How to fake French, Italian and Malaysian English accents

After sitting in on 3 days of Symfony training conducted by French native, I’ve started to pick up a bit of a French accent in the way that I speak.

I’ve always been curious languages, especially the European ones. Usually learning the actual language is difficult, and there is no one to practice it with, so the next best option is to emulate their accents when speaking English.

While there are many aspects and nuances that one needs to watch out for when attempting such a feat, I’d like to share my findings as far as accents go. It’s of particular intrigue for me because of how simple the rules can be, and how effectively it works.

To accent a syllable in a word is to say it louder, or more prominantly than the its sibling syllables. Because accenting is relative to the other syllabi in the word, it doesn’t really affect single syllable words.

Try saying:

When travelling on public transportation in Melbourne, you should always carry an umbrella.

In typical British/American, it is a bit of a mish-mash, but it would go something like this.

When travelling on public transportation in Melbourne, you should always carry an umbrella.

For a French accent, stress the second syllable of every word:

When travelling on public transportation in Melbourne, you should always carry an umbrella.

For an Italian accent, stress the second last syllable of every word:

When travelling on public transportation in Melbourne, you should always carry an umbrella. Spaghetti marinara fettucinni raviolli.

Speaking English like a Malaysian is much harder, but there is a pattern still. The accents are the same across the syllable, but you rely on melody to group the words logically. With the melody, you generally have 3 notes (do, re, mi). The rule: you start low, end your words and phrases with mi.

Examples:

orange (re mi)
origin (do re mi)
original (do re mi mi)
originally (do re mi re mi)
originality (do re mi re mi mi)
an origin (do do re mi)
the original plan (do do re mi mi mi)

So, you will say:

when travelling on public transportation in Melbourne, you should always carry an umbrella.

Cheers!