Is the NZ Accent that bad?

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#1078607 2-Jul-2014 13:45

LennonNZ:

This is what we sound like :-)

LOL no its not! Sounds like a kiwi faking an Oz accent with a bit O dutch when required.

tdgeek

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#1078609 2-Jul-2014 13:51

I used to go to the US every year, Louisiana. I got used to it, not too often I couldn't understand them. Went to a kids birthday party, only to find they didn't understand much of what I said. Same when I was in North Queensland. Two harsh accents, made mine harsh also it seems

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#1078666 2-Jul-2014 15:01

The only bad accent is a contrived one.

Mike

sdav

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#1078734 2-Jul-2014 16:07

I think there is greater range in accents than we realise. When we visit friends in the US they always comment on how they love our accent, my wife and I are like really? Then then load up horrific youtube videos of NZers speaking... or just find one of John Key haha! It's hilarious listening to John Key say New Zealand.

Interestingly our US friends said they really hated the Australian accent - I agree that some of the accents are terrible (much like in NZ), but some sound cool.

Then they said that our accents sounded similar to South Africa! It was then I realised accents are very much in the head of the listener!

gzt

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#1078751 2-Jul-2014 16:27

sdav: Then they said that our accents sounded similar to South Africa! It was then I realised accents are very much in the head of the listener!

Also heard this recently. Next time I plan to ask if they were watching tri-nations and got confused, or maybe the netball ; ).

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#1078752 2-Jul-2014 16:29

KiwiNZ:
sbiddle: The inability to pronounce i and e (and made worse when there is an a involved) vowels correctly is something that IMHO is getting a lot worse. With all of this talk of changing the flag, New Zealand is also going to need to change it's name as well because many of us are now quite simply incapable of correctly saying New Zealand!

It's easier to say Aotearoa

you mean Ow Tay a rowa don't you

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#1078760 2-Jul-2014 16:48

I'm a Brit, and I've never had problems understanding the NZ accent when we moved to the country. Neither has anyone else in my family. I notice Americans and Canadians seem to have trouble with it though, not sure why.

There definitely is a thing with the e and the i though. 'Pen' sounding like 'pin' for example. jonb explains it well above. Though this doesn't represent everyone, and even people who can't tell the difference should be able to understand through context.

The NZ accent, in its thickest form, is a novelty to people from other countries. The Graham Norton clip (page 1) is a fair example. In a recent episode of Jono & Ben on TV3 when they interview Norton, he mentions how the audience enjoys the accent. It is funny just because it is unusual, and the audience is already in a silly mood (as this 'red chair' thing happens late in the show, assuming it is edited in sync). Certain European accents have also produced laughs on the show, so it isn't NZ specific.

In my opinion, the NZ accent is a less whiny, more monotone version of the Australian accent, with a few unique inflections here and there. Some people love it, and some people hate it, just like any accent.

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#1078770 2-Jul-2014 17:01

Loaf: The Graham Norton clip (page 1) is a fair example.

Many of the words pronounced in that clip above sound unnatural to my ear. Might be a nervous Kiwi who hasn't been home for a while hamming it up on purpose.

The deck clip sounds more Australian than Kiwi to my ears.

Jaxar

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#1078773 2-Jul-2014 17:08

I've never spent any significant time in other countries. An American I spoke to the other day thought I was from New York.

Please note: I have a professional bias towards Vodafone.

mxpress

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#1078774 2-Jul-2014 17:10

LennonNZ: I had a conversation with a few people today who are not from NZ about the NZ Accent...

They could not tell the difference between Deck and Dick (They both sounded the same to most of them) but NZers could tell the difference quite easily. If they then said the words themselves they sounded like what I just had said :-(

Do we all sound like John Key or Lynn of Tawa and just not aware of it?

I thought we were the only country in the world that spoke without an accent. LOL

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#1078840 2-Jul-2014 20:07

If I was to group the accents of Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand and England.

Australia, New Zealand, England would sound more similar to each to my ear.

and
Canadian and US together do not sound anything like a cousin of a English accent group. Except across Canada you have the East that I would find hard to figure what province they would be from - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick (some would also have a french accent in NB), Ontario and Prince Edward Island would be hard for me to tell. Once you hit mid to mid west of Canada of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta ...you might notice a bit of a western drawl. BC....well never ever heard anyone refer to them having any kinda of a accent. Quebec...well lotsa french accent there.

Oddly enough my wife is from Saskatchewan -- we have had many people in Canada and New Zealand....thought she had an Irish accent (wth?).

Then you get into the states and the Boston accent, NY, Brooklin accent, etc clear across the US. It is funny when you hit the US border from New Brunswick into Maine.....the Maine/American accent is very noticeable. It is like night and day...bang right at the border. And there is a US town on one side and a Canadian on the other side of the bridge. How can they have such noticeable differences in accents less than 200 metres apart from each other (for 2 to 3 hundred years)
.

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thorax

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#1078918 2-Jul-2014 21:39

Dont get me started on how Google voice recognition fails with my accent.

Faar Guugil youze fullaz need a Nu Zerland Language setting.

qyiet

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#1079336 3-Jul-2014 13:36

Loaf:
In my opinion, the NZ accent is a less whiny, more monotone version of the Australian accent, with a few unique inflections here and there..

Heh.. my Kinect understands me best with British English, and Worst with Australian English.

Warning: reality may differ from above post

Philica

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#1079644 3-Jul-2014 20:50

thorax: Dont get me started on how Google voice recognition fails with my accent.

Faar Guugil youze fullaz need a Nu Zerland Language setting.

Slightly off topic but Google Now does offer a NZ language setting for voice recognition which seems to work well for me.

Batwing

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#1079646 3-Jul-2014 20:52

Philica:
thorax: Dont get me started on how Google voice recognition fails with my accent.

Faar Guugil youze fullaz need a Nu Zerland Language setting.

Slightly off topic but Google Now does offer a NZ language setting for voice recognition which seems to work well for me.

And a very recent update has enabled OK Google hotword detection - previously was forced to choose a foreign (Australian) setting.

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