Got to get a New York accent

[TheCoolOne7]

Hi all! :-D Can you give me some tutorials for getting a new york accent? I've already found some videos on YouTube like these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwQtc2qYCBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcUkSJvHAfQ
but I'm sure that they do not sound like New Yorkers. So what do I do? I am familiar with the American accent and my accent is closer to a southern one (I asked a native speaker!).
Cheers!

 

[Barb_D]

Hello,
Welcome to Using English. :hi:

Can you explain WHY you want a New York accent in particular?
There are several different accents in New York alone.

 

[TheCoolOne7]

I'm planning to live there and that's why I need to pick up a New York accent. I'm a teen (who's already able to pronounce a lot of words like a native) so I think it'll be easy to learn. I just need some good tutorial to start working on my New York accent
Thanks for the reply!

 

[emsr2d2]

You do know that it's not necessary to speak a foreign language with the specific accent of the area you're moving to, don't you? ;-)

 

[Barb_D]

Many people who live in New York City do not have an accent that sounds like that. To many (including me) that type of accent sounds rough, uneducated, and/or unsophisticated.

Unless you are a professional actor, there is little reason to try to have this accent. And I grew up in New York State.

 

[TheCoolOne7]

So you want to say that it'll better If I speak with my fake southern accent (that gives myself away because I still don't sound like a native speaker)? I don't want Americans/Brits (etc) to think that I'm a foreigner.

 

[emsr2d2]

It is very rare for someone not to be spotted as a foreigner unless they have lived in a country for many years, picked up the language completely fluently and totally lost their native accent.

 

[Barb_D]

Your fake accent may pass in New York City but not for anyone who has lived in the South. There are few things more annoying than hearing someone pretend to speak a way that is not their native speech pattern. Do NOT worry about sounding "local." Worry about speaking clearly and being understandable.

 

[Tdol]

Most non-native speakers in London sound nothing like Cockneys, but this has little or no effect on their professional life.

 

[PHenry1026]

Are regional accents discriminated against?

;-) Percy

 

[Tdol]

Some regional accents are certainly not regarded as an asset outside their region.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The woman in your first video does not have a New York accent. (I can't place it. She might be from somewhere in the Midwest: There's a little bit of southern twang and a little bit of white northeastern nasalness.)

But in your second video, bingo! The guy with the novel and the lesson about Rs does have a clear, common white working-class New York accent. (One person commenting above called it "rough," "uneducated."

There is not one American accent or one New York accent. As in London and the UK, there are many.

One way to learn accents is to watch movies. For New York accents, see movies by Martin Scorcese, Woody Allen, and Spike Lee. Or find videos of Martin, Woody, and Spike themselves. After a while, you'll start to notice the many New York accents. The man in your second video is talking like a typical Martin Scorcese character.

Last comment: A lot of accent is attitude. If you simply want to fit in, capture the attitude first.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Are regional accents discriminated against?

;-) Percy

An accent is a marker. It can identify your social rank, your economic status, your place of origin, and your level of education.

 

[PHenry1026]

Hi Charlie,

Just to be sure, I was not asking the question. The question is a link to an article appearing in The Independent newspaper. If you have not read the article, I hope you will do so since it is an interesting article.

;-) Percy

 

[TheCoolOne7]

The woman in your first video does not have a New York accent. (I can't place it. She might be from somewhere in the Midwest: There's a little bit of southern twang and a little bit of white northeastern nasalness.)

But in your second video, bingo! The guy with the novel and the lesson about Rs does have a clear, common white working-class New York accent. (One person commenting above called it "rough," "uneducated."

There is not one American accent or one New York accent. As in London and the UK, there are many.

One way to learn accents is to watch movies. For New York accents, see movies by Martin Scorcese, Woody Allen, and Spike Lee. Or find videos of Martin, Woody, and Spike themselves. After a while, you'll start to notice the many New York accents. The man in your second video is talking like a typical Martin Scorcese character.

Last comment: A lot of accent is attitude. If you simply want to fit in, capture the attitude first.

Thank you for the tips! By the way how about Ben Stiller? As far as I know he's from Brooklyn, right?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thank you for the tips! By the way how about Ben Stiller? As far as I know he's from Brooklyn, right?

He has a middle-class Jewish New York accent. His father's accent is stronger.

Some other quirks of some New York accents:

The New York W: In some words, some New Yorkers put a W between a consonant and a vowel. For example:

- Dog is pronounced dwog.
- Coffee is pronounced cwoffee.
- Apartment (dropping the R) is pronounced apwotment.

The Brooklyn OI: Some working-class New Yorkers sometimes pronounce ER OI. For instance:

Pearl is pronounce poil.
Jerk is pronounced joik.
Further (dropping the R) is pronounced foitheh.

 

[Barb_D]

I must beg to differ.
It's not "cwoffee" it's "cawfee" - in fact this is my token New York "tell" (the thing that tells you I'm a New Yorker).
Dawg.

The people who "aw" the "o" are generally not the same people who drop the R.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I must beg to differ.
It's not "cwoffee" it's "cawfee" - in fact this is my token New York "tell" (the thing that tells you I'm a New Yorker).
Dawg.

The people who "aw" the "o" are generally not the same people who drop the R.

Hi, Barb! I was born in Manhattan and have lived a good portion of my life in the metropolitan area. In fact, I spent last weekend on Long Island (pr. Lwon Gylin) with a New York friend who was constantly jonesing for cwoffee, cwoffee, cwoffee! Not everyone does it (which is the point I've been trying to make to the guy who thinks he can fake a New York accent), but it's very characteristic of New Yorkers I've known.

Now excuse me while I go walk the dwog....

=O]

 

[Barb_D]

One thing I thnk we can agree on is that, without a lot of training with an accent coach (which some actors do for certain roles), anyone trying to fake an accent in the area where it's spoken will be immediately identified as a fraud. And by anyone who has lived there. Fake Southern accents make me absolutely crazy. I have a latent Souther accent that comes out sometimes, though usually I sound like a New Yorker. People putting on a fake accent to tell a joke create something close to physical pain for me.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

One thing I thnk we can agree on is that, without a lot of training with an accent coach (which some actors do for certain roles), anyone trying to fake an accent in the area where it's spoken will be immediately identified as a fraud. And by anyone who has lived there. Fake Southern accents make me absolutely crazy. I have a latent Souther accent that comes out sometimes, though usually I sound like a New Yorker. People putting on a fake accent to tell a joke create something close to physical pain for me.

I agree that we agree!

I also agree that many New Yorkers say dawg, not dwog. But I'll still stick to my W guns. Now I'm thinking of my friend Vivian (white, working-class, Jewish, Queens). Whenever she sees me, the first thing I get is a hearty "Chwollie!!!!" (Subtract a W and add an R to get Charlie.)

Whatever. I think we also agree that without a dialect coach and without understanding that there are many New York accents, our OP is doomed to failure!