I’m ranking American Accents from easiest to hardest to understand for me, a European person. We’ll get into the most difficult American accents to understand like the Cajun accent, Boston accent, NYC accent, Appalachian accent, Baltimore, Miami, Texas, New Orleans… as well as unique accents like the High Tider’s Carolina brogue (Outerbanks English)
This is a fun and positive cultural discovery video, where we appreciate accents and we’re curious about them! So let me know which American accents I’ve missed!
Thank you to Klook for sponsoring this video! Use my code LUCILEYTKLOOK when booking your experience or hotel for a discount! Check out my favorite Klook experiences here: https://www.klook.com/en-US/tetris/promo/lucilehr-kreatorshop/
Here are the videos mentioned in this video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DOGscQqjtmB/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLi450lwaPc (Amazing channel!)
—
– Get 5% off my PARIS FOOD MAP with over 200 delicious spots I’ve personally been to and recommend: https://www.paris.lucilehr.com/products/paris-food-map?promo=YT
– Get 5% off my PARIS SECRETS MAP, with all my favorite spots I share with my with friends when they are visiting Paris with my local takes on highlights, hidden gems, shopping, and culture: https://www.paris.lucilehr.com/products/paris-secrets?promo=YTSECRETS
—
Watch my other language reaction videos:
– French Girl Reacts to Louisiana Cajun French: https://youtu.be/6eEQqQJw_jA?si=Die91YmH6rJwLxd_
– French Girl Reacts to Celebrities Speaking French: https://youtu.be/V8GYvuxXrdE?si=v8_l8ki48OJFPk5J
– French Girl Reacts to Quebecois Canadian French: https://youtu.be/ZFc3-CdK1vg?si=JpkjsP_CVonq6us-
Watch my other cultural commentary videos:
– Why is it so Easy to be Thin in France? https://youtu.be/sHKXlAnVgo8?si=KOZxQ3ClzcytMq1E
– Why Are French People So Rude? My Thoughts as Local! https://youtu.be/GkxzKuL5gP4?si=p5fXjIv9oCrx8wrz
– Why Parisians are Forced to Live in Tiny Apartments: https://youtu.be/oWwyZUe6MjY?si=udcnnZf59I569gi2
– Why France Has Better Food Than The USA: https://youtu.be/C7fIHeVypdI?si=18f2MiAC8TEeLNrk
—
#usa #americanaccent #frenchgirlreacts #europeanreacts #france
46 Comments
Our accent is our identity, but as an American, your "American" national identity should supersede the regional identity you have, and there's nothing wrong w/ regional accents and dialects following suit.
Next you should try listening to the Hawaiian Pidgin accent.
I couldn’t understand the Outer Banks accent at all. I’m from Michigan.
Southeastern Kentucky. Particularly around Harlan county.
Appalachian accent is sweet.
Its funny considering the Boston, NYC revelry that they have some similarities in their accents.
There's not just one Appalachian accent. It is a huge area.
❤TX
Michigan has an accent. And we have regional expressions.
Super is fairly common but not super common!!
I'm from Connecticut. Instead of "super" I say "wicked". Like the movie was wicked good. I love accents and wish people didn't have to suppress them.
You should hear Popcorn Sutton and Jim Tom Hendrix
A pharmacist at the drugstore I go to is from New Orleans. I thought he was from Adelaide Australia (I’ve worked with Aussies). I think I can detect your regional accent. Je parle un peu de français.
There is another woman on YT who studied NYC accents. In one of her videos she points out the Irish, even though they speak English, have their own NYC accent and gave a few examples.
In general, most of the US Midwest speaks with what some people call a "radio voice". No accent, very neutral. What radio and TV announcers had to sound like. I understand the UK has a similar accent that is considered neutral.
It took me a long time to lose my Long Island accent. It was not well received when I moved to the south.
I speak with a classic Boston accent…not Southie. I drop R’s, turn T’s into D’s and a few other wicked ones. Thing is, don’t quite know why so many people in show business have such a hard time doing one. It can cause cringes galore. It is most prominent on just some words. I kind of like New York accents, especially Brooklyn type, because they sound almighty comical. Like the non-deep southern accent like Tennessee and Kentucky as well Texans. Wished I had learned French better in school. Never thought I would ever be in France, so no big deal. The year later I found myself on the Promenade des Anglais and the Champs Elysees, and would return a couple of times during my life. I did remember enough phrases to get by though, and could order Beer perfectly.
I’m from San Francisco and was visiting my Mom’s family in Rutland, Vermont. All through dinner I was asking my Mom what people were saying. They left out Rs where they belong and add them where they don’t. I recall them referring to some guy as a really “ahhh-so”, I had no idea what they meant.
If you want to hear the old, classic South Carolina accent. Watch a YouTube video of Senator Fritz Hollings. That is my favorite American accent.
eres española??? Haz un vídeo en castellano!!!!
I use super from Ontario Canada!
Love your channel and Jordan's
Rhoticity and vowels❤🎉
Beautiful video. Great compilation. French accent , British accent are easy to understand.
Most people in Louisiana have a black or Southern accent.
Broadcasters used to hire people from Nebraska. THAT is a standard American accent.
11:13 "on the daily"… It's fun to hear slang terms used by those, such as yourself, who speak English as a second language. It shows you're really listening closely to how we native English-speakers express ourselves!
Edited to add: If you have never heard an authentic, patrician Southern accent, search for videos here that feature the late author/historian Shelby Foote. He had the most silky-smooth Southern accent you will ever hear.
22:10 I live in Texas and I would consider Terry Black's Texas accent fairly mild.
You say the word “really” as “ree”…it’s supposed to be 2 syllables…”ree-lee”, or “ree-a-lee”.
How about deep south Mississippi accent! Quite differant from Appallachian but both Southern and having some things in common. The regional accent decline among the younger generations is also very uneven, with for example strong Texas English still widely spoken by those of all ages in much of rural/small town Texas and even in the cities of West Texas and much more so by the those of working class background in general.
Miami Accent isn't just English with a Cuban accent, but an actual local American English accent influenced by Cuban Spanish and other influences, spoken even by non Hispanics and those who speak no Spanish in South Florida.
12:36 if they ever make a live action king of the hill we found boomhauer.
My college roommate was born and raised near Nice, France, and bitterly complained about how he had such negative treatment when in Paris due to his southern accent. During high school he moved to to the US and then went to college (1980's) and my roommate warned me to never go to Paris because of his poor experiences as a French national (I assume he understood French culture and customs), let alone, me, a US citizen. Was this an issue for you being from the South? Is this a thing?
This is another one of your great videos, Lucile. The accent I would be interested to know if you can understand is the Black dialect in Houston, Texas. I have lived there on a couple of occasions, and I am from Austin, which is not that far away, but I find myself frequently confused by what Black people are saying. When I was in med school, I had a patient in the hospital tell me she was going to "thurby." When she said in an exasperated tone "physical thurby," I finally understood that she meant therapy. And years later, I was working at the University of Houston and our IT specialist kept telling me that something would "pernt" to something else on the computer screen, by which he meant "point." There are numerous other examples, but I would be interested to know how this un-French accent sounds to you!
What if you visited the San Fernando Valley in California? That could be interesting, like, totally. 🎉
No one should hit you for your accent.
I'm from Chicagoland. There are times I sound like a 1930s radio announcer. I was NATO and stationed in Italy, I can get a bit of that New York. I've lived in Southern California for the past 22 years and can do airhead fluently…
12:37 Oh, this reminds so much of a late friend. When we met it was while having some drinks when his accent would come out. I could not understand 2 words he said. He was being friendly I didn't want to insult him. We became close and hearing this brought back some memories.
A few more accents you may want to consider would be Pittsburgh, the upper Midwest (such as Minnesota or the Dakotas), and some Black Urban accents. If you’re interested in expanding beyond the US, Canada has its own accents, one unique one being Newfoundland. And then there are the Caribbean islands …
I am from Baltimore but neither one of my parents had a Baltimore accent and I tried to rid myself of it. Its softer but still there. I have noticed that Philadelphia also mimics a lot of the exaggerated Baltimore sounds.
But if Outter Bankers have a more Elizabethan accent, then it should sound less English than American, since American English has retained more older pronunciations than English spoken in England.
I grew up in Salt Lake City nearer to downtown. The suburban and rural accents drove us nuts. We try to sound more "Standard" American. So we can tell if you're from Utah or surrounding states pretty easily. 😅
What about the Pacific Northwest, say Seattle? I wonder how it sounds to others.
This Video was "Hella Cool" ! – Norcal viewer
People rank the Boston accent as "annoying" because the non-rhotive "R" is pretty uncommon in North American english. But also because they're Massholes. Do Pittsburgh next.
fantastic video today Lucile!!!
I really really hope that you do a video on English regional accents and dialects from the UK, including Scouse from Liverpool (where I have lived all my life), plus many others. As well as Scouse, check out: Belfast, Coleraine, Glaswegian, Mancunian, Port Talbot, Geordie (Newcastle), Norwich, Bristolian, various London variants of Cockney, plus many others around the country. Very often, if you travel only 20-30 miles from one town or city you can find a distinctly different dialect and accent in the UK.
Oh yeah, that Boston accent is like pounding nails into my ears, its very harsh. But I want to say that I used to work with someone from Boston and he was a hell of a guy, and I really looked up to him.
You missed the North Dakota/Minnesota accent and the Southern California accents – The Chicano accent vs. the Valley accent vs. the Surfer accent.