to convince people of your American-ess, it's helpful to know the vocabulary of who you're conversing with. Americans say "truck" instead of "lorry," "faucet" instead of "tap," "toilet" or "bathroom" instead of "loo," and so on. Also, use "instead" rather than "rather" (or instead of, I should say), and "soda" instead of "pop." (Although in some parts of America, mainly the North, people have been known to say the latter). In places like western New York, the words are used interchangeably. Also keep in mind the words people use often that aren't used in your home country.
• Even the best actors have been heard to make this error: Most Americans say "evr-ee-thing" for "everything" and "an-ee-thing" for "anything". The British say "evr-uh-thing" and "an-uh-thing".
• In Chicago, instead of saying "Where are you?", we'll say "Where are you at?". Also, people with very strong Chicago accents may hiss their s's, and add s's at the end of store names. Examples: Jewel becomes Jewels, Jewel-Osco because Jewel-Oscos, Walmart becomes Walmarts, Target becomes Targets, etc.

Warnings