What's your accent?

[parochial boy]

I guess Cornwall's similarity to the US also stems from the fact that, like the US and in contrast to most of England, it is both rhotic (you pronounce the "R" in "start") and has an inclination towards flat vowels (for instance you say "grass" rather than "grarss").

I got Yonkers, Jersey City, New York on the US test, which I guess is the closest to the generic Southern English I speak.

I got Gloucestershire for the UK test, which is surprising since I have never been there, and have never even met someone from there as far as I know. I guess because I speak English with a non-rhotic, South of England sounding accent, but also use flat vowels, that might sound a bit like the local accent.

[parochial boy]

I guess Cornwall's similarity to the US also stems from the fact that, like the US and in contrast to most of England, it is both rhotic (you pronounce the "R" in "start")

Would be a good example of a false positive though; the rhotic sound in question is quite different.

Well yeah, but given how sophisticated an online test is going to be...

[parochial boy]

The New York Times also has a quiz for British accents:

I guess those results are probably indicative of my generic middle class Southeastern accent - basically the “default” accent you hear on the TV, but not quite as posh as full-on Received Pronunciation.

Oh interesting, I always get Yonkers/New York on the US quiz because my English is much closer to British English. I figure I speak with basically a generic-but-not-really-placeable South of England accent/dialect when I speak English, but when I did the test I got:

Way off. Your answers didnt fit here at all.

Which is closest to... what, the South of the Midlands? I guess that's closest to generic Southern with the odd northern/Scottish or mid-atlantic influence.

So I'll go with the original answer. When I speak English, I sound as if I come from the South of England, but with a generic and untraceable accent; When I speak French, I have a mild Swiss, or specifically Geneva accent; and when I speak German, I have a pretty thick French accent. It's only the last one that is really obvious though.

[parochial boy]

The New York Times also has a quiz for British accents:

I guess those results are probably indicative of my generic middle class Southeastern accent - basically the “default” accent you hear on the TV, but not quite as posh as full-on Received Pronunciation.

Oh interesting, I always get Yonkers/New York on the US quiz because my English is much closer to British English. I figure I speak with basically a generic-but-not-really-placeable South of England accent/dialect when I speak English, but when I did the test I got:

Way off. Your answers didnt fit here at all.

[image]

Which is closest to... what, the South of the Midlands? I guess that's closest to generic Southern with the odd northern/Scottish or mid-atlantic influence.

So I'll go with the original answer. When I speak English, I sound as if I come from the South of England, but with a generic and untraceable accent; When I speak French, I have a mild Swiss, or specifically Geneva accent; and when I speak German, I have a pretty thick French accent. It's only the last one that is really obvious though.

Anecdotally, something I’ve noticed with younger French speakers living here who speak only lightly French-accented English is that they often have a hint of Cockney/‘Estuary English’.

The 'H' and 'Th' sounds in English are typically the hardest sounds for French speakers to reproduce. So I guess it kind of makes sense that it might be the case. If you start going "ff" instead of "th" and using a glottal stop instead of "h" then you sort of start to wind up with a vaguely cockney sounding accent.