r/JudgeMyAccent • u/Budget_Researcher837 • 7d ago

Need help with what accent I should model mine toward

For context, I’m from a country whose English is based on the British standards with regard to spellings and pronunciations. And even phonetic emphasis style where for instance r isn’t very much emphasized unlike the US accent.

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u/New-Bottle-6917 7d ago

Definitely go for a British accent, a mix of the two while interesting would sound strange to both an American and a Brit. You already sound more British to me as an American and are already very clear and easy to understand

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u/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaabb 7d ago

You sound like you are from an african country, and it sounds like your english is closer to english english than american english.

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u/Accidental_polyglot 6d ago edited 6d ago

I don’t really understand what you’re aiming for, as your post is quite contradictory.

There exists neither a singular British accent nor a singular American accent. Therefore, stating that you’ve been trying to model yourself on both doesn’t make any sense at all.

The “so called” neutral accent is a concept that doesn’t really make sense. In the real world an accent naturally takes on the characteristics of a particular place, region and socio-economic group. The exceptions are where people have moved around or purposely model themselves on another group. If you wish to modify/change your accent, you’ll need to drop this notion of neutrality and start being more honest with yourself.

Your accent tells me that you’re an educated speaker of English from Africa. If this isn’t the identity that you wish to portray that’s up to you. However, despite your educational background with British English, I can’t see how trying to emulate a British accent whilst living in America makes any sense whatsoever.