The Mid-Atlantic is the most beautiful and comprehensible English accent ever. Reminds me of the golden Hollywood era movies, and I love the way actors spoke back then :)
It was meant to be that way. Understood all the way to the back of a theater. To the outer edges of a crowd. To be understood over radio, even with interference. To be understood in TV and movies. It was meant to be taught to over ride regional and ethnic accents for all those occasions. It just became the "ideal" educated American accent, so by WW2, it was actually taught in diction classes in East Coast elite schools. (I am a product of such an education. I speak this way due to school. I remember the first time when visiting England being asked where I was from (in the UK) because of how I spoke. And that was not the last time I got that.
My elderly father has a Trans-Atlantic accent bc when he was young, that's how boarding schools in America taught the children to speak so they wouldn't have regional accents. His has three forms: normally it sounds a lot like RP but with a soft version of the American R. When he's being emphatic, he'll trill his R's. When fully enraged, it all goes away and he sounds like Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest.
My American mother has what she calls a "continental accent." She's a trained opera singer(my name is also Susannah, after her favorite opera). She was taught to speak that way in college, when she was learning music and voice. People occasionally ask her if she's British. I'm assuming that a "continental accent," is just another term for a transatlantic accent.
You may well be right, Susannah. I like that our name is the title of an opera as well as several songs. I sometimes tell people my name is "Oh Susannah" (like the song) but the "Oh" is silent :)
Your accent gives the impression that you are speaking really to deliver what you would like to deliver in a straightforward and honest manner, without the slightest hint of an assuming attitude, which should be the bottom line objective of all communications. Anyway your almost textbook neutral accent is a blessing for all non-native English speakers, normally struggling with the heavy liaison in American English as well as incredibly diversified, often quite broad regional accents in Britain, let alone sometimes impossibly incomprehensible public school accents. Strange to say, your accent is somewhat similar to mine, albeit with far superior articulacy, which, along with the above straightforward open-minded personality, makes you a uniquely great communicator.
Thank you for your very generous comments, mmmoroi Moroi. I'm wondering what countries have influenced your own accent to make it sound similar to mine?
@@susannahsvoice Actually I am a Japanese expat in UK, but after having worked for an American company in Tokyo for a number of years, I seemed to have acquired an American accent something close to Midwest accent (besides I had a limited international exposure involving a small foreign community in my childhood where I learned correct basic English pronunciation). While I was working in London before the turn of century, I remember being told not a few times "We accept any credit card but Amex". But exactly as you mention in this footage, accent tends to drift, and after a few years in the UK I developed an accent which did not exist, as described by an Englishman as "a sort of Mid-Atlantic accent". At that time I just thought he was referring to my slight American accent, but later I learned it was more like appreciation than depreciation. Anyway, if you do your best to make sure each word is pronounced with enough clearness and articulacy, (correctly following its phonetic symbol), not to leave any room for misunderstanding, you may tend to end up speaking Mid-Atlantic accent. Your accent is an excellent example of what can be achieved by positive attitude to make oneself understood without any vagueness, on top of the talent you were born with, clearly. Anyone engaged in a business involving good verbal communication may wish to speak quite like you, although Professor Higgins might need a few more minutes to identify your linguistic pilgrimage, while he should certainly struggle with mine.
I always wondered as a kid watching movies and TV why the actors sounded kind of different than my North American speech. I never knew if the actors were speaking British or American. I heard this accent from the 40's, 50's to the mid 70's spoken by actors, especially the female actors. Example, almost all of the female actors on Star Trek the Original spoke like this and Jim Backus and Natalie Schaffer from Gilligan's Island, Vincent Price, Lorne Greene, Jonathan Harris and many many more. I always thought perhaps it was because they were Shakespearean actors. Anyway, today most actors speak with the Neutral or General American/Canadian style accent.
@@amifiii265 Sounding like you're from nowhere in particular is the whole point of the Mid-Atlantic accent. The accent is derived from the prevailing accents of two specific places, but that doesn't mean that the people who use it are to be presumed to be from one or other of those places.
I acquired one as a child from gorging on 1930s - 1940s Golden Hollywood films by myself. I am a Texan. I also have a Genteel Southern accent and I shift between that and the transatlantic accent.
I used to have an American accent but because of all my British friends and speaking with them for years, developed a British accent and now trying to speak with my normal accent again, I have this accent! lol. love your explanation on it!
@@susannahsvoice it's lovely hearing that from you because I adored your voice haha. As you said, it is definitely an advantage when you're working with your voice, I have done audiobooks for blind kids and kids with special needs and unfortunately had to quit this year due to my exams but I am definitely planning on continuing with audiobooks and maybe even voice acting. ^^
Mid-Atlantic has had an impact on the general populace however. In particular its influence is what caused a drift _away from_ what is now often called a "Michigan" or "Great Lakes" accent which is closer to American English of the 1900s. You hear it in emphasized hard "t" sounds and a loss of glottal stops outside the Great Lakes.
And now in Michigan and the Great Lakes region we’ve begun developing a new accent which is slightly different from how we spoke when general American English was based upon how we spoke. But most people are oblivious to the shift in speech
Well, I don’t think your natural accent is like the traditional Mid-Atlantic accent (think, for example, Katherine Hepburn or FDR) but it’s a stunning hybrid and absolutely lovely. To me (a US English speaker) it sounds a bit closer to US English with some British elements (placement, some non-rhoticity, and a British long _o_ /əu/). I say it’s lovely because, I agree, it _does_ have a sophisticated flair but it doesn’t sound affected or unnaturally “posh” as some other combination might. I _wouldn’t_ say it sounds like “a slice of the best chocolate cake on the planet”-it’s undoubtedly angel food cake with lemon butter cream icing. I hope you get a lot of voice-over work so we can hear your voice in lots of different places!
As a Kiwi who's been living in the US for about 25 years, mine is _very_ similar to Susannah's. The British side comes out a bit more when I read aloud, most likely because I grew up listening to literature read by great British actors.😄
I'm a Canadian who grew up in England. Since I was about 8 I avoided having a British accent, but as a result I was quite alienated from other kids. I have very British speech patterns, but because of my stronger Canadian accent it's hard to notice. I'd like the Mid-atlantic accent that way I'll blend in more, but still keep the more reminiscent tone of my original accent so it's always helpful to hear about these things.
„A European English accent“ sounds like a dream to me. I’m German and my English sounds a bit like this, simply because I’ve learnt both British and American English in school. But if you put on some (in my case rather English-ish sounding) accent it’s like I’m assuming their identity... but I’m not from England but rather from Germany and I don’t feel comfortable with it... it feels like cultural appropriation in a way
This is a really good point, Lou. But you might also consider that ANYONE doing a Mid-Atlantic accent is assuming another identity. I think for me I am just very comfortable with the double UK/US identity. I'd see if you allow some British flavour to come through but without forcing it.
Thank you so much for covering this phenomenon. I am from Canada and I consume foreign content from Austria and Japan and all matter of the states. It becomes a melange, unfortunately it divides us.
Some years ago, I contracted a neurological disease which impaired my senses and cognitive ability. As a lecturer in programming and statistics at university, this was quite distressing for me. However, after a couple of years I recuperated. To my astonishment, I could no longer speak my British accent but to speak an American mid-west accent worked perfectly fine. Your video has nudged me in the direction of trying to recuperate some of my original accent in the form of a mid-atlantic accent 🙂
What a touching story, Mr Sith. Do drop me a line and let me know how you get on with integrating more of your original British accent to create a mid-Atlantic blend. I'm guessing it will sound great.
I have this sort of accent too, I grew up in an international school and I was exposed to American media for most of my childhood and then I moved to the UK where, due to the people I interact with, I have also adopted some British pronunciations. Though, my vocabulary has always been mostly British anyway. You hit the nail on the head where you said it doesn't alienate anyone because I certainly feel that way when I talk to the Anglosphere 😂
As an English listener, I can pick up a slight New Zealand twang on a British accent when you’re speaking normally. I don’t hear any US accent, though.
I learned my Mid- Atlantic accent from my mom who was born in Cambridge Maryland on the Eastern Shore. From the Delmarva and Outer banks of NC. That's about as close to a Cornwall UK accent as you can get.
Great video! Thank you for doing this. I've often got mistaken for Australian and South African but grew up in London with very international upbringing. Sometimes people have referred to it as a mid-atlantic twang but the quest continues!
How interesting... I'm from Australia (both parents migrated here from Hungary)...but now living in Israel for the past ten years.. I often get mistaken for South African!
I also think though that there may be some class differences in that Mid-Atlantic accent. In the American silver screen movies, there is that smooth almost British flair, but that was most often among those playing rich or "well bred" characters. There's a more harsh version that you can often see in crime dramas of the era, or when a person is playing a lower class character. I just watched "My Man Godfrey" again, which I hadn't seen in forever. William Powell's accent would seem to be a good example of the less affluent variety, while Eugene Pallette is a good example of the "old-timey" American accent that we never hear anymore, and many of the rest of the actors playing rich ne'er-do-wells offer examples of the variety you're describing. Somewhere I once read that one of the attractions for the Mid-Atlantic accent at the time, had to do with the limitations of the recording technology. In both radio, some voices were picked up better in the recording, most notably the ones who could manage that accent. It was even taught in schools across the the USA for a time. How times change.
Now I understand why my friends oftenly telling me that I have slightly mid-atlantic accent and to be honest since English isn't my first language I didn't know what they mean so I always thought it is a bad thing 😂
The Mid-Atlantic accent even has a hint of USA upper southern accent, such as lower Maryland, northern Virginia... "easy on the ears" to majority of native born USA citizens whom speak English as primary first language.
I love the mid Atlantic accent. Watching 'My Man Godfrey' now w Carole Lombard and William Powell and they're all using it (except the maid). It sounds so refined, not like the typical American speech pattern which is hard and coarse.
I think one of the reasons a lot of us Americans really found things that Ronald Reagan said to be very compelling is that he had kept his Mid-Atlantic accent from his days as an actor, and it gave him a certain elegance, and dignified quality. The Maine accent known as Downeaster is also very rhotic like British English, and it has certain elements of Mid-Atlantic when you hear it. You could also say that Southern U.S. accents kind of had elements of Mid-Atlantic before the term came about because I've seen proof that the plantation class during Antibellum was trying to imitate the accent of the British aristocracy, but it evolved into something else over time.
@@773SleepyHollow Listen to the inflections of Reagan, compared to any scene from a Burt Lancaster film. Although, yes, Reagan was born in the Midwest, so the influence can’t be denied.
I’m a Norwegian and I work at an aquarium here in Norway. I’m also autistic so I adopt accents but only when I speak English. I’ve realized that because I met thousands of British tourists this summer I have started speaking trans Atlantic myself 😂 I only found this out when my fiancé pointed it out. She’s been watching a lot of old tv shows lately and she thinks it’s really cute how I sounds when I speak English. It’s very posh she says 😅 I used to have an American accent but because of British influence it’s become something in between that sounds similar to how actors used to sound in old movies and tv shows 🥰
That's funny I am English and autistic and most of the time I speak a Standard Southern England accent (with a slight Aussie twang through years of being hooked to Australian soap operas in my youth lol) but when in place or with someone that has strong regional accent I pick up bits of their accent quite quickly unintentionally it's what Dave Gorman calls wandering accent syndrome, but clears up when away from person and place. I wonder what will happen to my voice if I ever go to America?..... lol
It's not a genuine accent, it was developed by radio celebrities during the early 1900's specifically for radio broadcast. Words and conversation were more easily understood and sounded more pleasant over the radio when spoken a certain way, and they began calling it the "mid-Atlantic" accent, because the most popular radio shows were broadcast from the mid-Atlantic states. Soon it began to catch on and it became fashionable to imitate the accent because people thought it made them sound cosmopolitan.
It is genuine : it was always more or less used in many coastal cities of the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, hence its name : low though still extant rhoticity, distinction between r, wr and wh which hinterland Americans don’t make, use of shall… It is a continuation of the accent of British port cities of the South-West such as Bristol. Of course like all theatrical accents it is perfected and cleansed from purely regional idioms. You may call it a Bermudian accent as all financial and intellectual elite people of the East Coast spontaneously acknowledge it as most elegant even without mastering it themselves completely.
For the longest time I've often spoken in my own sort of Mid-Atlantic accent. I'm American, grew up on a lot of British television. I've adopted really mushy Sh and J sounds, the trans-vowel R sound, and a few middle-word British vowels. It sounds a bit Irish, or like a British lad trying his damnedest to talk like an Anerican for the third attempt.
Almost no Americans alive today speak with the Mid-Atlantic accent, the accent of yesterday had heavy British overtones but was still American and was almost the standard accent up until the 1950s, it was taught to young children of all classes as a sign of sophistication and today we can look at it to understand the development of the American accent, Abraham Lincoln for example would have sounded somewhat British with heavily American overtones mixed in and his parents probably would have spoken with a heavy West Yorkshire accent or similar. I love the sound of the Mid-Atlantic accent. the prefect American speech pattern.
This was an accent I heard so much as a child but has gotten extremely rare to hear. William F. Buckley is probably the last person that I can recall that spoke with it in the modern age.
I always thought William F. Buckley had the most Affected sounding speaking voice! I had read this was the upper class, North Shore Long Island accent. Many listeners mistake this as the gay / homosexual voice.
I can listen to you speak all day. You should do ASMR and just talk or read to people in a soft tone, would be quite relaxing. Such a lovely voice from a lovely woman.
@@susannahsvoice I would love it if you did. You’re already so pleasing to listen to and look at. With ASMR talking softly and slightly slower I think you would sound meditative like. It’s already so soothing to listen to your voice and pronunciation. Thank you for listening to my suggestion. You seem like a wonderful person and definitely are a beauty.
mid Atlantic accent means accent of people born in mid Atlantic states for me its simply an accent were Americans used to speak British with bit of changes
Historically it was developed by the East coast elite of the United States. It was taught in private boarding schools reserved for wealthy or politically prominent families. It was meant to be a way for people to differentiate between the wealthy and common classes. I'm glad it faded into obscurity and hope in never makes a comeback.
Beautiful and clear accent... Most Americans sound as if they are chewing a bubble gum when they speak 😁 their pronunciation is often quite indistinct and more difficult to understand by non-Americans..
When English people say "oh" it tends to sound like "ew,." The vibrating air seems to be slightly in the nose rather than coming straight out the front of the mouth the way Americans do it. As an American, our accent sounds "plain" and the English accent sounds "fancy."
Funny always when i meet native english speaker in my hometown. They are a little confused about my "hybrid accent". It's just a Patchwork of what i heard and know. It's more or less trans atlantic accent with a german coloration. I found that out with 40.😂
Good video came here after watching shows and seeing likes of Camilla Luddington and Anya Taylor Joy with mixed transatlantic accents off set and decided to look up more info. Cheers :)
@@susannahsvoice your welcome I am from Sussex England so mostly standard southern England with a bit of London and Aussie (from watching Neighbours for years. Lol) in my accent but as mentioned elsewhere in comments when in place or with group with strong regional or national accent (eg Manchester or Scotland I recall) I unintentionally pick up bits of the accent quickly but disappears when I leave place. Can see how some people being in place for sustained period can effect their accent long term.
I find the Mid Atlantic accent to be the one that is most easy to understand for a non-native English speaker like myself.
That's a really good point I hadn't considered - thanks for sharing!
Soo sad that British accent is too much in Hollywood,this accent is soo underrated and was never been heard a lot in movies nowadays...
Yes, I agree
@@hazeeqrazak mostly actors from golden age era came from british like vivien leigh,cary
Grant, laurence olivier and so on.
@@vadjulawakaru yup
Whenever I try to adopt the transatlantic accent, it turns into some version of a standard Irish accent lol.
That sounds delightful - I would go with that!
@Radical.Compounds
Similar thing here 🤣
Sometimes, I tend to slip into talking in a posh British accent 😂
The Mid-Atlantic is the most beautiful and comprehensible English accent ever. Reminds me of the golden Hollywood era movies, and I love the way actors spoke back then :)
I find it stilted.
I agree Norbath. Watching an old Carole Lombard movie and the way they spoke back then was so lovely.
@@jeffreygao3956 it is stilted. True.
It was meant to be that way. Understood all the way to the back of a theater. To the outer edges of a crowd. To be understood over radio, even with interference. To be understood in TV and movies.
It was meant to be taught to over ride regional and ethnic accents for all those occasions.
It just became the "ideal" educated American accent, so by WW2, it was actually taught in diction classes in East Coast elite schools.
(I am a product of such an education. I speak this way due to school. I remember the first time when visiting England being asked where I was from (in the UK) because of how I spoke. And that was not the last time I got that.
My elderly father has a Trans-Atlantic accent bc when he was young, that's how boarding schools in America taught the children to speak so they wouldn't have regional accents.
His has three forms: normally it sounds a lot like RP but with a soft version of the American R.
When he's being emphatic, he'll trill his R's.
When fully enraged, it all goes away and he sounds like Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest.
@JWhippet I love that your father's accent shifts according to emphasis and mood - that's really cool :)
😂😂😂Good show.
Glad I'm not the only one that does that.
don’t be shy, do a tutorial
Yesss!!! I want to learn it to impress people 😂
@@someone-wk2wj What else do you need? You can impress people enough by just saying your name.
@@timothylegg that’s true lol 😂
yesss i can just imagine gen z going around like “its the crusty haer for mey”
@@someone-wk2wj ... Believe me people would not be impressed with it today!
Your voice is very soft and comfortable to listen to....
Thank you so much
My American mother has what she calls a "continental accent." She's a trained opera singer(my name is also Susannah, after her favorite opera). She was taught to speak that way in college, when she was learning music and voice. People occasionally ask her if she's British. I'm assuming that a "continental accent," is just another term for a transatlantic accent.
You may well be right, Susannah. I like that our name is the title of an opera as well as several songs. I sometimes tell people my name is "Oh Susannah" (like the song) but the "Oh" is silent :)
I don’t know what’s more beautiful, this lady or her accent...
Thank you for your kind comment, Koloktos
What a beautiful woman with amazing voice!
What a kind comment, thank you
Your accent gives the impression that you are speaking really to deliver what you would like to deliver in a straightforward and honest manner, without the slightest hint of an assuming attitude, which should be the bottom line objective of all communications. Anyway your almost textbook neutral accent is a blessing for all non-native English speakers, normally struggling with the heavy liaison in American English as well as incredibly diversified, often quite broad regional accents in Britain, let alone sometimes impossibly incomprehensible public school accents. Strange to say, your accent is somewhat similar to mine, albeit with far superior articulacy, which, along with the above straightforward open-minded personality, makes you a uniquely great communicator.
Thank you for your very generous comments, mmmoroi Moroi. I'm wondering what countries have influenced your own accent to make it sound similar to mine?
@@susannahsvoice Actually I am a Japanese expat in UK, but after having worked for an American company in Tokyo for a number of years, I seemed to have acquired an American accent something close to Midwest accent (besides I had a limited international exposure involving a small foreign community in my childhood where I learned correct basic English pronunciation). While I was working in London before the turn of century, I remember being told not a few times "We accept any credit card but Amex".
But exactly as you mention in this footage, accent tends to drift, and after a few years in the UK I developed an accent which did not exist, as described by an Englishman as "a sort of Mid-Atlantic accent". At that time I just thought he was referring to my slight American accent, but later I learned it was more like appreciation than depreciation. Anyway, if you do your best to make sure each word is pronounced with enough clearness and articulacy, (correctly following its phonetic symbol), not to leave any room for misunderstanding, you may tend to end up speaking Mid-Atlantic accent.
Your accent is an excellent example of what can be achieved by positive attitude to make oneself understood without any vagueness, on top of the talent you were born with, clearly. Anyone engaged in a business involving good verbal communication may wish to speak quite like you, although Professor Higgins might need a few more minutes to identify your linguistic pilgrimage, while he should certainly struggle with mine.
@@mmmoroi That is such a cool accent heritage - thanks for sharing.
I always wondered as a kid watching movies and TV why the actors sounded kind of different than my North American speech. I never knew if the actors were speaking British or American. I heard this accent from the 40's, 50's to the mid 70's spoken by actors, especially the female actors. Example, almost all of the female actors on Star Trek the Original spoke like this and Jim Backus and Natalie Schaffer from Gilligan's Island, Vincent Price, Lorne Greene, Jonathan Harris and many many more. I always thought perhaps it was because they were Shakespearean actors. Anyway, today most actors speak with the Neutral or General American/Canadian style accent.
So they sounded like they came from “no where”.
@aMiFiii I believe it’s officially called a TransAtlantic accent so apparently in the water of the Atlantic Ocean 🤪
@@amifiii265 Sounding like you're from nowhere in particular is the whole point of the Mid-Atlantic accent. The accent is derived from the prevailing accents of two specific places, but that doesn't mean that the people who use it are to be presumed to be from one or other of those places.
Well-pronounced, well-modulated, delivery with measured, rounded and softened vowels.
I’d love to adopt this accent.
No you really don't because if you're from the Midwest or the Northeast people will think you are affecting an accent!
@@blaiseducdaumont1280
Affecting? Whachu mean
@@Itsfine416 ... Acting or putting on.
Mid-Atlantic is my preferred accent and if I brought it out in front of my family they would laugh at me lol.
I love it, Taylor! Let them laugh. I'm sure the accent becomes you.
I acquired one as a child from gorging on 1930s - 1940s Golden Hollywood films by myself. I am a Texan. I also have a Genteel Southern accent and I shift between that and the transatlantic accent.
That's interesting. I bet your accent is pretty. I love a Southern accent.
I used to have an American accent but because of all my British friends and speaking with them for years, developed a British accent and now trying to speak with my normal accent again, I have this accent! lol. love your explanation on it!
Chubi - your accent sounds like it's organically Mid-Atlantic - I'd love to hear it!
@@susannahsvoice it's lovely hearing that from you because I adored your voice haha. As you said, it is definitely an advantage when you're working with your voice, I have done audiobooks for blind kids and kids with special needs and unfortunately had to quit this year due to my exams but I am definitely planning on continuing with audiobooks and maybe even voice acting. ^^
@@CupcakeRain Wow - that's fantastic!
I was so right this is coming back! I luv it!
I'm Canadian and my husband is English... This is basically how we speak when we're together.
This lady is extremely pleasant to watch/listen to ❤️
Mid-Atlantic has had an impact on the general populace however. In particular its influence is what caused a drift _away from_ what is now often called a "Michigan" or "Great Lakes" accent which is closer to American English of the 1900s. You hear it in emphasized hard "t" sounds and a loss of glottal stops outside the Great Lakes.
And now in Michigan and the Great Lakes region we’ve begun developing a new accent which is slightly different from how we spoke when general American English was based upon how we spoke. But most people are oblivious to the shift in speech
Well, I don’t think your natural accent is like the traditional Mid-Atlantic accent (think, for example, Katherine Hepburn or FDR) but it’s a stunning hybrid and absolutely lovely. To me (a US English speaker) it sounds a bit closer to US English with some British elements (placement, some non-rhoticity, and a British long _o_ /əu/). I say it’s lovely because, I agree, it _does_ have a sophisticated flair but it doesn’t sound affected or unnaturally “posh” as some other combination might. I _wouldn’t_ say it sounds like “a slice of the best chocolate cake on the planet”-it’s undoubtedly angel food cake with lemon butter cream icing. I hope you get a lot of voice-over work so we can hear your voice in lots of different places!
Your understanding of language, accent and phonetics is impressive, Jeff! And your comments are much too kind. Thank you
As a Kiwi who's been living in the US for about 25 years, mine is _very_ similar to Susannah's. The British side comes out a bit more when I read aloud, most likely because I grew up listening to literature read by great British actors.😄
I'm English and she sounds completely English to me.
Do a tutorial
Audrey hepburn has this accent too.
I'm a Canadian who grew up in England. Since I was about 8 I avoided having a British accent, but as a result I was quite alienated from other kids. I have very British speech patterns, but because of my stronger Canadian accent it's hard to notice. I'd like the Mid-atlantic accent that way I'll blend in more, but still keep the more reminiscent tone of my original accent so it's always helpful to hear about these things.
Your accent sounds beautiful, Emma. Own the uniqueness of your hybrid accent/speech patterns. Fitting in is overrated :)
This is charmspeak! I can listen to this all day without getting bored.
You're voice is very soothing. Its quite nice to listen to. Thanks!
Thank you for your sweet comment, Samuel
Yes, I confirm that the Mid Atlantic accent is the most comprehensible for people whose native language is not English.
„A European English accent“ sounds like a dream to me. I’m German and my English sounds a bit like this, simply because I’ve learnt both British and American English in school. But if you put on some (in my case rather English-ish sounding) accent it’s like I’m assuming their identity... but I’m not from England but rather from Germany and I don’t feel comfortable with it... it feels like cultural appropriation in a way
This is a really good point, Lou. But you might also consider that ANYONE doing a Mid-Atlantic accent is assuming another identity. I think for me I am just very comfortable with the double UK/US identity. I'd see if you allow some British flavour to come through but without forcing it.
Thank you so much for covering this phenomenon. I am from Canada and I consume foreign content from Austria and Japan and all matter of the states. It becomes a melange, unfortunately it divides us.
Wow your voice sounds great and you are such a beautiful woman! You look amazing!
Thank you for your generous compliments, Leonardo. You clearly have excellent taste :)
Some years ago, I contracted a neurological disease which impaired my senses and cognitive ability. As a lecturer in programming and statistics at university, this was quite distressing for me. However, after a couple of years I recuperated. To my astonishment, I could no longer speak my British accent but to speak an American mid-west accent worked perfectly fine. Your video has nudged me in the direction of trying to recuperate some of my original accent in the form of a mid-atlantic accent 🙂
What a touching story, Mr Sith. Do drop me a line and let me know how you get on with integrating more of your original British accent to create a mid-Atlantic blend. I'm guessing it will sound great.
I have this sort of accent too, I grew up in an international school and I was exposed to American media for most of my childhood and then I moved to the UK where, due to the people I interact with, I have also adopted some British pronunciations. Though, my vocabulary has always been mostly British anyway. You hit the nail on the head where you said it doesn't alienate anyone because I certainly feel that way when I talk to the Anglosphere 😂
What a lovely lady!
I live in Hong Kong and a lot of my friends have mid-atlantic accents, and I used to have one when I was younger, so it was never an old accent to me.
As an English listener, I can pick up a slight New Zealand twang on a British accent when you’re speaking normally. I don’t hear any US accent, though.
Interesting - I'd love to learn to do a New Zealand accent. Maybe I'm on my way...
When she said Market. It totally sounded Kiwi.
I think Indian who studied in British English and working in American Companies, I have developed a Pan-Indo-Atlantic Accent.
I learned my Mid- Atlantic accent from my mom who was born in Cambridge Maryland on the Eastern Shore. From the Delmarva and Outer banks of NC. That's about as close to a Cornwall UK accent as you can get.
its Southern.
Great video! Thank you for doing this. I've often got mistaken for Australian and South African but grew up in London with very international upbringing. Sometimes people have referred to it as a mid-atlantic twang but the quest continues!
How interesting... I'm from Australia (both parents migrated here from Hungary)...but now living in Israel for the past ten years.. I often get mistaken for South African!
In my experience, midatlantic was used on stage. Edith Skinner made it famous.
I have also heard it called Hudson Valley Lockjaw...and The finishing school accent.
Your voice is lovely.
Forgive the off-topic but OH MY GOD, you are SO BEAUTIFUL!!! WOWEE!!!
Wow - thank you for the lovely compliment, Duncan!
Kate Hepburn had my favourite mid Atlantic accent.
Your voice is just so lovely to hear. Like wow. I love it so much
That is so kind, Roy. I really appreciate your comment - thank you.
I also think though that there may be some class differences in that Mid-Atlantic accent. In the American silver screen movies, there is that smooth almost British flair, but that was most often among those playing rich or "well bred" characters. There's a more harsh version that you can often see in crime dramas of the era, or when a person is playing a lower class character.
I just watched "My Man Godfrey" again, which I hadn't seen in forever. William Powell's accent would seem to be a good example of the less affluent variety, while Eugene Pallette is a good example of the "old-timey" American accent that we never hear anymore, and many of the rest of the actors playing rich ne'er-do-wells offer examples of the variety you're describing.
Somewhere I once read that one of the attractions for the Mid-Atlantic accent at the time, had to do with the limitations of the recording technology. In both radio, some voices were picked up better in the recording, most notably the ones who could manage that accent. It was even taught in schools across the the USA for a time. How times change.
What an interesting observation - thank you for your comment, Timothy
Now I understand why my friends oftenly telling me that I have slightly mid-atlantic accent and to be honest since English isn't my first language I didn't know what they mean so I always thought it is a bad thing 😂
I love that you have found your way to a Mid-Atlantic accent by accident, Usagi - enjoy!
Often. No such word as oftenly. Otherwise your English is fine.
@@gemoftheocean Thank you for correction, I’ll be careful from now ☺️
The Mid-Atlantic accent even has a hint of USA upper southern accent, such as lower Maryland, northern Virginia... "easy on the ears" to majority of native born USA citizens whom speak English as primary first language.
Virginia is not Mid Atlantic, IMO. We are Southern.
Your way is the way that I need to think about when I think about English language
I love the mid Atlantic accent. Watching 'My Man Godfrey' now w Carole Lombard and William Powell and they're all using it (except the maid). It sounds so refined, not like the typical American speech pattern which is hard and coarse.
I do this all the time. It started with me wanting to try my British accent out with the public while at work, but not be so obvious.
This is how I was raised in the south, let me tell you the town I grew up in was very hash to me. Its been very useful today
"harsh"?
Hmm, you're spot on. I have this accent, which sometimes sounds British.
I think one of the reasons a lot of us Americans really found things that Ronald Reagan said to be very compelling is that he had kept his Mid-Atlantic accent from his days as an actor, and it gave him a certain elegance, and dignified quality. The Maine accent known as Downeaster is also very rhotic like British English, and it has certain elements of Mid-Atlantic when you hear it. You could also say that Southern U.S. accents kind of had elements of Mid-Atlantic before the term came about because I've seen proof that the plantation class during Antibellum was trying to imitate the accent of the British aristocracy, but it evolved into something else over time.
Reagan's accent was more mid-western than mid-Atlantic.
@@773SleepyHollow Listen to the inflections of Reagan, compared to any scene from a Burt Lancaster film. Although, yes, Reagan was born in the Midwest, so the influence can’t be denied.
Totally unrelated but I think that you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen!!! You look so regal. :)
What a sweet comment, une femme avec toi, thank you. Sachant que la beauté est dans l'oeil de celui/celle qui regarde, je te renvoie le compliment :)
I’m a Norwegian and I work at an aquarium here in Norway. I’m also autistic so I adopt accents but only when I speak English. I’ve realized that because I met thousands of British tourists this summer I have started speaking trans Atlantic myself 😂 I only found this out when my fiancé pointed it out. She’s been watching a lot of old tv shows lately and she thinks it’s really cute how I sounds when I speak English. It’s very posh she says 😅 I used to have an American accent but because of British influence it’s become something in between that sounds similar to how actors used to sound in old movies and tv shows 🥰
That's funny I am English and autistic and most of the time I speak a Standard Southern England accent (with a slight Aussie twang through years of being hooked to Australian soap operas in my youth lol) but when in place or with someone that has strong regional accent I pick up bits of their accent quite quickly unintentionally it's what Dave Gorman calls wandering accent syndrome, but clears up when away from person and place. I wonder what will happen to my voice if I ever go to America?..... lol
P.S Dave Gorman is English comedian.
pretty wholesome mix of accents i love it
It's very pleasant, kind of the best of both; a refinement of American and a more accessible British.
That's a really nice way to describe it, Shevet - thank you
It's not a genuine accent, it was developed by radio celebrities during the early 1900's specifically for radio broadcast. Words and conversation were more easily understood and sounded more pleasant over the radio when spoken a certain way, and they began calling it the "mid-Atlantic" accent, because the most popular radio shows were broadcast from the mid-Atlantic states. Soon it began to catch on and it became fashionable to imitate the accent because people thought it made them sound cosmopolitan.
It is genuine : it was always more or less used in many coastal cities of the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, hence its name : low though still extant rhoticity, distinction between r, wr and wh which hinterland Americans don’t make, use of shall… It is a continuation of the accent of British port cities of the South-West such as Bristol. Of course like all theatrical accents it is perfected and cleansed from purely regional idioms. You may call it a Bermudian accent as all financial and intellectual elite people of the East Coast spontaneously acknowledge it as most elegant even without mastering it themselves completely.
@@MrMirville bullshit
Love this! Thank you! 😊
For the longest time I've often spoken in my own sort of Mid-Atlantic accent. I'm American, grew up on a lot of British television. I've adopted really mushy Sh and J sounds, the trans-vowel R sound, and a few middle-word British vowels. It sounds a bit Irish, or like a British lad trying his damnedest to talk like an Anerican for the third attempt.
She’s beautiful!
This is very clever if designed by Hollywood for International audiences. You can really hear English word by word!
I just found your channel, and instantly I love your voice...
So yea.. I‘m your new subcriber
This was super helpful!
Almost no Americans alive today speak with the Mid-Atlantic accent, the accent of yesterday had heavy British overtones but was still American and was almost the standard accent up until the 1950s, it was taught to young children of all classes as a sign of sophistication and today we can look at it to understand the development of the American accent, Abraham Lincoln for example would have sounded somewhat British with heavily American overtones mixed in and his parents probably would have spoken with a heavy West Yorkshire accent or similar. I love the sound of the Mid-Atlantic accent. the prefect American speech pattern.
This was an accent I heard so much as a child but has gotten extremely rare to hear. William F. Buckley is probably the last person that I can recall that spoke with it in the modern age.
That's interesting. I'm going to look him up so I can hear it. I'm watching an old black and white movie and they're using it. I'm curious about it.
I always thought William F. Buckley had the most Affected sounding speaking voice!
I had read this was the upper class, North Shore Long Island accent. Many listeners mistake this as the gay / homosexual voice.
mid-atlantic but mostly used in Hollywood movies, which is west-coast, pacific
I hear this in RT news and German english news
You're 100% correct.
I was 13 when I came to the US from the UK, I have a mid atlantic accent, I'm now 65.
Whoa you have such a beautiful accent , I would recommend you to start a tutorial if you would like to .
You are so pretty!
I would like to learn this beautiful accent. 😊
It has to be the most soothing Mid-atlantic accent I've ever heard
I love this accent. It’s the one from my fave Disney movies. I would try to sound like them.
I can listen to you speak all day. You should do ASMR and just talk or read to people in a soft tone, would be quite relaxing.
Such a lovely voice from a lovely woman.
Thank you for your kind comments, Shamus. I'll consider your suggestions.
@@susannahsvoice I would love it if you did. You’re already so pleasing to listen to and look at. With ASMR talking softly and slightly slower I think you would sound meditative like. It’s already so soothing to listen to your voice and pronunciation. Thank you for listening to my suggestion. You seem like a wonderful person and definitely are a beauty.
mid Atlantic accent means accent of people born in mid Atlantic states for me its simply an accent were Americans used to speak British with bit of changes
Not really
Why does she sounds like she's making fall asleep with her voice. Like reading a bedtime story to me.
So informative, thanks!
❤️❤️❤️
wow you remind me angelina jolie so much
What a kind compliment - thank you
I love the way it sounds
This is my favorite English speaking accent.
Mine too!
@@susannahsvoice in 2023, I must fully immerse myself. I've been an admirer on the fringes for too long.
Historically it was developed by the East coast elite of the United States. It was taught in private boarding schools reserved for wealthy or politically prominent families. It was meant to be a way for people to differentiate between the wealthy and common classes. I'm glad it faded into obscurity and hope in never makes a comeback.
Oh wow it’s like you cherry picked the best parts of those accents. It’s so pretty
Thank you, secretivesomebody!
The first one I think of with a Mid Atlantic accent is FDR.
The plane in Spain stays mainly in the plains. I think that's right lol
Too funny!
It's sad how this accent is no longer exist anymore,back when man can actually get the girls using this accent,I'm doing my best to learn this accent.
Haszeeg - who told you this accent no longer gets the girls? And are you learning it for that purpose or simply for world domination?
@@susannahsvoice I'm learning this accent to entertain myself
This accent, like RP was taught. It wasn’t a natural accent. It was only heard in movies and by actors who were trained in it
@@mavsyers I heard that children that were middle and low class were taught to learn this accent during the 40a to 50s.
Beautiful and clear accent... Most Americans sound as if they are chewing a bubble gum when they speak 😁 their pronunciation is often quite indistinct and more difficult to understand by non-Americans..
Thank you so much for your kind comment, Dr Den.
Would Frazier from cheers be an example kinda posh sounding would you say? Lol
I love that accent.
Some people call it Locust Valley Lockjaw ala Thurston Howell, III or William F. Buckley!
Basil Fawlty always found the transatlantic accent utterly hilarious.
im here from the reddit post
What a great voice! Are you available for voiceover work now?
Yes, my home studio is not in lockdown!
@@susannahsvoice Brilliant, I'll message you now from the email on your website!
In my recent DND session I tried to bust out a british accent and my scottish buddy said it sounded mid-atlantic, and so I landed here LOL
Happy accident, Laura - welcome!
When English people say "oh" it tends to sound like "ew,." The vibrating air seems to be slightly in the nose rather than coming straight out the front of the mouth the way Americans do it. As an American, our accent sounds "plain" and the English accent sounds "fancy."
Well observed, Jerome!
Funny always when i meet native english speaker in my hometown. They are a little confused about my "hybrid accent". It's just a Patchwork of what i heard and know. It's more or less trans atlantic accent with a german coloration. I found that out with 40.😂
Good video came here after watching shows and seeing likes of Camilla Luddington and Anya Taylor Joy with mixed transatlantic accents off set and decided to look up more info. Cheers :)
Thanks for your kind comment, Charles - yes, both of those actresses have lovely blended accents.
@@susannahsvoice your welcome I am from Sussex England so mostly standard southern England with a bit of London and Aussie (from watching Neighbours for years. Lol) in my accent but as mentioned elsewhere in comments when in place or with group with strong regional or national accent (eg Manchester or Scotland I recall) I unintentionally pick up bits of the accent quickly but disappears when I leave place. Can see how some people being in place for sustained period can effect their accent long term.
@@charlesball86 Yes, and I think empaths (I'm guessing you're one) tend to have more pliable accents that adjust to their environment :)
It's the best accent for documentaries.