What does an American accent sound like to somone from another English speaking country?

• This is something I've always wondered... What do American accents sound like to other people? I can't tell, because I'm American myself, but I'd like to have a different opinion. I know this can be hard to explain, but please give it your best try. For example: To me English accents (my favorite sounding type of accent) sound like the speaker talks "up", like their voice is higher/lighter and they don't fully pronounce some letters or they pronounce them differently. I know that's probably not a good example, but if anyone is willing to try, I'd really appreciate it. I'm just wondering out of my own curiosity, it's something I've thought about a lot...LOL. Also, don't worry about different things like "Southern Accent" vs "New York Accent" just a basic American accent. Thanks!

• Answer:

  That's a good question and it IS really hard to answer online. I've often wondered the same thing myself. I asked some people in the past and this is what they told me: * To people who speak English (like the British or Australians), American accents sound sort of lazy. We "half" pronounce words and cut off the endings, i.e. nothin' vs. nothing. We talk a little slower and more in our throats. It sounds like we're swallowing our words while we talk. * To people in other countries who don't understand English, Americans sound like we are eating our words and gnashing our mouths when we talk. I'll try to give an example and not sound like a complete racist. If you don't speak Chinese but hear someone from China speaking it might sound like "ching chong chow mein". Well, my friend from Brazil says it sounds like Americans are saying "nation station creation". Apparently we use "ation" a lot. And she said Americans talk really fast.