Only an American could be that stupid. While I am not perfect at placing accents all the time I can generally get a pretty good idea of the region someone is from (British, Scottish, Irish, Australian/Kiwi, etc. I have not really heard a Welsh accent before though and South African accents give me some trouble but that is because I have really not heard them that often).
NZ and Aussie accents really do kind of sound the same to me but I have asked some people and they point out really minute differences. But they do not sound British at all. I could see thinking it was Australian but after about fifteen seconds of hearing them talk you could not think it was british.
Once in a while I have trouble understanding the accents but Being Eve is not bad, usually playing the scene again does the trick (I don't often have to resort to closed captions), no more then anyone would understanding someone talk with an accent (college actually helps in that regard since you get a lot of teachers from other countries--personally I have had instructors from Ghana, Senegal, Sweden, Romania, Ireland, you just need to get used to an accent and just about everything can be understood). Michael Wesley-Smith can be hard to understand because he has a really thick accent, a lisp and slurs his words together (the last two are what really make him hard to understand), ditto for the kid that plays Dal on the tribe, he is harder to understand then MWS.
I have a prof from Australia next semester, ill ask him what the difference between aussie and kiwi accents is.
personally i think the accents sound really sexy, so much better then the vulgar american accents, doesnt hurt that there are girls that look like Fleur Saville, Joanne Morrison and Michelle O Brien on the show either. Now Fleur is on The Tribe and I will be able to tune in and see her, Jennyfer Jewell, Antonia Prebble and Meryl Cassie in one show.
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pinkunicornz
21 years ago
I resent that you put a slash between Kiwi and Australia. ;) Just kidding. But while I'm on the topic of Australians, forget about the Rugby World Cup guys! It's gunna be NZ and England playing off for the championship this time 'round.
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You two look sweaty and guilty. Have you been eating my candy?
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nolanjwerner
21 years ago
okay, well what are the exact differences between a new zealand and an australian accent then? They sound about the same to me. Be specific here.
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pinkunicornz
21 years ago
It's extremely disctinctive if you're used to them, but if you're a foreigner it's pretty much impossible to tell. Heck, I can't for the life of me tell the difference between a Canadian and American accent, but I know you guys definitely can.
A New Zealand accent has this little slight British tilt in it, and our long 'A' vowels are actually sounded long, unlike the Australian one. For instance, we say 'barth' for 'bath' and they'd say 'baath' like Americans do.
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You two look sweaty and guilty. Have you been eating my candy?
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nolanjwerner
21 years ago
No offense meant by the comment about them souding the same, I have heard people say there are individual words that are different but nothing really towards sounds, like today is more like to die, fush and chups, etc. I have seriously watched a lot of tribe episodes and when they use their real accents, in interviews and when they slip up (quite a lot actually), I really can't tell that it isn't australian.
Okay, for Canadian ones, tehy draw their vowel sounds out more tehn Americans but honestly most canadians that you see on TV do not have really heavy accents and/or try to minimise them. Sorry is the one word that tends to give them away though. Well except French canadian but thats a whole different story. Seriously though, Americans and Canadians really do sound a lot alike. I'll ask my Canadian friend and get back to you tomorrow with more.
I love both Kiwi (forgive me for finding "New Zealander" a bit clunky) and Aussie accents though. After Being Eve, its like, "wow, Eve is exactly what I want my girlfriend to be like--nerdy, intelligent, quirky, neurotic, moody and with an accent."
Michael Wesley Smith is hard as anything to understand, he has a really heavy accent, a lisp, he mumbles and he slurs his words together like nothing else, seriously on the tribeworld BB, people talk about how they have to turn the closed captions on.
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nolanjwerner
21 years ago
While I am no Henry Higgins, I can tell the difference between a British and a New Zealand accent, the two really sound nothing alike. I saw like five seconds of it once and I wasn't sure where it was from but when I saw an entire episode I had it narrowed down to Australia or NZ (I figured out it was NZ because of the giant kiwi chasing eve).
If anyone from NZ knows a girl like Eve that is looking for a b/f let me know. Over 18 only.
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nolanjwerner
21 years ago
Okay, I have a question. Why is it on the Tribe they call the character Ellie "Allie?" (Well I would call her Miss Indecisive should have jumped off the roof of the mall when she had the chance but i digress)
Ah-Lee v. Eh-Lee
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pinkunicornz
21 years ago
No hard feelings, Nolan. ;) I think Ellie/Allie sound exactly the same? Weird.
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Julie_Julii
19 years ago
Surely the constant sunny weather is a clear indication that this is not a British show?
Notice the healthy complexions the characters have (Except Ned, of course).
My 2 cents...
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19 years ago
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19 years ago
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19 years ago
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teen_terra
18 years ago
I new right away as soon as I watched this show for the first time. I'm Australian but i've been to NZ before it is AMAZING!!
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waful89
15 years ago
Um...I'm American and I resent that...we're not all retarded, ya know. I loved this show and I knew from the very first time I watched it that it was a New Zealand show. I'm actually very good with accents, I can almost always tell where someone is from, maybe not always the dialect but the country at least. I never once thought Being Eve was an Australian show and NEVER, ever a British show! Who thought this was British?! I just think its inconsiderate and ignorant that you would think that all Americans are all just stupid and don't know what we're talking about....thanks.
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