Oh I see. 
Well, you and I both know that it’s the American accent they want. I don’t think they were making a judgment on my teaching skills.
What is the standard American accent? And, I believe there is great veriety in the English accents as well.
I mean, in my home town, Pittsburgh, we sing the song, Santa Claus is Coming to Town like this:
An heres some phrases / translation and examples of the same that we use in Pittsburgh:
[quote]Oh Mi-laundry = Oh my gosh! - Oh mi- laundry, were those fireworks great n’at?
'Junna = Are you going to. - Eh! Yinz ‘junna gota Pants N’ at? Pick Up some pop on the way home.
Ahnno-dat = I know that. Used as a verbal exclamation point. - Dunno who won da Stillers game… Pens won, ahno-dat!"
Airyago = There you go. - Hey! Peeg, habaut a couple arns? Airyago.
All Over = Covered with. - Gimme a towel, I’m all over rain.
Alla = All the. = Yinzer alla time jaggin’ on me.
Apost tu = Supposed to. - Me ana boys are apost tu go bar hoppin’ tonight dahn on da sahside.
Dahnahahs = Down to the house. - I’m gowin’ dahnahahs.
Daht’et = Doubt it. - Yinz go dahn to da souside? Daht’et.
Does Hornes tell Kaufmann’s their business? = None of your business. - I aint telling yinz about it, Does Hornes tell Kaumann’s their business?
Dooder Jobs = Do their jobs. Heard frequently on TV news when they’re doing “Man on the street” interviews.
Drip dropin = A light rain. - We can go aht now, it’s just drip dropin.
Fer cryin in da sink = I don’t believe this. - Fer cryin in da sink, can’t Kordell throw to da right people er what?
Food Shoppin’ = Grocery shopping. - Yinz goin’ food shoppin’at da gint igl n’at?
Furill = For real. I’m furill is used to imply that something is true.
Go by way of Altoona = Take the long way. - How’s come yinzer so late? Didja go by way of Altoona?
Go turn on Bill Burns = Turn on Channel 2 news.
Haaja = How did you. - Haaja like at Stillers game?
Hainapposa = Shouldn’t (ain’t supposed to). - Yinz hainapposa be aht, yinzer sick.
Hainy = Isn’t he. - Hainy goin da Stiller game today?
Half in two = Cut something in half. I cut the sammiches half in two for yinz.
Hauscome = What is the reason. - Hauscome yinz guys didn’t wacha Stillers Sunday?
Heat ups = Left overs. - We’re havin’ heat up tonight for supper.
How’s abaht = How about, with feeling. - How’s abaht goin aht?
Jano = Did you know. - How jano that answer?
Jeet yet = Did you eat yet.
Jimminy Chrismas! = Term used by old fogies when something goes wrong. - Jimminy Chrismas. I lost my babushka!
Mallanar = Miles per hour. - That jagoff was drivin’ fittee mallanar!
Mandar = Man did our. - Last summer was hot, we run the air every day, and mandar lectric bill go up.
Meechinsdahnair = I will meet you down there.
Momanem’s = Your mother and her friends. - Momanem’s dahn at da gian igl shoppin’.
Morrenat = More than that. - Yinz musta had at least twenty arns. Response: “Naaa man, morrenat!”
Nuh-uh!! = I can’t believe it. - Nuh-uh, yinz didn’t rilly meet Jaromir Jagr dahn Chauncy’s!
Onnat = For that. - He gimme the price onnat truck, but I said no way.
Out bacca = Behind. - She lives out bacca Eastvail.
Same difference = Same thing or no difference.
Shil = She will. - Ask mom for da car, shil let you borra it.
Sick’n tard = Sick and tired. - Um sick’n tard uh d’way yinz guys talk.
Takin’ da Brahns to da Super Bowl. = Defecating. - Hey, wucha doin’ in dere!?.. I’m takin’ da Brahns to da Super Bowl.
Took a heart attack = Had a heart attack.
Up Under = Where to find something you’re looking for. - Where are my shoes? Up under the bed.
Usetto be = A phrase used when giving directions. - Make a left where the ____ usetto be. This phrase is always followed by a “Yinz can’t miss it” even though it is no longer there.
Wach a Stillers? = The traditional monday morning greeting asking whether or not you watched the Steelers win on Sunday.
Waidon = Wait for. - I waidon you fer an ahr.
Whona = Who in the. - Whona world ate my tater chips?
Wir = We are. - Wir goin dahnna ragada.
Ya-hunh = Oh, but indeed it is!. Used only as a response. - “Nuh-uh!” “Ya-hunh!”
Yabyinat = (Are) you buying that?. - Hey donnie, yabyinat?
Yainga bleevis = You aren’t going to believe this.
Yel’low = Yeah, hello. Phrase used to answer the tawlfone.
Yer-in-yer-aht! = You are in, and then, you are out.
Yizzel = You will. - Yizzle hafta waid onnat pizza; Dey just turned onny oven.
You kids are driving me to Dixmont = You’re making me crazy. [/quote]
I believe (and don’t quote me on this, since I’m not a linguist), that the accent in the area in and around the capital of any country would be considered the “standard,” such as the Putonghua spoken in Beijing, the Tokyo accent being the “standard Japanese” (at least as taught to foreigners), etc. So, I guess I would say that the mid-Atlantic accent, the area around Washington, D.C. would be considered “standard” (technically speaking) … although there are some Marylanders with pretty funky accents …
The experts love to argue about things like this – I’ve read a few articles on the subject and there are a number of views. The most common views I’ve read tend to be [color=green]Standard Midwestern[/color], [color=blue]California Standard American[/color], [color=black]Standard Midwestern as spoken in Colorado[/color], and [color=blue]Standard Midwestern as spoken in California[/color]. This quote from Wikipedia seems like a fair summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English
If you follow their links around a bit you find the usual assortment of arguments saying it’s Iowa, California or Colorado. Setting aside the argument over which state is closest, there seems to be a rough consensus that North, Northeast, and South all have accents that people quickly identify as being native to that part of the country, and that the midwestern and west accents (the green and light blue areas of the map, below) are perceived as being close to accentless.
Obviously this is the “big picture”/make-a-long-story-short version. Within each area there are many subdivisions, some of which are extremely strong. As Mod Lang mentioned, the South alone has a number of very recognizable and mutually distinct accents. Certain cities (and even neighborhoods) will also have accents that vary from the surrounding area.
Here is a quick page where you can download a one sentence example of some of the more common accents and listen for yourself.
It is also interesting to note, that while there are certain words and phrases that most Americans identify with Canadian accents (the famous “out-and-about”/“oot-and-aboot”), most of the researchers I’ve read say that Canadians are more likely to speak with something closer to the pure midwestern/western “Standard American” accent than people in many parts of the US do. 
Whatever “American” accent they learn in Taiwan is taught with certain East-coast features, such as “dog” and “boss” having a “darker” vowel sound than “hot” or “stop”.
The Taiwanese tend to pronounce the “o” in “dog” like the “oa” in “boat”. They tend to pronounce “DOS” like “dose”.
Now, can anyone explain why the Taiwanese pronounce “modem” as “mo-DEN”?
Interesting point. From the point of view of the rest of the world, ‘California English’ would be what most of us think of as a typical American accent.
The idea that the language spoken in the capital can be considered the standard is an interesting one too. I’m trying to disporve it:
Is ‘London cockney’ standard British English?
Isn’t Madrid the only regione where the Spanish ‘c’ gets lisped. Can this then be considered standard Spanish?
Form what I here, actual Bejing dialect as spoken by Beijingers is different from the ‘northern dialect’ considered the standard.
If Austalia has any variations, would we then say that Canberra Australian is standard ‘Strahn’? But nobody lives there (except for the politicians).
Brian
[color=blue]California English[/color]
Interesting point. From the point of view of the rest of the world, ‘California English’ would be what most of us think of as a typical American accent. [/quote]
Yes. Several sources note, however, that there is also an “indigenous” California accent (people think of surfers and “valley girls”) that has basically been swamped by the mainstream Standard Midwestern/West Coast accent to such an extent that people in most people now speak this neutral “California Midwestern”, which is what you commonly hear on the evening news and in other media. California is a relatively young state (compared to the Northeast or the South where regional accents more rich and diverse), and as a result it is something of a linguistic melting pot, which is another cited for why California accents are so “neutral”.
[color=blue]A Capital Idea[/color][quote=“Bu Lai En”]The idea that the language spoken in the capital can be considered the standard is an interesting one too. I’m trying to disporve it:[/quote]
I think that LittleBuddha’s idea has a certain intuitive logic to it, but I agree with you that there certainly seem to be exceptions. Germany may be another example for you. Perhaps some of our German friends on the board can verify this, but in the brief time that I lived there my impression was that the Berlin accent would generally not be considered standard. As I recall, most people told me that the most accent-neutral Hochdeutsch was spoken in the area surrounding the city of Hanover.
[color=blue]Video Killed the Radio Star[/color]
A point that I find interesting (and a little regrettable in a way) is the way in which regional accents and dialects are slowly fading away in almost every country in the world.
Why? TV and population mobility.
The consolidation and growth of mass media and entire nations growing of children learning to speak by watching the same television and movies has meant that (as in all things, with exceptions) the language people use is becoming more and more homogeneous. Where it was once possible to talk to a stranger and tell instantly from whence he came, this is increasingly harder to do, because the voices of Big Bird and Elmo, Homer and Marge, or Kyle and Stan come out of the the TV in the same way whether that TV is located in a living room in New Orleans, Boston or Chicago. Combine this with a population that increasingly moves from city to city, state to state, country to country over the course of a lifetime, and it is easy to see why more and more people speak with the same neutral accent.
Of course accents and dialects still exist, and maybe always will – but they are not what they once were. For better or worse.
[quote]California is a relatively young state (compared to the Northeast or the South where regional accents more rich and diverse), and as a result it is something of a linguistic melting pot, which is another cited for why California accents are so “neutral”.
[/quote]
California is also a state with one of the lowest ratios of natives to immigrants in the Union. And I’m not necessarily talking about Mexicans. Half of the people in California originally hailed from somewhere else. It’s a place where loads of people from Middle America (and Canada) go to “make it”. I’ve got an aunt over there, a few friends from college over there - all originally born and bred in Arkansas. My dad’s family even moved out there for a spell when he was a kid. I’d wager that most Californians are “first generation”. It’s been that way since the Joads packed up in The Grapes of Wrath.
Yup yup. :uhhuh:
Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.
Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.
Well the first thing you know ol Jed’s a millionaire,
Kinfolk said “Jed move away from there”
Said “Californy is the place you ought to be”
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly.
Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars.
Hold on there cobber, I lived there for 19 years, but then again I havent lived in Australia for the last 19 years also.
My accent needs no distinguishing because it’s already highly distinguished. 
As a Vancouverite (since the age of five- like California, very few people are really from Vancouver) I remember watching the “Great White North” Show and feeling totally disconnected from both the accent and the slang- it was the first time I ever heard the term ‘hoser’.
We don’t say “aboot” or “eh” , either. I can pick out an Eastern Canadian accent, but my fellow Westcoasters are much harder to distinguish from California Standard.
The “out and about” “oot” sound is not the Canadian accent; it’s typical of the Toronto area. People from Western Canada don’t talk like that.
And the “eh” is actually from French speakers; again, no one I know uses it.
It seems to me that the Taiwanese in general can’t tell accents apart. Thus the ease with which the buxiban owners can pass off non-native speakers as native speakers. At the school I used to teach at here, about half of the “native English-speaking” teachers were not actually native speakers of English. I never heard of a parent who suspected or realized this, however.
A lot of Taiwanese students I have met love to discuss accents they can’t tell apart in a language they can’t speak and have very little interest in learning.
They seem to think it is an acceptable alternative to actually learning the language.
As a rule anyone who requests a particular kind of accent, and isn’t just looking for elocution lessons to round off fluent English in preparation for emigration, is to be avoided as a lazy and superficial wanker who is going to try and make out you can’t speak your own language. What I do is tend to agree with them, and tell them how shite Taiwanese mandarin is and how all foreigners want to go to Beijing to learn proper Chinese. That usually pisses them off (though some agreed! 
)
On the other hand, I’ve had quite a few students who couldn’t give a monkey’s and accept that it matters not a jot what sort of an “accent” you have when you can’t even hold a conversation for more than 5 minutes in English. They tended to be the best students.
[quote]The “out and about” “oot” sound is not the Canadian accent; it’s typical of the Toronto area. People from Western Canada don’t talk like that.
And the “eh” is actually from French speakers; again, no one I know uses it. [/quote]
I don’t know about that. After living in Van for a year, even I was putting “eh” on the end stuff. What’s more, it’s taken breaking up with my BC boyfriend and 4 years of living in Taiwan to shake it!
My (Aussie) accent wasn’t strong in the first place. And I’m sad to say, I’ve lost most of what I had (as well as my ability to detect irony, which is terrible, because the last time I went home I kept taking people seriously and of course, it being Australia, they were always taking the piss). Even other Aussies ask me where I’m from. It’s tragic. 
I’ve worked with at least two Canadians…who punctuated sentence with “eh” as a New Zealand north islander I tended not to notice it so much although it didn’t sound like it was a question. Just that they missed the “bro” part…actually that’s not really true either.
[quote=“L-A”][quote]The “out and about” “oot” sound is not the Canadian accent; it’s typical of the Toronto area. People from Western Canada don’t talk like that.
And the “eh” is actually from French speakers; again, no one I know uses it. [/quote]
I don’t know about that. After living in Van for a year, even I was putting “eh” on the end stuff. What’s more, it’s taken breaking up with my BC boyfriend and 4 years of living in Taiwan to shake it!
My (Aussie) accent wasn’t strong in the first place. And I’m sad to say, I’ve lost most of what I had (as well as my ability to detect irony, which is terrible, because the last time I went home I kept taking people seriously and of course, it being Australia, they were always taking the piss). Even other Aussies ask me where I’m from. It’s tragic. [/quote]
There are far too many aussie sheilas in Canada working at ski resorts – they make good bar waitresses though 
I know how you feel. In NZ I am mistaken for an American. It did get me better service though.
The really tragic thing would be for them to say, "hey, you’re Taiwanese aren’t you? 