Mary's Accent and Languages

[tabbitha]

Originally Posted by foiegrass

Mary's engagement interview.

Her accent's pretty weird, but ... I can still hear abit of Australian!

I think Mary has a lovely speaking voice in this interview.I have many friends who live in Australia and they all speak different to each other- it depends where you live and how your parents speak..

[foiegrass]

I know this is not Alex's thread, but someone mentioned in this Mary's accent thread that Princess Alex has a beautiful English upperclass accent. Does anyone have a video of her speaking English? Like the engagement video or something? Thanks.

[Lady Bluffton]

I think after listening to this dialect sample from IDEA (or the International Dialects of English Archive, a collection of English dialect samples from all over the world) that CP Mary has actually retained quite a bit of her Tasmanian accent:

http://web.ku.edu/idea/australiaocea...ustralia17.mp3

The young lady who speaks was raised near Hobart in Tasmania. Her father is Scottish...sound familiar? Listen to her say words like "Latin".

She sounds remarkably like CP Mary to me; listen to her diphthongs especially and the way she clips her words. I don't think CP Mary is putting on much at all (maybe a little more posh, that's all).

Here's some more for your listening pleasure...interesting to compare these to Mary's accent:

http://web.ku.edu/idea/australiaocea.../australia.htm

[BurberryBrit]

I watched a documentary that was made about Mary before the wedding and there is quite a bit of her talking on it. I tried really hard to hone in on her accent and compare it to Amber and her sisters. To me, it seems like Mary's accent is a combination of Aussi and Danish influences on her speech. She speaks a bit like a Dane speaking english would speak. But there;s still the Aussi influence. Actually, Amber also speaks with the same inflection where the end of her statements sound more like questions than statements (I don't know if thi smakes sense). So, I don't think Mary is putting on a fake accent. I think it is simply a combination of her being immersed in a new country and trying to take on that accent.

[*SofiaM*]

Originally Posted by BurberryBrit

I watched a documentary that was made about Mary before the wedding and there is quite a bit of her talking on it. I tried really hard to hone in on her accent and compare it to Amber and her sisters. To me, it seems like Mary's accent is a combination of Aussi and Danish influences on her speech. She speaks a bit like a Dane speaking english would speak. .

I know what you mean, I have a spanish mum and an English dad and because I've lived in Spain for a few years now, I find myself speaking English like a Spaniard would! It's because I'm used to hearing Spanish people speak English to me and although I notice that I sound 'silly' at times, I can't help it! I think this is like Mary's situation, as you said. It is a combination of both

[RachelD]

My personal example, well not me personally but my best friend's. My best freind was born and raised (just like me) here in California...she never had an accent, or maybe a California surfer-girl accent (I guess!) but she moved to South Carolina three years ago and oh my goodness gracious! She is a TOTAL southern belle! She says things like "bananer" instead of "banana"...accents just seem to stick. And there are some of us that catch them very quickly. After talking to my friend on the phone I tend to start talking with a little southern lilt to my words...and of course I become the butt of jokes in my family for that! But it's all in good fun .

[Saturn]

Originally Posted by Sister Morphine

I wouldn't be surprised if Mary's accent when she's speaking English reflects the kind of language she is accustomed to hearing on a day-to-day basis.

I agree with you. When I was a child my family went to work to France and we lived there for 14 years, then we moved to Spain.... well, I thought I was bilingual but when I speak spanish people say I have a strong french influence... and I don't know why but in Spain people tend to be very scornful with everything coming from France.
But the funny thing is that when I go to France people say 'where are you from?' because it seems my spanish has influenced my french language..... and then I think 'which is my main language?' I don't kow!!

[RachelD]

Originally Posted by Saturn

I agree with you. When I was a child my family went to work to France and we lived there for 14 years, then we moved to Spain.... well, I thought I was bilingual but when I speak spanish people say I have a strong french influence... and I don't know why but in Spain people tend to be very scornful with everything coming from France.
But the funny thing is that when I go to France people say 'where are you from?' because it seems my spanish has influenced my french language..... and then I think 'which is my main language?' I don't kow!!

Oh you poor little one!! But don't worry, we still love you no matter what accent you have. We can't hear you speak anyways!

[Heike]

I used to watch an internet film of one of Mary´s engagement. This engagement has taken place in 2006.
She had to give a short speech in Danish. She read a piece of paper in her hand loudly and quite fast.
I am neither English nor Danish native speaker, but I could realize that she has strong English accent when speaking Danish. (I had this impression because I´ve heard many English-speaking people speaking German.) Actually, some sentences even sounded completely English to me.
Maybe I am wrong since I´ve heard that Danish is a language somewhere inbetween German and English.
However, I think it´s not fair to compare Mary and Alexandra. Danish is Mary´s first foreign language. Since Alexandra´s mother is a native Austrian, she might speak German at home when she was a kid. I believe that kids who grow up in a bilingual environment will be able to learn other languages more easily later.
On the other hand, although many people claim that it´s easier for a German native speaker to learn Danish, the achievement of Alexandra is still amazing.
I believe that many Germans still have a lot of difficulties when they try to learn Danish.

I have a little question here.
Does Mary speak English or Danish to Christian?
I think Alexandra speaks Danish with Nikolai and Felix.
(Isn´t it better to speak English with the little princes so they can save plenty of time at school? )

[ysbel]

I think its better for Mary to speak to her children in English if her accent in Danish is too strong.

One of my best friends from the Philippines always spoke Tagalog with her parents regardless of the fact that all of them spoke pretty good English. The reason was that her parents wanted her to pick up a good American accent when speaking English rather than theirs which was still very strong. It worked; she said that out of all of the students in her Philippine group, she and her brother were the only children with good native American accents. It was because they always spoke English with native English speakers and Tagalog with native Tagalog speakers.

[Henri M.]

In the Netherlands there is a famous and renowned institute to learn a language in turbomode. It is given by the Sisters (and non-clergy staff) at the Convent of the Sisters Canonesses of Saint Augustinus in Vught, near 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc) in Brabant.

The training is very intensive and also expensive. Every CEO or foreigner who wants to learn Dutch in turbo-mode, goes to 'the Nuns of Vught' .

The Dutch skills of Princess Máxima are beyond belief. In first instance there was the idea that Máxima has lived in the Convent for some weeks. But that was not so: she was given intensive private courses, one-on-one, by professional teachers from the institute. In Argentina, in Belgium (she lived in Brussels) and in the Netherlands.

The most amazing fact is the really poor Dutch of Princess Mathilde, who is a professional speech therapist! Compared with Princess Mathilde, Mary is doing a superb job in Danish.

[Alison20]

I've listened to the clip of Mary speaking on her visit to Australia. To me, she spoke beautifully - Australian vowel intonation (slight) but otherwise very clear and possibly, to some people, anglicised. But many Australians speak this way (my sister has lived there for many years).

I did an exchange to Germany as a teenager and, when I returned home after a month of speaking nothing but German, my family thought I was putting on a broken English accent. I wasn't - it was just that I needed to get my brain back into English mode. If you have an ear for languages, you will adapt your accent quite unconciously. I would think, from what others have written, that Mary now hears English spoken most by people with 'upper class' English accents (Queen Margrethe, Alexandra, Joachim, diplomats, etc.). It would be natural for her accent to slide in that direction. I think it is unfair for Australians to complain that she no longer speaks broad Australian - but she would have grown up with non-Australian speaking parents ('educated' Scots - it used to be called in times when Scots was denigrated!) so she would have been able to speak 'English' on a sliding scale according to the person and the situation. We all do that unless we have a total deaf ear to accents.

BTW, on the clip, I didn't think Frederik sounded at all American - it just sounded slightly Scandinavian accented.

[tara1983]

when Mary first got engaged 60 mins did a story on her and they were showing mary when she was working in australia at (bell probety) doing some sort of confrance thing with her work mates and what she said was really aussie.

What i am getting across hear is that when you become a public figure like mary you got to live up to royal standed's meaning that when you speak you have to speak clearly and with a bit of plum (poshy).

I read somewhere that diana had to learn how todo speeches and how to smile and how to stand and wave and mary would have gone through the same thing.

can you really see CP'S Mary doing a speech in a full on aussie accent? i can't

[tara1983]

i came across this speech mary did for a danish tv add or doc( not to sure) about childrens health and excersie and it was amazing how after all these years of learing danish how clear and how aussie she still sounds.

have a listern and tell me what you think.

YouTube - Crown Princess Mary's speech

great speech.


tara

[magnik]

YouTube - Crown Princess Mary's speech

Thanks tara1983.

Mary has realy nice voice

[Lozza]

Most Aussies 'lose' their accent very easily. I spent six weeks in Africa a couple of weeks ago and was teased for my accent when I got back to work. Even saying Australia sounded wrong to my ears. Three weeks back and I've only started talking normally. A friend if around English people, will lose it quite easily and start talking with an english accent.

I don't find it strange at all that Mary has lost her accent having lived overseas for six years and learnt a foriegn language.

[Madame Royale]

But Mary hasn't 'lost' her accent and she probably never shall

Her vocalizations have clearly altered with time, though it's still remarkably easy to identify, by way of speech, where infact Mary 'comes' from.

And having undergone what I believe to have been concentrated Danish lessons (and perhaps HRH still does to some extent), I don't find it at all perculiar as to why Mary's accent has adopted a somewhat Scandinavian lilt.

It is perfectly normal and to be expected.

[Elchbaer]

I read in a German newspaper, that CP Mary still isn't able to speak danish. Did she

stopped her Danish lessons?

Translation (Headline): Disappointed the Danes

You can read the (original-)article here:
Image of Disappointed the Danes - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Source: DAS NEUE BLATT, Nr. 30 18.07.2007

[Madame Royale]

The German media, as with the Australian and Danish, clearly circulate one anothers rubbish

If by 'dissapointed the Danes', they mean a couple of outspoken editors or journalists not getting what they want...

[Elchbaer]

Originally Posted by Madame Royale

The German media, as with the Australian and Danish, clearly circulate one anothers rubbish

If by 'dissapointed the Danes', they mean a couple of outspoken editors or journalists not getting what they want...

No! They mean, that she still refuses to speak Danish. When she answers a question or when she gives an interview - than she speaks English.