Thursday, May 14, 2009

Pinoy Accent ???

I was on the phone moments ago speaking to a vehicle dealer and out of nowhere he told me that he recognized my accent. He straightaway asked me if I am from the Philippines!!!

It turned out his wife is a Filipina from Cavite. Then, we exchanged pleasantries about the Philippines and how he loves the islands and that he was already on the process of buying a house there. As soon as we hung up, it made me think about Filipino accent.

I have nothing against our kababayan who sort of tried really hard in adapting the British accent. I know that most of the time we get the hang of it without realizing it. But for me, I have never tried to copy the accent as I know it would sound funny to native speakers here.

I remember the time when I was stranded in Munich due to a cancelled flight and I happen to share a meal and interesting conversation in the hotel bar with a British gentleman. After a couple of hours into the conversation, he asked me where I got my American accent and if it was because I was educated in the US or because of watching American films. I was surprised and told him that as far as I know I am speaking with my own Filipino accent.

But how does the Filipino accent sound? It really intrigued me.

3 comments:

Rhys said...

I beg to disagree Don, you do not speak with a Filipino accent. You sound American even if you don't make an effort to do so at all :)

Elanita said...

Pinoy accent? Ang pamangkot kung diin halin ang Pinoy? he3x. Anyway, for me it doesn't mean that if you have an accent you are not speaking proper English :) And the "american" accent (that nasal "twang" if one hails from the westcoast, or the newyorker's accent), isn't exactly the true measure of what is the "right accent"...I think we should even go for being accent-less :) *Galing kay teh kis-a para maintyindihan ka kaistorya mo,i-adapt mo gid sa iya man ya linguistic attributes.ay teh?

Elanita said...

Pahabol...and as dear Ella and Louis have aptly put it: "I say toh-mah-toh, you say toh-may-toh, you say poh-tah-to, I say poh-tay-toh..." Eeether or Ayther? Ay "Ehder"! :)