- There are many places in your home country that have a strong regional accent. Name one. Tell me a word, phrase or intonation that is different?
- If someone asked you ‘What is your accent?’, what would you tell them? Do you like your accent? Why?
- Tell me about a colleague, family member, person on TV or someone you have met who you find very hard to understand because of the way they talk?
- Are there any minority languages that are only spoken in one region of your country? Tell me about one of them - is that language thriving or dying?
- As English learners, we have to adjust to many different accents* when doing examinations, lessons or listening activities. Which accent or accents do you find it easiest to hear? Has there been a teacher or an accent which you have found really hard to understand?
- If you were from Kansai and moved from Kansai to Kanto would you drop your Kansai accent? If you moved from Kanto to Kansai and had a Kanto accent, would you adopt a Kansai accent? Why?
Question 1
One of my home countries, Singapore, has a very distinct accent of English called "Singlish." Some argue that Singlish is a language since it has its own grammatical rules and borrowed words from Chinese and Indonesian. Taking an example, when people say "video" in Singlish, the pronounciation becomes "wijyo." There are also words such as "lah" and "meh" that Singaporean people uses to add meaning to a particular sentence.Question 2
I have been told that I don't have an accent. Although if someone asks me, I would probably say "I have an accent and it is called the Antonio accent!" I have never thought about liking or not liking my accent so I'm quite indifferent about it.Question 3
I have a friend from Nigeria who has a very thick Nigerian English accent. I often find myself not understanding what he's saying when having a conversation, so I would either pretend to understand what he is saying or asking him to repeat himself multiple times!Question 4
There are more than 700 languages spoken in Indonesia. Some are only spoken by tribes or minorities in the country. There's a language local to a the province of Papua in Indonesia called "Woria." As of the year 2000, there were only 5 native speakers of this critically endangered language.Question 5
I find the American accent easiest to hear and understand. My dad has an American accent and I grew up with it; that is probably why I find it very easy to understand. When I was in high school, my history teacher, Mr. Kenneth O' Kane had a very strong Irish accent. It was impossible to 100% understand what he's saying. I'm sure most of my friends would agree with me!Question 6
Ever since I moved to Japan, I have only communicated with my friends using the Kansai dialect. With that being said, I would probably keep speaking in my Kansai accent if I had to move to the Kanto region. It feels the most natural for me!Tough Vocabulary
| - English - | - Japanese - |
|---|---|
| distinct | 独自 |
| indifferent | 無関心 |
| critically endangered | 絶滅寸前 |
| multiple | 複数 |