Talking American

[alexiscartwheel]

Thanks to Language Log, I discovered that the Radio Times did a survey to determine the best and worst American accents by British actors with very amusing results. Hugh Laurie is the best, but also the fourth worst. Michelle Ryan is the worst, but also the third best. So basically, the results are completely meaningless, and prove that British people are poor judges of American accents, that there aren't many well known British actors on American TV, or a little of both.

The BBC then invited people to call in with their best American accents, with laughable results. (Most of the clips, if they sound American at all sound like some ridiculous regional mish-mash.) Thankfully, they have also provided a video of "How not to do an American accent."

Hugh Laurie really is that good though. Mom and I were just talking about that the other night. I had seen him in other stuff before House, but really wasn't that familiar with him or his work. I was shocked to hear his British accent the first time I saw him give an interview.

I, of course, can't speak with a British accent to save my life, which is why I don't pretend to know how. I can't even make myself sound convincingly Canadian, and that's less of a stretch. So even poor Michelle Ryan has a better American accent than my British accent. And honestly, she's not perfect, but I didn't think accent was that bad.

Comments

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

Nope, never seen it. I did see a video with him on YouTube the other day, only he was being himself and Catherine Tate was being "American".