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ausie acsent


jm01

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En die Aussies kan nie die letter "G" uitspreek nie :whome: Ek ken iemand met die naam van Gert - hulle noem hom "ghert"

Ek dink dit klink vir hulle "phlegmy" ...asof mens slym in jou keel het en dit probeer uitkry :P. My nefie se Ozzie meisie leer nou Afrikaans maar dis die een letter wat sy nie kan baasraak nie, sê dit klink bietjie ongeskik :D

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I struggle to hear what Ozzies say, so I gues it must be the same for them...

The one lady told me to meet her at Meal Street, which I couldnt find on the map, I rang back, and still couldnt get it until she spelled it. Mill Street!

And also one lady told me I live in a great seedy? Took me a while before I realised she didnt think it was seedy where I lived, rather a "city"!

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Is there any Aussie word that is pronounced with an i sound like the South African's pronounce it (in "zip" or "sip") or do they all say "zeep" and "seep" ? My name is Lize (pronounced Lee-zah) and I would like to teach them the pronunciation using associations, but saying "zi" as in "zip" will result in Lee-zee. :glare:

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I think you're going to find it hard to get the Aussies to say your name. My son told me he has tried to cut "I" words out his vocab as he gets teased at school.

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Is there any Aussie word that is pronounced with an i sound like the South African's pronounce it (in "zip" or "sip") or do they all say "zeep" and "seep" ? My name is Lize (pronounced Lee-zah) and I would like to teach them the pronunciation using associations, but saying "zi" as in "zip" will result in Lee-zee. :glare:

You would have more hope of it being pronounced correctly if it was spelt Lizza, as currently spelt a lot of people will call you Leez or Leezee.

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True story, young South African called Herman walks into a bar and asks the pretty bar lady for some " ass" the bar lady is poised to slap him when his Australian friends tell her he wants some ice.......he is know affectionately known as " Assman" by all his Aussie mates.

My friend Ilse is called ills. Marnus is called Manus, Mr Botha is called Mr Bowta, Renier is called Rainea, Pierre is given the French intonation, Peayeah....these are all real people I know.

One exception to this is a friend who had a little boy a few years ago, his nickname at birth was bosluis, shortened to Bossie, and all the Australians know him as Bossy.

I don't think that I have struggled to understand Australians as I had an Uncle that emigrated here in the 50's and would visit us in the UK often and I have an Uncle in New Zealand and had an Australian teacher as a child and worked with an Australian nurse in the UK. I think my Bitish early life prepared me for all manner of European accent and then coming to South Africa I had to get used to yet another, so I've been exposed to so many languages and accents that I can pick people's ancestry with about a 90% accuracy.

The one accent that kills me is the New Zealand one....wait until they say " Fish and Chips" or "six"

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The only thing I have to prepare me, is that I have watched Priscilla Queen of the desert, and a few episodes of Neighbours...

But is that enough? :whome:

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I find they even say some things differently - like necklace - Ive never pronounced the second part as lace - you know that pretty stuff on clothing.

But if I think about it, the aussies way seems right - its lace - not how we say it neckless ! No wonder some aussies dont know what we're going on about.

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I am glad i am not neckless.

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Is there any Aussie word that is pronounced with an i sound like the South African's pronounce it (in "zip" or "sip") or do they all say "zeep" and "seep" ? My name is Lize (pronounced Lee-zah) and I would like to teach them the pronunciation using associations, but saying "zi" as in "zip" will result in Lee-zee. :glare:

Capetonians pronounce the word winter the same as Australians. The same is true for the word did. Durbanites, on the other hand, are quite similar to Kiwis in many respects. Just ask a true blue Durbanite to say fish - you'll probably hear fush!

Ask a Capetonian to say town or mountain. You'll hear Tarn. Marntin.

Listen to Afrikaans being spoken by Capetonians. Then listen to the same words being spoken by those from Pretoria. Especially the word ek. In Pretoria you'll hear it being pronouced ak.

Accents have always fascinated me. An American was once surprised when I asked him if he was from Wisconsin. Their accent is different. He remarked that people don't normally hear the subtleties. Recently I asked someone what part of Newcastle (in the UK) he was from. Apparently I was the first person who has ever guessed his accent right away. My wife and kids were very amused at me when we went to New York. Their heads spun around when I asked someone in true Joey Tribbiani style, "How you doin'?". The way the Canucks say out just makes me laugh. I got smiles from my kids when we visited Canada in the snow and I said "It's sure cold out!" - just like the locals.

Having been in Australia for close on three years, I find myself speaking more and more with an antipodal twang. I guess I just like to blend in. No one questions my origin anymore, which is something immigrants always have to contend with. I came here with the intention of becoming Australian in every possible way. My great-grandfather was born in NSW and left to fight under Kitchener in the Anglo-Boer war. He settled in South Africa and never returned. So I feel that I've finally completed the circle. When I first arrived here, I met someone who sounded as Australian as any local but it turned out he was actually as Afrikaans as can be. He then explained that he approached the Australian accent as just another language. His first language is obviously Afrikaans, so he saw learning Australian in the same light as learning French, German, or any other language. He's a Psychologist and found that talking to his patients with his native accent just didn't work, so he brought out his inner parrot and, he says, worked wonders for his practice.

Talking of South African accents, though, have you ever noticed how hard it is for Hollywood to mimic a true South African accent? The only person I've ever heard nail it was Val Kilmer in The Saint. It was as close to a Capetonian accent as you'll ever hear outside of Cape Town.

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Is there any Aussie word that is pronounced with an i sound like the South African's pronounce it (in "zip" or "sip") or do they all say "zeep" and "seep" ? My name is Lize (pronounced Lee-zah) and I would like to teach them the pronunciation using associations, but saying "zi" as in "zip" will result in Lee-zee. :glare:

How would they pronounce Leez-uh! :whome:

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