Help me with my American Accent
-
Why in the name of the Lord do you want to sound american? Can't you choose a nicer axcent? Good old Brittish? Jamaican maybe!
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
I take it you haven't worked in a call centre before. Remember many Indians are leaving them because of the stress. As a British caller I have found it extremely frustrating at times calling them, partly because of the accent (even though I have had quite a few Indian friends and colleagues over the years) and partly because they have been given simple scripts to follow and it is rare to find someone who can really help. My suggestion - look for something better! Elaine :rose:
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
-
I take it you haven't worked in a call centre before. Remember many Indians are leaving them because of the stress. As a British caller I have found it extremely frustrating at times calling them, partly because of the accent (even though I have had quite a few Indian friends and colleagues over the years) and partly because they have been given simple scripts to follow and it is rare to find someone who can really help. My suggestion - look for something better! Elaine :rose:
Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.
Trollslayer wrote:
look for something better!
Yeah, like - ummmm - anything. If he can get past the fact that they sell beef, a job at McDonald's is preferable to making us suffer through a conversation with an Indian at a call center that claims his name is "Larry".
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
Yup you're right and I really don't have a choice 'coz I need the money - they pay call center agents here higher than the programmers.
***marie ram***
That sucks.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
I agree with both of you. It's not the fault of the person who needs the job that it's been moved to where they are, but as consumers the best way to protest the movement of jobs offshore ( which you could protest because of the impact on local workers, or because of a drop in quality, I certainly hate talking to people who can't understand me ), is to let our feelings be known and take our business elsewhere. I know I buy milk that costs almost twice as much, in protest of the bigger groups who are killing the farmers. I think that's the only way to show you're serious about supporting paying a fair price for a fair product.
Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. "Iam doing the browsing center project in vb.net using c# coding" - this is why I don't answer questions much anymore. Oh, and Microsoft doesn't want me to.
Christian Graus wrote:
I certainly hate talking to people who can't understand me
I know exactly what you mean. The call centre for my ISP is in Newcastle (England). :)
Henry Minute If you open a can of worms, any viable solution *MUST* involve a larger can.
-
Sorry, but after being laid off for so many months...plus I had to cancel two credit cards because I could not understand the accent of the customer service people.
Blog link to be reinstated at a later date.
On the CC call center front, every time I've talked to someone from discover the accent was American.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
-
I agree but I am not going to do business with an American company that obviously ships American jobs oversees.
Blog link to be reinstated at a later date.
You know, it is not only foreigners that take american jobs, americans also take foreigner's jobs too. Or do you really think that no american lives outside US? Also many american companies that settles in poor foreign countries to explore low pay employees have americans in management and high pay positions. So I beleive this is kind of a trade, I don't have the numbers to check if it is a fair trade, but it is still a trade.
-
Hey, i know the feeling. As i've mentioned here before, one of the odd jobs i worked to put myself through school was a call center, and as shitty as the job was, it still hurt when they started farming it out overseas. That said, i took the call center job because i needed money and it got me out of an even worse job. I had, at the time, an excellent voice for it, but no love whatsoever - how then could i blame anyone else, any_where_ else, for doing the same as i did? As far as i'm concerned, if someone in India, or the Philippines, or Alabama, or any other god-forsaken corner of the world decides they can better their life by taking a job being moved there from somewhere else... then more power to them. I will not disrespect someone who strives to do their job well, regardless of nationality. As for the many, many companies who couple inexpensive labor with lowered standards for the job that gets done... i have nothing but disdain for them, and laugh a bitter laugh when their actions lead them ultimately to ruin. Far from being stolen, the jobs of which you speak have been sold by these short-sighted organizations, sold for a mess of pottage, and the beans are long ago devoured. I woke up this morning to a meeting notice. My employer announced more layoffs, plant closings. No idea yet whether it'll affect me or anyone i know; it's a global company, and so tough times may just as easily hurt the plants in China or India as those in Wisconsin or Texas. Things are bad all over...
----
You're right. These facts that you've laid out totally contradict the wild ramblings that I pulled off the back of cornflakes packets.
Totally agree with you. You said it all. And as I said in a previous message, I don't understand why there are so many complaints that foreigners take american jobs if many americans take foreigner's jobs on their own lands. Many people see only one side of the coin, to me it reflects lack of vision and a self-centered character.
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
Your accent is coming along just fine (according to a Canadian), but I think you need a little more confidence. For a call centre you will need to speak with a little more volume or your work on improving your accent will never be heard.
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
Keep in mind that many Americans are hard of hearing. Too much rock & roll (ha ha ha). Your accent sounded fine to me. But it was difficult to really focus on your accent because it sounded as if you made this recording while your baby was sleeping and you feared waking her. Many people speaking English as a 2nd language make this mistake. They are shy and embarrased they might say the wrong thing or have a "funny accent". So they talk very quietly. Often times when an American asks you "what?" - it's not because they couldn't understand you - it's simply that they did not hear you. My daughter is Chinese and this is her problem also. Her English is pretty good (BTW - I can tell you that your accent is MUCH better than hers). But she talks so quietly, I am constantly asking her to repeat herself. My advice - rather than become stressed out over achieving the perfect American accent (there is no such thing - even among Americans) - be confident and just speak naturally. From what I've heard, Americans will have no difficulty in understanding you.
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
I don't know what your accent training says, but here's four things that would help you IMHO: (native of Florida) 1. Confidence. Many Americans have a bad habit of saying whatever we want whenever we want. If you want to have a convincing American accent, you must not be hesitant or reserved in your speech; even shy or soft spoken people have a certain tone of confidence in their speech compared to people from other countries. 2. Watch the vowels. I don't know about your native language, but vowels in an American accent do not often change tone over the course of their pronunciation. In other words, vowels do not generally have a rising or falling inflection. It's a very subtle detail, but can be rather annoying to a frustrated American with broken electronics. (you seem to be doing well in this area) 3. Informalness. American English is not very trim and proper. Use contractions (can't, don't, shouldn't, etc) a fair amount, not that you shouldn't ever say "should not". Be kinda lazy with you speech, only half pronouncing certain ending "g's" almost like "endin'" but not totally leaving off the "g". Learn a few word pairs that are often sorta joined together like "sort of -> sorta", "a lot -> alot" ("UHlot" instead of "ay-lot"). These are really cultural things more than accentual, but it goes a long way into tricking someone into thinking you are American. 4. Slang. Learn what common phases Americans use to say things. This is 60% of the difference between British English and American English. For example, we say "hold on" to mean "wait for a short period, but don't go away", and "chill out" to mean "calm yourself". Sporadic use of common slang makes you sound warmer and more friendly. My recommendation: watch American news broadcasts, and lots of it. It may turn your brain to mush, but you will learn to speak American in no time. :-D
I have nothing against VB or .NET; all Turing-complete languages are respectable. It just seems that some languages attract one echelon of programmers, and other languages attract an entirely different echelon of programmers. :P
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
You seem to be doing quite well with your accent. You need to remember that from teh American point of view there is no such thing as an "American accent". Just like in other countries the US has a large number of regional accents. In the US it's often hard for a native of NY, NY to speak with a native from Atlanta, GA. Your recording could be improved by using a pop filter (you can make one with a scrap of nylon hose and a loop). Your volume is low and it gives the effect of making you sound as if you are trying to hold your breath. Try to speak up (project), bringing the words from your chest rather than your throat (deep breath, relax the throat, and allow the breath to naturally flow as you speak), this will give you a more relaxed and casual sound. You might wish to listen to things like www.AmericanaPhonic.com and www.podiobooks.com. However, if you really want to impress Americans, then you should develop a posh British accent ;-)
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
If you can speak english with a spanish accent then I think you would just about have it.
MrPlankton
(bad guy)"Fear is a hammer, and when the people are beaten finally to the conviction that their existence hangs by a frayed thread, they will be led where they need to go."
(good guy)"Which is where?"
(bad guy)"To a responsible future in a properly managed world."
Dean Koontz, The Good Guy -
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
Maybe it's just the recording, but your speaking volume is fading in and out. When you're loud, you're pretty easy to understand (with a few exceptions, see below), but the first few seconds of the speech is difficult to hear, though that would be the case even with a native American speaker (not to be confused with Native American speaker :P You get the point.) That said, though most of it is easy to understand, it feels like you're making a considerable effort to do so. Don't get me wrong; I'd much rather hear a customer service rep actively trying to be understandable than not, but it doesn't feel natural. Again though, it could be because you're reading from a script. I think we'd get a better sample if you took away the script and gave us a short bio about yourself or something else that flows naturally (e.g., "Hello my name is Omegatron, I'm several hundred years old and my hobbies include being a sentient robot, doing acts of evil, and trying to take over the world.") Work on enunciating your "r"s a little more. It was fine in the words "staircase" and "easier", but in most other areas it was weak. Also, your long vowels (e.g., "on and on") are a little off. I would suggest opening your jaw a little more to practice the "proper" sound, but at this point I'm just being picky and judging based on my local speak (Washington State). All in all, I'd rate you 7.5/10 for a convincing accent. At worst, I'd suspect you were an easterner who grew up in the U.S. but whose parents spoke with heavy accents and thus you picked part of it up during your formative years.
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
Hi Mawi, I listened to your recording. Overall it is really good. A little quiet and, as previously stated, the 't' or 'd' sounds are too soft. Consequently, if flows a little too well which makes individual words harder to pick out. Also, and this is fairly typical of "Asian English", some words are clipped. That said, you are totally understandable in the recording. Not sure how that would translate to a bad phone line though. My main advice is to speak up! ;) P.S. Don't worry about the negative comments. Some people don't actually like it when the world practices what America preaches and we end up with a global market where you pick the best value for money.
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
Mawi, Clearly you are getting less help than you hoped for. I suspect you would get more assistance from a site focused on language & translation. This is a site I might suggest as a starting point. http://forum.wordreference.com/index.php[^] Also you might find Rosetta Stone software useful if it is available to you. When you speak phrases, it shows you the correct wave form and allows you to practice until yours matches. You should look into finding some of the Americans living in the Philippines. I am sure they would be delighted in helping you improve your language skills and nothing works better than actually using a language. Good Luck PS for those of you upset about exporting jobs - get used to it. My company is one of those that has moved its work outside of the US. We had absolutely no choice. We still buy most material in the US, but even that has become too expensive. On a recent bid, the Chinese bid delivered to the customer was less than our cost of just the materials. The cost of doing business in the US has gotten out of control largely due to the welfare mentality combined with a general feeling of entitlement for the good things, i.e. SUV's instead of sedan, the latest electronics toys, oversize houses, etc. We give free medical care and full benefits to not only to millions that don't want to work; we give it to millions of illegal "immigrants". And who can blame them for coming to the US for a free ride? I would do it if I was in their place. Then we encourage people to buy houses and cars they can't afford with government mandated "affordable" housing loans. And guess who is going to pay for those loans when they turn out not to be so affordable? In the mean time those that do work and their employers are taxed to death and our products become too costly to compete. So instead to venting our anger at Mawi, I suggest we vent it at our politicians that seem to think the way to office is to promise more giveaways to the "poor" and taxes to the "rich". And for the record I don't think either candidate for president "gets it". OK, I will get off the soapbox now....
modified on Friday, October 31, 2008 1:26 PM
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
mawi_ram wrote:
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. Mawi
Political discussions aside, Mawi, your pronunciation and inflection are quite good - it is detectable that you are not a native English speaker, but I had no trouble understanding you. Your voice (as someone else noted) is a bit husky and low-volume - this occasionally led to very slight slurring (sliding from one letter to the next), but you kept that mostly under control. You have a slight tendency to pronounce the long "A" as a short "E" - I believe this is common among non-native English speakers, and can be very difficult to control - and it doesn't make you difficult to understand: practice will fix that in time. Keep up the good work, and best wishes for your "gainful employment". Grady
-
You need to start using "f*ck" every once in a while (and don't forget to learn forms of the word so you can use it with authority).
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
You need to start using "f*ck" every once in a while
Nah, that's mostly Americans from f*cking New Jersey. And you can get training on that by watching "The Sopranos". John does make a valid point. It's not only how you pronounce the words, it's the words themselves that make you American. Some pointers: 1. Use "dude" instead of the customer's name. "Dude, your account is 'way overdrawn." Or if the customer says he has already sent in a payment, just say, "Duuuude". 2. Use American sports metaphors. If your company made a mistake on the customer's order, just say the shipping department "fumbled" it, or "couldn't put it over the plate", or "your package is on the 50 yard line in our warehouse". 3. Slip in as many American pop culture references as you can. "I'm told we sold that same crockpot to Brangelina." "Mission accomplished." "I can see Russia from my house." 4. Use American slang. Instead of "yes, sir", say "you betcha". Instead of "you're welcome", say "no problemo". When the customer gives you their account number, say "BOO YAH!" real loud. And if your billing system made a mistake on the customer's statement, instead of apologizing say, "bite me". 5. Learn to sound offended, because even the simplest question is probably an attack on you personally. 6. Structure your questions to the customer so that they have to reply as if they are agreeing with you. "So, sir, we're going to close your credit card account, foreclose on your house, take away your birthday, and shoot your dog. OK?" And don't forget to do what I do. If the customer is not happy with your responses, and asks to speak to a supervisor, say "Yes, sir, I will transfer you immediately." Then hang up. BUWHAHAHAHA! :laugh:
Someone's gotta be the last to know, but why is it always me?
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
Mawi, very good accent. Practice so it sounds more natural, but it is good. There are many different accents in the US and Canada so don't stress over this too much. WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T PICK UP A SOUTHERN US TWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!! IT'S SOOOOOOO ANNOYING (especially when badly done)! ha ha I prefer to deal with companies that don't offshore their work but that's not your problem. Also, if you have the opportunity, let your employer know what it is dishonest and VERY ANNOYING when obviously foreign call centers assign western sounding names to people that are obviously not western. Sorry, Babasweet, but you don't sound like a "Patrick Johnson" or "John Smith".