arab youth and the american accent
 

Why are so many taking on this accent even though they my have not even visited the country ever, some are actually picking it up from just watching TV and movies, including exclamations and facial expressions, is this some trend?

are they flight crew??? if so what's the issue

The same reason that most of the the Dutch sound American when they speak in English... they grew up watching popular exported American TV shows subtitled in their own language... so they naturally pick it up.

Probably the same reason British chav kids use phrases such as "is you dissin my homie nigga?" when they actually grew up in a nice 4-bed semi in Surbiton where '8-mile' is not an infamous Detroit street, but is actually a local fun-run that Daddy took part in with his civil servant colleagues.

Guess it's a cultural thing with a lot of the media being US oriented. Was going to comment on my accent but then people might know who I am.

South African:bored:??

@ newcaster

I don't see what the problem is.
I'm an "arab youth" and growing up in the ME and having been in a private school most our teachers were American, almost every movie or tv show we watched was American.
Is it not natural that's the accent we pick up?
Don't understand why you're hating.

CP

I have grown up in an English speaking household, literally brought up on american culture and TV/movies, yet my English is totally neutral in accent.

We have an american school in Pakistan too, I have yet to meet people who speak american accent english after studying there since childhood under US teachers influence, they my say erb instead of herb but thats it.

Yes those who do speak in UK/US style are born or raised there, but no 18 yearold going for studies abroad will come back with an accent, or start speaking it by watching TV/movies, extremely rare are some older people who will speak with a faux accent made up by themselves from British English, how you people do it is interesting, and its not like your ancestors spoke american accented english en masse, it was more mediterranen style.

It sounds cool and might come handy once you end up in Gitmo...:E

It's just that every now and then, when the yanks overdid it again, we see "arab youth", arriving in Chargers and Hummers, wearing 49ers caps on top of dish-dashs, running around eager tv cameras, yelling things in american accent like "f^*k america" and similar picked up drivel, that some doubts about their values and judgement arise.

@ Pool


I understand that some of them, maybe quiet a lot, mostly in the UAE are like that.
Don't mistake a bunch of uneducated rich arab youth with the knowledgeable ones.

this is the most useless discussion I have ever seen on the :ugh:prune. who gives a crap about their accent, as long as you can communicate with them?

@newscaster: Would love to hear what a neutral accent sounds like. IMHO it is only neutral to those around you that speak in the same accent. Therefore for someone brought up in the USof A the accent they speak in is neutral and you speak accented English.

Agree total useless discussion, however considering you are in Pakistan I would agree with you that speaking American accented English over there is not really the most popular thing at the moment! Trust many of the fake accents will drop it in the coming weeks when they get singled out as American's (wannabes or actual)!! :E

PS: What is Mediterranean style English?

ER.....ER...ER...........

I can tell you what a neutral accent is... I'm a midwestern American, born and raised. I recently was in Dubai and had the pleasure of meeting some of our pilot colleagues from all over the world.

In fact, out of the 14 of us, at least 12 spoke impeccable English to the point that, sight unseen, they may as well have grown up in the U.S.A. My favorite guy, that I spent all day with, was from the Sultanate of Brunei (sp?) and his English was so great we talked all day.

Outside of a few idioms, he had it all. We even had a good old fashioned, all-American fist-bump at the end. :D

Looks like you got a lot of spare time :D

at least its good they speak your language but you cant speak theirs :E

Media mate

They learn English because they need to. We learn no other languages because we do not need to and we have no need to learn the local language because everyone here speaks ours.

Please don't trot out this tedious, repetitive and narrow-minded line about some sot of superiority because they've taken the time to learn English. Only the silly and shallow-minded buy into that one.

If they'd learnt a second language as adults, that'd be something worthy of a nod of respect. Learning a second language as a child is no big deal. People do it all over the world - where there's a need for it.

I have seen lots of knowledgeable, intellectual discerning types studying in university also speak american style, so its not limited to spoilt rich brats.

US schools can be found in subcontinent countries including Pakistan, yet no one pops out of there speaking like a yank, so that excuse is not valid.

No one is Pak speaks in american English, or any native English speaking country accent forunately, unless born or raised in that country, those that havent and do so are ridiculed as phonies.

Neutral accent means you speak impeccable english but without an accent from a native English speaking country, mainly UK, US, Aus.

Mediterranean accent is the type of English spoken in that region, without perfection in pronunciation.

BTW american english is also popular with East asian youth, I dont think it reflects well on them either, aping any English accent when you can speak fluent English without it being specifically identifiable to native English speaking country is stupid.

@pool

So ironic and where did arab pride go? is it irrelevant in this case.

You know, back in the day, New Yorkers wanted to speak English like the queen, so they began pronouncing words in a British manner. What we got now is that obnoxious Brooklyn accent. No big deal, just the flow of words from culture to culture. The American culture caters (possibly by necessity) to the lowest common denominator- action movies, pop culture, etc. Every society relates to it, I sure I will see guys walking around in Dubai with their jeans falling off. It is the world that we live in.

well,,if you have knowledge and education,,there is no harm to try to achieve perfection,,thats something good

Would this be a neutral accent?

YouTube - English Accents (Indian)

In my opinion every language has it's own accent based on where it is spoken and there is no neutral accent. There are many former colonial countries that still have people who speak impeccable English, but still there is a trace of their native language or style in their accent. I have seen expats living in these countries for 10 years starting to speak with the same accent and use localized words in English. I think Singapore is one of the best examples of good English with a local flavor.

As far as Arab pride, best of my Knowledge English is the second language and not necessarily mandatory. Therefore it is only normal for them to pick up the accent that they are most exposed to.

Best said by a previous poster, if you understand them and can communicate where is the issue???