Re: Canadian Accents: Ottawa

[darrenshanfreak17]

WTF we dont say EH and we dont say aboat plus we dont say EH! like a retard

[MrZingnigga]

The long o in about is a northern Ontario thing. Most Canadians say it the same way Americans do.

[CanadianQueer]

I think the easiest way to sound Canadian is to drop the t at the end of a word and pronounce the t in the middle of a word as a d. When you, as a brit, say the word "butter" you say it like "butta" where as in Canada it sounds like "budder". That being said, dropping the r at the end of a word in a sure fire way to sound like a brit. But I wouldn't worry so much, we LOVE british accents, and yours is quite nice; I wouldn't change a thing if I were you. <3

[shitface9696]

Maybe me i have the accent because im a French Canadian, Which it make a lot of sense

[Canuckchick52]

I live 2 hours west of Toronto, but I don't think as a Canadian I have an accent that's different from Americans. I think it's more the Canadians that live in the Maritime provinces that have an accent. A little like a Scottish one, but still different.

[ottvalley]

Hey dere!! Hows it goin' dere eh!! Ya,I just got me layed off dere!! Guess I'll have to get my pogie check eh!! Anyway,guess I'll head er home dere,ol' Wifey might get all riled dere eh!! See ya!!

[hoursloth]

ahahahahah people will laugh at you if you come to canada and do that accent... lol all of the things are steryotypical ... there are VERY few people who talk like that and they have VERY thick accents

[MrlynMac]

I don't think you should listen that guy from Ottawa. His "accent" is extreme. If you copy him and come to Canada speaking like him, people will laugh at you. The best advice is to copy the "general" North American accent--the way MOST Canadians speak, anyway.

[shake62]

i agree. i'm from Ottawa, and i've never heard anyone talking like that. he needs to stfu.

[zitpoppermd]

"Stacy is holding an umbrella so that she doesn't get wet in a rain storm" was perfect.

[TwilightDiva]

In the southern part of Ontario where I come from, "eh" is usally used to emphasize something

e.g. Person#1: "Did you just SEE that?

Person#2: "I know, eh?!"

Or as "don't you think" :)

It's not just "EH", it's usually softer and more dragged out. Not short and choppy like people usually think it is. It's not supposed to draw attention either, it should go unnoticed :)

[LadyOfTheRain]

I'm originally from Canada, but I've moved around the world alot, soooo....personally, my accent is not very helpful because it's a bit of a mix. However, I can help you with yours. Your 'umbrella' was really good. You need to make your 'a's sharper, when you read the poem they stayed rounded, which is a british thing. Contrarily, our 'o's are much more rounded than yours. The American 'about' that you did was more on par with what it should sound like. Your counting was very good. Not too US.

[WTFsimonPLZ]

a clear-cut sign of a canadian accent is the way they say "against," or "again." they really pronounce the long "a" sound, so it sounds like "agaaaayn."

[brittanycheff]

im from canada and here when we sat ehh at the end of our sentences its all normal for us lol .. sometimes i dont even notice it

[takashishimasu]

YOU americans can you tell me what's wrong with the "eh" that supposedly Canadians say at the end of a phrase????????? I am a learner of english a second language and I find the "eh" too sexy!!! what's the deal with "eh"??? Everybody in YouTube is talking about the canadian "eh"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LyzzyZombieMonkey]

ur saying ur a's wrong. i cant explain it very well

[LyzzyZombieMonkey]

its like you ask a question and then you say eh for example:

this day is taking forever eh?

[maxudaskin]

Come to Toronto, we use Eh no more that 2 - 3 times a day...

And it is not What's that, eh?... it is That's creepy, eh?

Eh is used most commonly as a, "Do you agree?".

[x0xChattynCutex0x]

its mostly wester candian with a thicker accent

[lynnsong]

agreed - it's not just thrown onto the end of things. it's when you state a question as a sentence, you tack on 'eh' to make it register as a question... i.e. "isn't the weather awful?" becomes "the weather's awful, eh?"

-fellow torontonian

[ConCon75]

i thought canadians saw Toronto as a very americanised place.

[lynnsong]

regardless, places that aren't as amercanised don't just tack 'eh' on to everything like people seem to think. They may use it more than us, but it still has to be in the right grammar context.

[fearlesssockpuppet]

That's so cool you want a Canadian accent! Most people from Britain only ever want to replicate an American accent. So I think it's so amazing you want to speak Canadian and how they speak in Ottawa too!

As for the "Twenty/Twunny" thing, in Ottawa we pronounce "Twenty", as it's written. Same deal with a word like "Necklace". I pronounce it as it's written, but quite a few times I've caught people saying "Neck-kliss". We're supposed to say "Necklace"...I think "Neck-kliss" is more American.

[theeponym]

I say it closer to Neck-liss...

Maybe Neck-lass. I think I enunciate the 'a' a bit more, but it's a short 'a', note the long 'a' in Neck-lace.

[oxfordpictionary]

eh wouldn't really be tacked on after "what's that..." it's like that other poster said, we use "eh" to see if the person we're talking to agrees, usually when it is an expected/implied agreement. so i would say "she's getting pretty good at those accents, eh?"

[KakurineSaTalyn]

Lmao. Exactly.  No idea what's going on with my own Canadian accent. I'm a metis, with a speech impediment to boot...Lmao. Seals.

[beaglefreak1]

You have to shorten the gap between your comment and the eh. People from Ottawa run it together almost. UNLESS you actually want a response then you leave a noticeable gap.

[ErinMerk13]

great counting :D

just instead of sayinf twenty like its written you should say tweny, like without the t

[hayleybronwyn]

It depends where you live in Canada, but in most parts of Canada you say about just like you did for your American accent. And the umbrella thing is good too. You just have to relax your mouth when you say the ou stuff and when you end a word in a make sure not to add an r after. In Ontario though, our accent is extremely close to the American L.A accent so you don't have to worry about mixing your Canadian-American accent up. It sounds great. Good job!

[blackdogg70]

TWENNY QUID!!!

[Sezzera]

hahaha :)

[aisha1424]

I think your Canadian accent is quite good. But if you do want to move to Canada, why change the way you sound!? I live in Ottawa and we have so many lovely accents in our city.

Coming to Canada with your English is what makes you yourself.I love English accents, but if I were to go to England, i'm sure people would prefer to hear me speak the way i do naturally.

Even my grandmother is scottish...she has her Canadian citizenship but has never lost her accent. It shows the bestof both worlds!

[elpilot80]

yea, come on here :-), nice idea

[ILoveNewYorkNewYork]

As Lillinois said, twenty in America = Twunny

[Lillinois]

Your counting is pretty good, only thing i would point out is that Americans pronounce twenty different, A typical American sentence would be sounded out like this: " You godda gimme twunny bucks"

translated: You've got to give me twenty bucks....or wait twenty....pounds?? Lol sorry I'm not familiar with English money.

[Sezzera]

Yes, we say pounds, that's right! :)

[Lillinois]

Okay, glad I got it right. Oh by the way, "buck" is another word often used for a dollar here, If you really want to sound authentic :). I ran into a British lady from England yesturday, I thought I was going to die of excitement :D I was like " I LOVE your accent" That's probably the first Brit I've met in my entire life.

[devourerofbabies]

Twenty squids.