englishangel wrote:North America is such a big country you really can't generalise.
Same goes for Australia.
My kids (born in NZ, raised in Australia) are often taken for Poms when they visit the Eastern states.
South Australians have a softer (hence, more Pom-like) accent than Victorians or New South Welshies. The latter say schooooool and poooooool and dance as opposed to darnce. Some Queenslanders sound like Kiwis.
My favourite Aussie v Kiwi put down (it can be reversed)?
Q: Why do Kiwis wear jandals? (alternately, why do Aussies wear thongs?)
A: Because they are too dumb to tie their shoe laces.
Quick translation: Aussie thongs = Kiwi Jandals = Pommie flip flops (or Japanese sea boots, as my ex-Navy ex-husband calls them).
As for Kiwis sounding like South Africans - oh d-d-dear
Not the same at all.All this coming from someone who used to be able to pick a Battersea accent from other London accents, but who recently kept asking a German student if he was sure he was German, as he sounds so French. Resorted to asking where in Germany he is from. Nowhere near the French border, but he has been working in South Africa for some years. Would have thought that would make him sound more German.
