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Comment by binary132 | Hacker News Reader

I’d be interested in a version of this that guesses regional American accent backgrounds. I’d like to think it would have a hard time with me.

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Nice suggestion! BoldVoice focuses on helping non-native English speakers to learn the American accent, so we tailored the accent oracle to non-native accents specifically.

I’m not suggesting you change your product. I’m simply explaining what I personally would be interested in.

That said, if you want to teach people to speak with an “American accent”, you should probably be aware that there is no “American accent”, only regional accents.

Thanks - we're aware! There's also a concept of a general American accent. Since the app is for non-native English speakers, a general American accent is the goal more so than a regional accent. We built the app together with professional accent coaches -- if you're interested in our methodology, you can learn more on boldvoice.com.

Have you thought of expanding to native American English speakers who want to learn a more "standard" accent? There are many Americans who feel that their strong regional accent (think e.g. Chicago, Mississippi, Baltimore, and different black accents) can be career-limiting.

I honestly thought that's what this was about lol

I was hoping too. I'm curious if I sound like everyone around me or not, I don't have an objective enough ear to tell.

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