Varieties of English

Participants:

Host – Nicholas Carlie – Host

Alex – from Hong Kong, China

Anne - Anne Dahl, professor at NTNU, Norway

The English language – in China and Hong Kong

Host: Hi, my name is Nicholas and I'm a former journalist for NRK. I was born in Belgium to Swedish parents who raised me in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia and South America. English is not my mother tongue. English is not my native language, and I didn't live in an English-speaking country until I was 16 years old. English is, however, my first language, but I often wonder what is English? Why can I hear the difference between an Australian, a Londoner, a Bostonian or an African all sharing a common language? The English language has approximately four hundred million native speakers worldwide and is recognised as the single most widely spoken global language. In this podcast, we will explore the nuances of English accents and pronunciation, together with five native speakers from all over the globe and a Norwegian professor of this strange and wonderful global language. Who knows, maybe I'll learn something new about my first language. Today I will be speaking to Alex from Hong Kong.

Hi Alex, my name is Nicholas. Interesting, I actually spent two years of my childhood in Kowloon.

Alex: Kowloon, ok - it's the heart of Hong Kong.

Host: Exactly. I mean, this was back in the early 80s and it was just madness. I can't imagine that it's calmed down much since then.

Alex: Oh, it's still very lively. Hong Kong's pretty vivid, I would say.

Host: Tell me where you are from exactly, and what part of Hong Kong did you grew up in?

Alex: I lived, and I'm born in the new territories in Hong Kong. So, it's more towards the northern part of Hong Kong. But Hong Kong is basically a very small city. So, there's not much difference on where you live.

Host: Yeah, because they’re very close geographically, all of these different parts of Hong Kong. How were you exposed to English? Do you have memories of this as a child? Was it through school or through pop-culture or your parents?

Alex: I actually started learning English when I was three, and I started reading English books. And then in school we also had English classes and, we had English classes from kindergarten and all the way through secondary school.

Host: Yeah, right. So, it's a very early exposure. But even in Hong Kong, correct me if I'm wrong, it's not even one kind of Chinese there. There are two variants … Mandarin and Cantonese … and this is already a big challenge.

Alex: Yeah, Cantonese is the main language spoken in Hong Kong. But in recent years, because of the increasing population of Chinese mainland migrants into Hong Kong, there's an increasing Mandarin speaking population.

Host: I understand. So, Cantonese would be more local. But then you also add English into the mix. What is the status of English in the Hong Kong region?

Alex: In Hong Kong, English is seen as superior language. And if we know English and speak it fluently, it actually gives us a better prospect in our future job career, I will say.

Host: Wow, so it will increase your social status to be an English speaker?

Alex: Yeah, it does.

Host: So, not being able to speak English as a young Hong Kong citizen might actually deny you of certain possibilities?

Alex: It's not about denial. It's just that we feel like the ability of speaking another language fluently is just a very high level-thing.

Host: I understand, as a high status in business and commerce?

Alex: Yes, and because in Hong Kong the whole industry is centred around businesses and commercial industry, and mostly the language that's used in those industries, is English. So, if you know English, it really improves your prospects later on, in your workplace.

Host: It's interesting because if I did not know you were from Hong Kong, I could still guess by your accent, with a large amount of certainty, that you were a native Asian speaker. I'm not sure why. Have you ever thought that the way you speak English tells other people where you are from?

Alex: I do recognize that my accent does that, because my English didn't get fluent until last year. And because we only speak English, we always tend to think in Cantonese and with a Cantonese mindset, Therefore we will always have this accent in some words. Words are not words in Cantonese, it's more like words for expression of emotions and that would let people recognize that you are not a native speaker, and that you're from Asia.

Host: At the same time, you know, thinking of the history of Hong Kong with England or the British Empire, I do get more of an American accent in your English. Why do you think that is?

Alex: There's not a particular accent that is taught in the education system. For me personally, I do watch quite a bit of NBA games and I listen to a lot of commentaries. So, probably I learnt my English from there and that may affect my accent. And I have an American roommate now.

Alex: There you go! Movies and YouTube changing the English all around the world. I have these words here: Chinglish and Konglish – what is Chinglish and Konglish and do you use these?

Alex: I never heard of Konglish before – I don't know where that comes from. But Chinglish – definitely yes. Chinglish is basically based on English and when we speak English, sometimes we don't know what's the direct translation of certain words in Cantonese. Then we just put it into English. Therefore we end up speaking English with some Chinese in it and a lot of Cantonese expressions, or expression words, yeah.

Host: So, it's a bilingual language that can only be used by bilingual speakers?

Alex: Yeah, Chinglish would be pretty exclusive. It's not really a dialect I would say, but for someone who doesn't know Cantonese but only speak English, they'll be able to understand most of the context and what's going on. But then there will be some nuances, like some expressions that they will not understand.

Host: How much of a conversation, percentagewise, would actually be English, do you think?

Alex: In daily life conversation? Actually, I think in a lot of conversations we won't use English. We generally use Cantonese, but it's very common that we mix it. I would say 20 percent of the time there would be English words popping up.

Host: When you speak English to me, do you take special care to leave out certain parts of your natural English, so that I can understand you better?

Alex: What's natural English?

Host: Like with your friends, your bilingual friends or the guys you grew up with. They obviously would use more Cantonese. But when you speak to me, do you have to make a conscious effort to only use English?

Alex: Yeah, definitely. If you want me to speak in the Cantonese English accent at the end of the podcast, I'll be able to do so…

Host: Oh, I would love to hear that right now, actually. I would love to hear some local dialect!

Alex: Or some local Hong Kong English, ok ... (speaking with an accent) so, this is how Hong Kong people speak Eng-a-lish. It's more like the Cantonese accent, and then you put it in this when you're speaking "Eng-a-lish", you know.

Host: Yes, that's right. So, English becomes a three-syllable word?

Alex: Yeah, "Eng-a-lish", like that.

Host: And you're very clear and you're pitching your voice differently as well.

Alex: Yeah. Because that is how Cantonese works. That is our accent, yes.

Host: Wow, that's fascinating. And also, recognizable. There's been a lot of huge Asian actors, especially in the martial arts films. Are there any ambassadors of the Hong Kong English that we would know about?

Alex: The issue is, I personally don't watch a lot of films and movies, so I don't really know. I do know Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, but then I don't really watch films.

Host: Everybody knows Jackie.

Alex: Yeah, he's an icon.

Host: How do you see your accent in the world? Do you have any impressions of how it is perceived? Does it tell people that maybe you're more intelligent, that you're better at school ...?

Alex: Like perceptions? I think people have perceptions more because of my race rather than my language – how I speak it. Because there are just typical stereotype of Asians being smarter, they study hard, and so and so.

Host: OK, so it's not specifically connected to your accent, it's more of a general perception of Asian people in education and work. I see. I really like this Hong Kong English of yours. When would you use that?

Alex: Well, my friends are interested in the Hong Kong accent. So, I would just talk in the Hong Kong accent right in front of them and they would crack up, laughing.

Host: So it's like a party trick?

Alex: Yeah, it’s kind of a trick to impress people, you know.

Host: It was really fun talking to you. I'm really, really going to get into that Cantonese English. It is a good party trick, isn't it?

Alex: Yeah! Have you watched Uncle Rodger on YouTube?

Host: Yes, I've seen some of it.

Alex: He's talking English with a Cantonese accent!

Host: Yeah, he is – that’s right. Well, is that something that you find funny or are you afraid that maybe that's going to give some misconceptions about Chinese speaking English?

Alex: I just think that's just a misconception on how Asians speak English, because I found out that people outside of Asia have a hard time distinguishing people from Asia. Like Chinese, Vietnamese or Taiwanese ... We're very different in our culture and how we speak and stuff. These kinds of videos can cause a wrong perception that all Asians speak like that.

Host: But do you find it more entertaining for your own self, or slightly insulting?

Alex: I definitely find it more entertaining because this Cantonese accent is definitely fun, and I enjoy listening to it and it cracks me up.

Host: Thank you to Alex from Hong Kong. Next, I will be speaking to Anne Dahl, Associate Professor from the Department of Language and Literature at NTNU, about the English language in Hong Kong and Asia in general. Hello, Anne!

AD: Hi, good to be back.

Host: So, in my conversation with Alex, he spoke two variants of English, one that was natural for him, and then he broke into the Cantonese English accent. What's going on here? Which one of these Englishers’ is the real one?

AD: Oh, that's a good question. Well, in most countries where English exists alongside other languages – like in Hong Kong of course, where most people also speak Cantonese – you will find this layer of different types of English, where most speakers can speak a relatively standard English, by international standards. A standard English, which can be easily understood by other speakers of English who don't know the local languages. But then they also tend to be able to switch into modes of English that are more mixed with their other languages and may use words and expressions, and even intonation and phonology from the other languages.

So, it's kind of similar to for example the situation in many places in Africa, where a speaker in Nigeria can speak a relatively standard English, which most people will understand, and then they can switch into a Nigerian English, which you can't understand unless you know the local context. With Cantonese English or Hong Kong English it's kind of the same thing. You can speak Hong Kong English, which is relatively standard, and you can use it internationally. But then English is a local language in Hong Kong, used in Hong Kong among people in Hong Kong. And naturally, because it's living there close to another language, that means people will tend to switch also sometimes into a variety that is more mixed with Cantonese.

Host: Explain quickly, Professor, what you mean with the word phonology.

AD: Phonology is how you pronounce the sounds of the language, so how you pronounce your vowels and your consonants. But also, things like where you put stress in a word and also things like intonation. And when you're speaking English influenced by Cantonese, it’s not really surprising that intonation is one thing that really changes, because intonation is very different in the two languages. Also, what we call tone, is important in Cantonese in a way that it isn't in English. So, I'm not surprised that this happens when you speak in a more Cantonese type of English.

Host: You mentioned local contexts. What kind of role does slang play in these local variants?

AD: There is typically a lot of language use which is called slang, and which definitely is a big part of why outsiders might find them hard to understand. Because two things tend to happen in a language variety like that. One is they will use words and expressions from the other languages. So in Hong Kong, when speaking English to each other, they will use words and expressions from Cantonese that most people in Hong Kong will know - even people who maybe don't speak fluent Cantonese will know them. But also, a lot of times you'll find what we call coinages. So, they might use expressions that sound completely English, but have taken their own meaning in the local context.

Hong Kong, of course, is an example of a British colony, and it was actually a British colony until 1997. So that's relatively recently. And it was only transferred back to China then, but it still has a special status. So, that's the reason why people use English there. And Asia, like Africa, is a continent where the British Empire had a lot of colonies. The obvious big example is India. It has a huge population, and as far as I know they actually publish more English language newspapers in India than any other country in the world. Just because there are so many people, and India was a British colony until 1947. And like so many other countries, they've decided to keep English as one of their main languages after that. The other big, big language in India is Hindi, and some people say maybe they should have just picked Hindi and gotten rid of English, gotten rid of the language of the colonizers. But the thing is that India has more than 400 languages and 22 of them have some kind of official status. And Hindi is mostly spoken in the north, not in the south. So, a lot of people in the South prefer English to speak to people who don't share their other languages. That's one reason why India has kept English.

And then you have Singapore, for example, which was also a British colony, and it has four official languages. Three of them are Asian languages, and then there's English. People there just speak English as one of their languages. In Singapore, it's very much become their own language because, in fact, they have this variety that they call Singlish, which is kind of a mix of English and other languages in Singapore.

Host: For me, I know Jackie Chan was huge when I was growing up and was perhaps the first big Hollywood star who spoke Asian English. What do you feel about Asian English representation in pop-culture today?

AD: I'm your age, so I have the same frame of reference. East Asian English - Chinese, Japanese and Korean - have usually been spoken by people who are characters, who are martial arts experts, such as Jackie Chan. Also, very often bad guys. So, you know, I grew up with Lethal Weapon and with Jet Li as a really bad character in one of these films. I think traditionally there's been this stereotype of speakers of Asian English being, you know, martial arts experts and bad guys and maybe not to be trusted. And also, there are often Asian English speakers who are somehow connected to Chinese mafia and so on, and again, we're talking mainstream American movies. I don't necessarily think that's gotten a lot better. I can't think of a whole lot of characters more recently that are more real, actual Asian English speakers. So, at least as long as you keep your eyes on the American movies, I think you're still stuck with quite a few stereotypes.

Host: Thank you so much, Professor Anne Dahl.

Participants:

Host – Nicholas Carlie – Host

Bella – from Salisbury, England

Raj – from Boston, USA

Anne - Anne Dahl, professor at NTNU

The English language – in Salisbury England and Boston USA

Host: Hi, my name is Nicholas and I'm a former journalist for NRK. I was born in Belgium to Swedish parents who raised me in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia and South America. English is not my mother tongue. English is not my native language, and I didn't live in an English-speaking country until I was 16 years old. English is, however, my first language. But I often wonder, what is English? Why can I hear the difference between an Australian, a Londoner, a Bostonian or an African all sharing a common language? The English language has approximately four hundred million native speakers worldwide and is recognised as the single most widely spoken global language. In this podcast, we will explore the nuances of English accents and pronunciation, together with five native speakers from all over the globe and a Norwegian professor of this strange and wonderful global language. Who knows, maybe I'll learn something new about my first language.

Host: Today I will be speaking to Bella from England and Raj from the U.S. Let's get into this, first of all, ladies first. Bella, tell me where you are from specifically, please.

Bella: So, I'm from the city of Salisbury, which is in Wiltshire, and it's quite a rural county in southwest England. It's also not too far from London. Maybe an hour and a half on the train.

Host: Raj, I'm going to jump over to you now. Tell me where you are from in the United States.

Raj: So, I come from Boston, more specifically Cambridge, which for those of you that aren't familiar with it, is where Harvard and MIT are. That's mostly what I get recognized for. I'm from the small state of Massachusetts, one of the most historically old states in the US. The largest city closest to us other than Boston would be New York, which is four hours south.

Host: There is a very distinctive Boston accent, which I don't hear in you. What's the story behind your dialect?

Raj: Yes, the reason I don't have a Bostonian accent is because I primarily learned English from my parents who don't have a Bostonian accent, and I've only lived in Boston for five years. That being said, I mean, I don't think the Boston accent is by any means rampant in Boston. It's not like everybody is going around with a Boston accent. But you do learn a bit from it. Like there's the classic: "paak the caa' in the haa'vard yaard" = park the car in the Harvard yard.

Host: Exactly. Yeah. Those I recognize. Yeah.

Raj: We always have a bit of an interesting lexicon; ‘the bubbler’, ‘the clicker’, ‘the wiffle’. But yeah, I wouldn't say that it's as used in Boston as many would think it is, but you definitely hear it every now and then.

Host: Quite heavily represented in especially gangster movies, in my case. Bella, is there anything about your dialect that another English person could pick up quickly and kind of point to your geographical origin?

Bella: Yeah. I think if someone listened to how I was speaking, they probably assume I was from London or somewhere in southern part of England. I don't have a traditional accent from the Southwest because there are so many nuances in accents and dialects in England. People would probably pick up on a veering towards a standard English type of accent - elongating the /r/ and pronouncing /t/ on the end of words ... And trying to pronounce things slightly more fully than skipping letters or skipping /t/ in the middle, things like that. So, I'd say that's all they kind of pick up on you.

Host: So, nobody from Salisbury would say ‘bu'a’ (for ‘butter’)? Would they say ‘buttha’?

Bella: I don't think you'd find many people saying ‘bu'a’ in Salisbury, no.

Host: Am I wrong in suspecting that it's a sort of a posh English?

Bella: I think some of my friends from different areas in the country would point me out as the posh one in the group at times. And I don't like it when they say that, but I think that my accent can veer towards that at times, because of the differences. Not many people speak with Received Pronunciation, which is what the Queen's English is. And it’s what people who are trying to imitate English accent, might sound like. A very refined portion of the population talk like that, I think. But when it comes to posh, you could probably say that. I mean, I prefer ‘well spoken’ ...

Host: Well, then we'll use well-spoken, which you certainly are. It's a very clear dialect. There's not a lot of local slang and stuff coming in. But would that be something that would pop up if you were speaking to somebody from the same street that you come from?

Bella: I can't say I use much slang. I mean, at school. Yeah, sometimes we use words like ‘peng’ to describe something really nice. Or you might say "that's such a good fit." about an outfit. I don't really use that, but it varies. I use them for fun sometimes, not in a serious way. There are some things that are just trends that I think in general everyone will say. They just go around in the media and people all over the country are using these trendy words that I mentioned, such as ‘that's lit’ and ‘goat’. But I kind of do it in a jokingly way, I think.

Host: I see, thank you. Raj, are there things in your English that other Americans would pick up on and know about your social status or your geographical origin?

Raj: Yeah, I don't think that the way I speak or my accent might give away that I'm from Boston, but I definitely think that some of the expressions or idioms I use might convey that I'm from New England. So, if I said something like ‘bang a yu'i’ for someone that takes a U-turn …

Bella: You definitely would not say that in the UK, ‘bang’ has a different meaning...

Host: All right! The fascinating thing about this is that it is the same language. It has the same origin. But at the same time, just a simple word, like ‘bang’, can mean completely different things across the pond. Are there more examples of this, possibly even things that put you in a situation where you have to scramble to get out of it? Have you experienced using certain American or Bostonian words in England or with English people that were misunderstood?

Raj: Oh, there's definitely some Bostonian slang that I use that probably goes a bit questioned, but I don't feel like I've ever been in jeopardy to the point where I need to clarify myself and be like; “that's not what I meant”. But someone might say "the bubbler" instead of a drinking fountain, those water fountains that you go for at school, or "a clicker" instead of a remote control.

Host: Have you experienced tripping over a local word abroad, Bella?

Bella: I've experienced people not understanding certain words I'm using because of the English I speak, not in a negative way. I might say, “Where's the loo?", and when I say that I'm asking, "Where's the toilet?". But people don't generally get that. Or some Brits might be looking for ‘booze’ and they might ask; "Oh, is there booze shops around here?", referring to alcohol. I don't feel like I've got into trouble with these things, but I don't know … if people are saying things like ‘bloody’. That's just quite a colloquial slang phrase. It's not that bad. You could say, "Oh, that was bloody brilliant", and people wouldn't see it that badly. But if you say that somewhere else, then they might think; “Oh, why are they using that word?” But we kind of say it in more of a triumphant sense, I think.

Host: Do you think, Raj, that if you were to speak to someone who wasn't a local, would you adapt your English? Would you drop all of your local phrases? And are there prejudices towards these local Boston accents, do you think, in other parts of the States?

Raj: I don't think I've ever spoken with a very extreme Boston dialect, but I definitely use a bit of American slang. Especially coming to this boarding school where there are people from all around the world … there were a lot of times when I talked and people were like; “There were five words in that sentence that I didn't understand”. So now I've kind of corrected the way I speak English to the point where I don't use any of this American slang. And I came back to the US over winter break and people were telling me: "Oh, you speak so different now", and I was like "Yeah, that's because I was bullied for three months for speaking American slang". So now I don't use American slang anymore.

Host: So, you're slowly cleaning it out of your daily use?

Raj: I think so. I'm still very American in the way I talk. I think I just don't use any Bostonian slang. I was looking through general Bostonian slang, and I was like; "oh my God, it's been ages since I've ever said ‘bang a yu'I’. Or ‘pisser’. I don't use those words anymore.

Bella: Yeah, you do like them.

Host: You're still getting a giggle out of Bella. What is your impression of Bella's dialect? Does that tell you anything about her or make you create a certain image of her or where she could be from?

Raj: Well, if I'm being completely honest, I don't really have a great sense of geographical knowledge of dialects in the UK, so I will admit that when I heard her dialect for the first time, I thought that that was a very interesting British accent, but I didn't read too much into it.

Bella: Interesting. What's interesting, Raj?

Host: Intriguing, maybe?

Raj: Yeah, intriguing. There you go. Get me in a little less trouble. But I didn't read too much into it. I do subconsciously think that it is a bit posh, but it's in a very reserved part of my mind.

Host: We mean well spoken, of course, Bella.

Raj: Yes. Well spoken, that's what I meant.

Bella: Sure. Sure.

Host: What about you, Bella? I mean, even just listening to Raj and listening to me, does it paint a picture of who we could possibly be, what kind of guys we are, where we could be from?

Bella: That's an interesting one, because I think for me, I find it quite hard. I didn't really know there was much difference in the American accent, depending on where you were from, maybe Texas as opposed to somewhere like California. So, when I hear your accent, I would just think it is an average male American accent to have. And I remember as a child when I was growing up, my sisters and I used to always try and imitate American accents for fun.

Host: Give me an example, please.

Bella: Oh, really? OK, we used to say things like "Oh my God, that's totally awesome. Like, Karen. Oh, my God.". Things like that. We used to play around. I think the Brits tend to see themselves as a bit ‘hardy’. We have a darker, wittier sense of humour. Americans just don't get our humour, you know.

Host: OK, guys, I'm going to throw some words at you here, which are famous for meaning two different things. And it will be cool if you guys had some examples as well. But Bella, are ‘pants’ pants?

Bella: Oh, no! I was talking to Raj about this as well. That's one thing I found awkward, everyone was like "Oh, I love your pants and "Those are such cool pants", and I was like, “Well, you can't see my pants right now”. This is kind of concerning, because ‘pants’ for us is underwear. It's not trousers, trousers are jeans. That's what Americans call ‘pants’. But yeah, like I said, ‘pants’ for us is the thing beneath the trousers.

Host: What about ‘chips’, Raj? What are ‘chips’ to you?

Raj: Oh, like Pringles or Lay's. Crunchy potato things.

Host: And Bella?

Bella: Chips are what we get in the pub, and they are fat fried potato-fingers, and you dip them in ketchup.

Host: All right. So, if Raj asked for ‘chips’, he would get French fries. And if you came and you asked for ‘crisps’, then you would get something else entirely again.

Bella: I mean, ‘crisps’ for us is salted crisps, like Lay's or Pringle's.

Host: Thank you to Bella from Salisbury and Raj from Boston. Let's once again check in with Anne Dahl, Associate Professor from the Department of Language and Literature at NTNU and talk about British English and American English. Hello again! How are you today?

Anne: Hi! I'm good, thank you.

Host: So British English and American English have many, many dialects. Let's focus on Bella first. She is to me a great example of a classic form of British. I mentioned the word posh, she preferred well-spoken. Might Bella’s variant of English be a sort of ambassador of proper English?

Host: Well, I think it's what many people see as an ambassador for proper English. I would say it's more of an ambassador for a relatively standard British English, which isn't any more proper than any other English. British English, that's just not one thing. But when we talk about British English and when we compare it to American English, we very often think of a variety of British English similar to hers.

Host: Yes, she was quite aware of how her English is perceived. Do you think it communicates a form of class?

Host: Sure. I mean, Britain is still, you know, a country where class is important in a way that it isn't, for example, in Norway. And your dialect and your accent definitely gives away your class. So, even if you're speaking a regional dialect, then it's very likely that you will still also speak a more standard variety of English, or maybe only the standard variety. Compared to Norway, for example, regional dialects are more connected to lower class, working class. And it's not as common to stick to your dialect where you're from, the way that it is in Norway.

Host: We also spoke to Raj. Now he's from Boston, but didn't have a clear Boston accent. The accent has a certain vowel sound, as we know from popular culture, which he didn't have, but he did use some Boston slang. What is it about the Boston accent that makes us able to place it geographically?

Host: Yeah, so they do have these weird vowels. And again, I'm not a speaker of Bostonian English at all, but they have this classic thing where they talk about "paak the caa", and they have a slightly different vowel-type than most Americans. And that's one of the few places in the US where you can specifically talk about a dialect in a city in the US. That's not very common. But of course, Boston is one of the first places that developed as a city in the US, so there was time for a separate dialect to develop. So, if anyone watches the old show Cheers, Cliff, the character who plays the mailman, has a very strong accent like this. And also, someone like Mark Wahlberg, who is from Boston often uses that dialect in his movies, at least when the character is supposed to be from Boston.

Host: Boston is one of the oldest cities in the States, so I'm wondering how do these local accents come to be? Has a certain demographic influenced it?

Host: I think so, probably. While the US was still 13 colonies, there were basically two main centres English speaking populations: One was in the Boston area and the other one was in the south. In those two communities, people came from different places in the UK and also interacted with different locals. Immigration was also different. So, for example, Boston has had a really large group of Irish immigrants. There are a lot of Irish Americans in Boston which you just don't find in the same way in the south. Whereas in the south, there was more contact with other languages, because there was slave trade there. But also, people came there with a different dialect to begin with, because there were different people there.

Host: Would you have the same identity issues or class issues in the US as in the UK?

Host: To some extent. I mean, the US is completely different in terms of class. It doesn't have that old class system that Britain does.

Host: We also had a lot of fun discussing some words that sounds the same, but mean completely different things. Like ‘pants’, for example. Can you say something about how these words come about? I mean, they're both clothing, but they are different pieces of clothing.

Host: They're very different pieces of clothing. But I think it's important that they are actually still similar words. They're not completely different, because they are not just a piece of clothing, but they're a piece of clothing that covers the lower part of your body. ‘Chips’ is another example, right? It still means literally a ‘chip’ - a small piece - in both the US and the UK, and they mean a small piece of potato. It's just that they don't really agree on how big the piece and whether it's crispy or not. But they're still clearly, obviously related words.

Host: Thank you again so much for your time, professor Anne Dahl.

Participants:

Nicholas Carlie – Host

Elita – from Tanzania – Elita

Anne Dahl, professor at NTNU – AD

The English language – in Tanzania Africa

Host: Hi, my name is Nicholas and I'm a former journalist for NRK. I was born in Belgium, to Swedish parents who raised me in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia and South America. English is not my mother tongue. English is not my native language, and I didn't live in an English-speaking country until I was 16 years old. English is, however, my first language. But I often wonder; what is English? Why can I hear the difference between an Australian, a Londoner, a Bostonian or an African all sharing a common language? The English language has approximately four hundred million native speakers worldwide and is recognised as the single most widely spoken global language. In this podcast, we will explore the nuances of English accents and pronunciation, together with five native speakers from all over the globe and a Norwegian professor of this strange and wonderful global language. Who knows, maybe I'll learn something new about my first language.

Host: Today I will be speaking to Elita from Tanzania. Tell me a little bit about Dar es Salaam, where you were born.

Elita: Dar es Salaam is on the coast of Tanzania. It's a very beautiful city and it's a very busy city. So, living there gave me an experience of living with a lot of people. It's very diverse - we have people from different races there, we have people from different backgrounds. It's basically where everybody meets up, and it's an amazing blend of culture. And, yeah, it's an amazing place.

Host: So the city itself is very multicultural. Does that also reflect itself in the languages that are used there?

Elita: So, in Dar es Salaam we use Kiswahili (native term of Swahili), but there are also a lot of languages from the natives of the area. But I would say in terms of dialects, definitely. In different places in Dar es Salaam you will find people speaking different type of Kiswahili, but they would all like be ...Yeah, in Swahili ...

Host: Because Swahili is the official language, and this is also interesting. How do you pronounce that? You said Tanza-nia.

Elita: So, in Kiswahili we would say Tan-za-nia, but in English, it's Tanza-nia. That's basically it. But back home we say Tan-za-nia.

Host: OK, because in Norwegian we would probably also say Tan-za-nia. And that is the Swahili pronunciation?

Elita: Yeah. Yeah.

Host: How early are people in your country exposed to English?

Elita: In my country, English is the official language. But then in terms of education, students are introduced to English from the primary level, but they're introduced to English as a subject and not as necessarily a learning medium. That is for public schools. But then you can also opt to take English medium as your learning medium in primary, just as how I did. But it is compulsory to take English as the learning medium, when you are in the secondary level and high levels of education.

Host: Because there are so many cultures and languages in one area, could it be the case that English has become a common language for all these people to understand each other?

Elita: Yes. English has taken very large bites in terms of communication, because as much as we love Kiswahili, sometimes there is no translation for words from English to Kiswahili or from Kiswahili to English. There's also a huge rise of international relations and international organizations in the country. This is more likely to increase the demand of English. But we are trying our level best to also preserve the Swahili language, which has some challenges, but I think we are doing very, very fine with that.

Host: I haven't been to Africa myself, but I can hear when you speak English that you are from Africa. Is there any way that I could tell that you are specifically from Tanzania?

Elita: I guess the accent gives it away. I would say the pronunciation of /l/ and/r/ sometimes can be confused, because of the language that we speak, which is Kiswahili. So, I guess that will be one of the factors that will make it possible for you to at least guess that I come from Tanzania or the East Africa region at large.

Host: OK, so I could kind of place you in East Africa, maybe by decoding the /l/ and the /r/?

Elita: Yes.

Host: So, give me an example. Let's say ‘laterally’ where there are /l/s and /r/s. How am I going to find out that you are from East Africa, by the way you say it? Give me an example, please.

Elita: Well, sometimes I personally have difficulties in pronouncing it. I would say ‘rutellerly’, or something like that. It's just like it's very hard for me to pronounce it. I guess I wouldn't say it applies to everyone from my country, but I have had some encounters with some of my friends who have the same problem. So, yeah ...

Host: That's interesting. Maybe it's just a little bit of the tongue tricking you?

Elita: Yes, exactly.

Host: When you're speaking to me, are you adapting your English? If you were speaking to somebody from the same area as you, would you be using more local words or maybe even some Swahili mixed into your English?

Elita: Definitely, yes. Interesting fact: Among the youth, there is a dialect called "Swanglish", where it's like a mixture of Kiswahili words and English words. So ideally, if I was to speak with a fellow Tanzanian, I would include Swanglish. I would talk to them in the dialect of Swanglish. I would be much more comfortable.

Host: Swanglish? That sounds really fun though.

Elita: Yeah.

Host: Are there any typical examples you can give me of a Swanglish sentence?

Elita: Definitely! The use of ‘yamani’. In case you would have asked me; "Did you drink tea today?" I would say "Yaa, nicha kona chai today ..." OK, that's a very complicated sentence! But I would say words like ‘yamani’, words like ‘nele koa’, I would put in some nouns also - if that makes sense. It's you know, it's an unofficial language so it's very hard. We don't even have rules to guide. The language is basically like you speak what you feel, and people just understand it, magically ...

Host: But that's fascinating because it means that the languages are alive and you're actually creating a new form of communication using multiple languages. And this just comes naturally?

Elita: Yeah, well, Kiswahili has a history of merging different languages. Just a brief history of Kiswahili: One of the theories of the origins of Swahili is that it's a mixture of Arab and Bantu languages, which was combined together to form Kiswahili during the trading times, which dates back to 200 B.C. There are also a lot of Arabic words in Swahili, like ‘shukrani’ and ‘bergeshe’. Yeah, there are like a lot of words in Swahili, especially nouns, that are directly taken from the Arabic language. And also, there are a lot of English words in Swahili, like ‘scetty’, I hope you understand, I mean ‘a skirt’. When I say ‘shati’, I mean "a shirt" – there are a lot of words. And we have some Portuguese words, we have some German words … Basically we have words from the different people who we interacted with during history, from the time of slavery, from the time of colonialism - it dates back. Even now, that we are making this new language because of the increase of the English language spreading in our country. So definitely, it's a natural process that has been happening for a long time and is basically how Kiswahili builds itself. It takes words from different languages - also from the Bantu languages which is the origin of Swahili - and forms them into the Swahili language that we all know of today.

Host: That's amazing. So, your language, your Swahili, your English and your Swanglish is almost like a representation of the history of your country?

Elita: Yes, definitely.

Host: If we were to look into popular culture, let's say Forest Whitaker playing Idi Amin or Eddie Murphy playing an African Prince or King, do you think these are good representations of your dialect, or do you sit and laugh at these Americans trying to speak your accent?

Elita: Well, with the Americans and the specific people who are acting this part, let's say the black Americans, they are basically Africans because they originated from this place. In a sense, if they want to express their being African, to embrace that, because their culture was basically stolen from them. So, if they want to express that, I have no problem with people expressing where they are from, their ancestry. But also, I appreciate their efforts, because when our language is spoken by Americans in different movies, let’s say "Coming to America" or "Black Panther", it's such an appreciation. I just feel so amazed about the fact that they are trying. But I would say that it's important to also have a representation of the actual people who actually grew up with the language, because sometimes the pronunciations of the words that they use are a little bit funny. But yeah, that's my stance on it.

Host: And you feel honored, but you would be able to catch them out as being, for example American, if you were listening closely, then?

Elita: Yeah, definitely. It's not only Americans, but also every other person who do not know Kiswahili - it's very easy to notice. Just like you say that you notice that I'm from Africa. That's how. When you speak my language, I notice that you're not from my country, because of the way you speak. And I just want to do a follow up to your previous question, about the accents and how people in the mainstream media might be doing these accents or making movies about this: I would say it's important to draw a line between mocking a person's accent and actually appreciating a person's accent. I think that there's some movies which have been manipulated into mocking of these accents, and it's not only mocking African accents, it’s also mocking other accents, like the Indian accent or, I don't know, a lot of accents. So, there is a fine line between mocking and actually appreciating someone's culture.

Host: Yes, I understand you completely, there is a difference between teasing somebody or trying to replicate an actual dialect. You mentioned Swanglish and the youth developing their own language. Can you tell what generation someone is, by the way they use English in Tanzania?

Elita: Oh, yeah. I would say the younger generation is adapting to the American version of English using of slang, you know. I could definitely differentiate them, and the older generation is mostly focused on the British version of English. There is a huge distinction between a person who is born in for example 2004 and a person who is born in 1980's.

Host: I see. So, like a move from the colonial English over to a more modern pop culture American version?

Elita: Yes.

Host: Thank you so much, I have learned so much from you, Elita.

Elita : Thank you!

Host: Thank you to Elita from Tanzania. Now I will be speaking to Anne Dahl, Associate Professor from the Department of Language & Literature at NTNU, to try to get some more answers about African English in general. How are you, Professor Dahl?

AD: I am good, thank you!

Host: Perhaps the biggest ambassador for African English is South African, spoken by white people and made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie "Blood Diamond". Why is this dialect the most famous African English in pop culture?

AD: Oh, that's a good question, because of course, that's not the only South African English. There are a number of South African Englishes. Partly, I think the reason that we need that one is because we tend to only encounter white people in movies, and white South Africans will typically speak that variety. So South Africa has at least two major types of English. One is the one spoken by white people, mostly descendants of British immigrants, which is sort of a little bit similar to Australian or New Zealand English. And that's the kind of English that Leonardo DiCaprio speaks in that movie. But then the English that's spoken by people of African descent… So black people in South Africa tend to speak a very different variety of English, which sounds a bit more like other African Englishes. So South Africa is a special case. It has so many different groups of people that it actually has more than one English.

Host: So, what are some of the characteristics of South African English? What are we picking up on that makes us able to place it geographically?

AD: For that variety that we spoke about now, that Leo speaks, I think it's largely in the vowels. So, they tend to pronounce vowels in what we call a very narrow way. I'm not very good at doing it myself, but it is in the pronunciation. The letter A is often very E-ish instead of open A, and so on. If you listen to Australian and New Zealand English, you can pick up some of the same types of vowels.

Host: Can you say something about the other African English variants, how did they come about?

AD: Yeah, almost all of them came about as a result of the British Empire and colonialism. For many, many years, Britain had colonies in lots of parts of Africa. They introduced English, or imposed I should say, English as the official language in these areas and required that if you were to interact with the colonial government, you would have to speak English. And that also worked because most of these countries are very multilingual. So, it wasn't the case in most of these countries that everybody already spoke a different language. It's not like in Norway where almost everybody speaks Norwegian. It helped in a way to allow different people to speak one common language. And that's the reason I think today one might think, why didn't they get rid of English when they got rid of colonialism? But many countries have decided to keep English as the language in their country, because they don't necessarily have one big language that most people speak. But these other languages that were already present there, and that people still speak today, are the main reason why these varieties in Africa, aside from the one type of South African English, are so different from British or American English and might be difficult to understand if you're not used to them. Most speakers of English in Africa also speak at least one other language, mostly several other languages. And English has sort of been there alongside very close to other languages for a very long time. So, they've influenced each other.

Host: What about Tanzania?

AD: A country like Tanzania, for example, where Swahili is widely spoken, they use Swahili and English for their official business inside of Tanzania today. It's not just like in Norway, where we mostly use English across borders, right. But in these countries, it's used within the country's border as well, because a lot of people don't speak the same languages within the country aside from English. But they typically have at least one other major local language that they also use.

Host: How do you see African English represented in pop culture these days?

AD: Not very much, to be honest, which is why, of course, Black Panther really was a very new and unique thing because it had all African characters. Almost all the main characters are African and some of the main actors also were actually African. Most of the actors, such as Chadwick Boseman, were non-African in the sense that they were born somewhere else, but at least they had African heritage. Mostly when you watch at least mainstream sort of Hollywood movies, there aren't many African characters. And the few African characters that you see are very minor, don't really have a personality, and they tend to be stereotypes of Africans. They tend to be uneducated and just act as local assistance for white main characters. So, there isn't a lot of representation, and what is, is sort of a stereotype of some kind of primitive, uneducated language, which of course isn't what African English is at all.

Host: Thank you so much, Professor Anne Dahl.

Participants:Host – Nicholas Carlie – Host

David – from Australia

Anne – Anne Dahl, professor at NTNU

The English language – in Australia

Host: Hi, my name is Nicholas and I'm a former journalist for NRK. I was born in Belgium to Swedish parents who raised me in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia and South America. English is not my mother tongue. English is not my native language, and I didn't live in an English-speaking country until I was 16 years old. English is, however, my first language, but I often wonder what is English? Why can I hear the difference between an Australian, a Londoner, a Bostonian or an African all sharing a common language? The English language has approximately four hundred million native speakers worldwide and is recognised as the single most widely spoken global language. In this podcast, we will explore the nuances of English accents and pronunciation, together with five native speakers from all over the globe and a Norwegian professor of this strange and wonderful global language. Who knows, maybe I'll learn something new about my first language. Today I will be speaking to David from Australia.

Host: I am sitting here with David from Sydney. David, where in Australia are you from and what is it like there?

David: I lived in Sydney for many years. I actually grew up in Melbourne, which is in Victoria. So it's a southern city. I moved to Sydney when I was 14, 15 and lived there for a number of years, and then moved to London. I now live here in Oslo. But growing up in Australia, Melbourne is a very creative city. It's the European city of Australia: very creative music, the arts, culture. Sydney is the postcard city: beautiful mountains, the Opera House, sunny, surfing. Great city. Two very different cities, two very different experiences, but very good.

Host: Are there two types of English in Melbourne and Sydney, could you easily pick someone out by their accent?

David: Yeah, you can. It's subtle, and I guess it's certain words that are used. And it's not necessarily like a dialect in terms of grammar and different things, but it's more specific words. And I can liken it to "Østlandet" and "Vestlandet", you know, like "dokker" and "dere" - words like that. We have different names for foods and stuff. It’s the same food, but we call it different things. And those are the kind of subtle things that would make you understand where someone's coming from.

Host: All right. Could you pick out someone from the north coast or the outback or the west coast?

David: That can be tricky. The outback is a huge, wide open space. But of course, there are certain ways that people speak, that give you an idea of where they're from. If I had met someone on the street and they started speaking, unless they referenced something culturally from the west coast, Perth, for example, then I would understand. But if not, it can be difficult, and than you do have to rely on these certain little words that give it away.

Host: It's interesting, because 50 years after the first English prisoners arrived in Australia, Australian was actually called the purest form of English on the planet. Because all of the dialects from England were adapting to each other and taking out their local dialects to make it easier for all to understand each other.

David: Yeah, obviously, living in London for 14 years, my accent now is much less Australian and it's more in the middle between Australian and British.

Host: Can you hear that yourself?

David: Yeah, I can. As Australians, we really draw out our vowels. So, you say "gidday, mate, how are you doing?". And for example, "gidday mate" or "gidday" is slang for "good day". You don't hear this often, but older generations in the UK and in Britain still say "good day".

Host: Good day.

David: Yes, good day, sir. Good day, fellow. Hello, chap. Those sorts of things. And then "gidday" became an Australian thing, because we shortened everything, and we draw out the vowels. “Gidday”.

Host: Let's explore that a little bit more. I like to think I can hear an Australian, but I'm not sure why. You're talking about drawn out vowels. What is it that that sets your English apart, like in the sound of it and the way you use it, that makes it distinctly Australian?

David: Yeah, well, we really accentuate the vowels, and we use "ah", the word "ah". And we're quite aggressive with everything. We draw things out a lot. People tend to ask Australians "is that a statement or a question?". Because when we're making a statement, we tend to go up at the end, which normally ...

Host: ... Is a question.

David: Exactly. So often if you talk to someone, especially from Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast ... Everything sounds like they're asking you a question. You can ask them a question and they can give you the answer, but the answer sounds like the question.

Host: Do you have an example of the way they ‘sing’ the end of the sentence, the rising end?

David: Yeah, I'll do my best here. (These kids in the education system are going to be laughing at me. Who's this idiot from Australia?) Typically you might hear someone say if you can ask the question: "Did you have a good day today?" "Yeah, it was reeeaaaally greeeaaat.", "Yeeeaaah, it was faaaantaaaastic." It sounds like you're asking me a question, and it's very drawn out.

Host: Let's talk about Australian English in popular culture. I mean, we had Mel Gibson, the first huge Hollywood star that I remember who was Australian. But he wasn't using his dialect. He sounded very American in the Lethal Weapon-movies. And now, you know, the God of Thunder Thor is Australian, and The Wolverine is Australian. And, you know, Nicole Kidman and all these huge stars. What have they done for Australian English culturally, do you think?

David: All these people that you've named have done Australian films, of course. And I think, when you see them in Australian films, they're talking in the Australian dialect. And when, of course, you go to Hollywood, it's a much broader audience that would be confused by that dialect. So, I think maybe what they've done is they've maybe put Australia on the map a little bit for actors because Australia does have a lot of great actors, actually. To most people around the world, the Australian accent sounds quite harsh and rough. It's not smooth, like French. So culturally, I think they've probably helped make the Australian accent much more acceptable.

Host: But these are actors, and we'd never know if they're trying to adjust their accent a little bit to sound a little more from one city or another in Australia. But one guy I knew who definitely used his accent his entire career, was the late Steve Irwin. Steve Irwin was a naturalist, I guess you could say, the real crocodile hunter. The David Attenborough of Australia. But in a very Australian way.

David: Yes.

Host: He wasn't adapting his language to a certain audience. Is there something about his English that could tell you something about where he's from or what social status he might have had?

David: Well, I think Steve Irwin, who, of course, was amazing… I think the brilliant thing about Steve Irwin, other than all the things he did with crocodiles and all the other animals, was that he took you so close to the crocodiles. You had Crocodile Dundee, right, Paul Hogan in the movies, which was the Hollywood version with Australian Outback. But then Crocodile Dundee was just a name, right?

Host: Yes.

David: The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, he really brought you to the crocodiles. I mean, you know, he was jumping on top of them, he was pulling them out. And the thing about him, which was brilliant, is he spoke the everyman language. He spoke complete, honest Australian which every person understood. He wasn't trying to hide it. He basically represented the normal person on the street speaking that language. At one point, Steve Irwin was Australia's number one largest export, more than uranium, more than wool, more than different things that we have. And he introduced people through the way he spoke into the Australian psyche and the way of thinking and, of course, the dialects and different things like that.

Host: There's also this tradition of shortening words or replacing words with new ones. Where do you think that comes from?

David: Good question. I don't know. But it's always been there, since I was a kid. It's still there now, when I go back to Australia. Maybe we took it from British Cockney and adapted it to our own version. But it's very typical for Australians to shorten everything. For example, in British culture, they say "football". In Australia, we say "footy", or even "foo-dy".

Host: It's not uncommon to hear an Australian described themselves as an Aussie. Not as an Australian, but as an Aussie. Is that something you grew up with?

David: Yeah. We have this famous chant that you'll always see at the Olympics or sporting events or a concert, which is someone will yell "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie", and the rest of the crowd will yell "oy, oy, oy".

Host: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oy, oy, oy!

David: Have you heard it before?

Host: I have. Yes, I've seen some rugby, but I am not really into cricket.

David: That's a classic kind of just shortening the words. I don't know where "Aussie" came from, to be honest. But you know, most people don't say they're Australian, we say we're "strai-an".

Host: So, you don't need the whole words?

David: I'm from Strai-a, mate. That's what you hear all the time. "Strai-a, mate".

Host: An Aussie from Strai-a.

David: Yeah.

Host: Your wonderful neighbours to the east, the New Zealanders, they also have a very distinct dialect, but they havn’t been represented in popular culture in the same way or same amount as Australian. What's going on over there?

David: I have some good friends from New Zealand. New Zealand's a great country, really great place, really good people. Their dialect is quite funny. As I talked about earlier, we tend to draw out our vowels and often in the English language, the letter "i" becomes "e" in Australian English. We even almost make it a double "e", so we really draw it out. But in the New Zealand language, the "i" somehow becomes a "u". Let's use a British example, "fish and chips". In Australia we say "fiish and chiips". In New Zealand they'll say "fush and chups". So, they turn the "i" into a "u". And the letter "e" is changed. For example, everyone used to laugh in school when a New Zealand person would say the number six, because they read that "i" as an "e", so they say "sex". The letters just have a different pronunciation.

Host: If I was going to listen to this and then wanting to get a little bit deeper into the Australian English, who would I like to see on YouTube? Do we have another ambassador of every day Australian now?

David: That's a really good question. I've spent my last four years really trying to adapt and delve into Norwegian culture, and the language and everything else. So, I'll give these kids a recommendation because there's a film from the 80's, when Nicole Kidman was not discovered by Hollywood. She was probably 18, 19 years old. It's called BMX bandits. And it's old school BMX racing. And she's in a gang of bike riders and she is speaking with her local Australian accent. And it is the funniest, worst, most horrible, yet brilliant film you'll ever see.

Host: That sounds fun.

David: It's very funny - to an Australian.

Host: Thank you to David from Australia. Now it's time to check back in with Anne Dahl, associate professor from the Department of Language and Literature at NTNU, to talk about this version of English. Hello again!

Anne: Hello again! Good to be back.

Host: This form of English is relatively old. It's been around for two hundred and fifty years, the Australian English. What are your experiences with this specific dialect?

Anne: It's different from the ones that we've spoken about before, because it's a lot more similar to British or American English or what we might like to think of as more standard English. So, it's generally not very difficult for anyone who understands general English. It's not very difficult to understand Australian English. Most people, if they have some experience with English, they'll be able to pick up the accent or at least hear that it's not American or British. But other than that, compared to Singapore English or Nigeria English, it's a lot more similar to British and American.

Host: David feels that the dialects don't vary that much in Australia from coast to coast. Why do you think that is?

Anne: Well, a simple explanation is that Australian English is an old variety and sure, compared to many others it is. But it's also quite young if you compare it, for example, to Britain. So, in Britain, people have spoken English for many, many centuries and they spoke it long before there was widespread contact between people in different places. So, people and their dialects just lived pretty separate lives in different places, and they developed relatively independently of each other. And what we see in Britain and in Norway, for that matter, is that dialects now are changing more and more into a more standardised version. You're losing some old dialect features because of the contact between people. In Australia, English only arrived about two hundred and fifty years ago. And even then, the English-speaking population was very, very small and mostly consisted of British people from relatively similar places. They spoke dialects that were at least similar. So English speakers have sort of spread throughout Australia in recent times and largely after communication across the country was in place. So there hasn't been much of a context for dialects to develop. They haven't been sitting in their little valleys and on their little hilltops and spoken only to the local people for a long time. People did that in Britain.

Host: Australia, as we know, they love to use slang and shortened words. They use these diminutives. Why do you think that is? Is it because it's fun?

Anne: Probably, and it's just something that has developed and turned into part of Australian identity, because language is a lot of things. And one of the things is it’s identity. Right? If you want to speak English in a way that makes you an Australian, this has become a thing that you do. So, they do like to make these short, cute words out of everything, mostly ending in an /e/ sound. They don't say barbecue, they say "a barbie" and they don't say breakfast, they say "brekky". And I think sometimes they come up with them in the moment. A lot of them are actually words that are used. I think both "barbie" and "brekky" can be called dialect words. And I wouldn't be surprised if you find them in an Australian dictionary.

Host: What do you think has happened the last two hundred and fifty years with Australian language? Has it changed much?

Anne: I mean, any variety of any language will change, and I'm sure if you read Australian English texts from two hundred and fifty years ago, you will definitely notice differences. But the more standard variety of English hasn’t changed a whole lot in the last two hundred fifty years. The thing about Australia is that when the English speakers arrived, the original indigenous population died. They were killed like in the US. So Australian English hasn't really developed in close contact with other languages. There aren't very many speakers left of the different Aboriginal languages in Australia, and most Australians certainly don't speak them.

Host: David mentioned that his English could sound quite harsh. Can you understand that statement?

Anne: I find that really hard to understand. But I wonder if we're talking about personal stereotypes here. And I mean, there is no such thing as an objectively harsh accent. Obviously, no language or no accent is harsher than anything else. It all has to do with the connotations, what you think about when you hear it. And so maybe he's thinking of his dialect as connected to these rough outback types who go into the bush and wrestle crocodiles and that kind of thing. But my stereotype of Australian English, which is also just a stereotype, is that, you know, it sounds very friendly and happy. So, I think more of the happy beach type. But, you know, there you go. It's really all in how you perceive it. It's not actually in the accent itself.

Host: Thank you so much, Professor Anne Dahl

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