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Comment by TomNomNom | Hacker News Reader

I tried the oracle and got this:

> Your accent is Dutch, my friend. I identified your accent based on subtle details in your pronunciation. Want to sound like a native English speaker?

I'm British; from Yorkshire.

When letting it know how it got it wrong there's no option more specific than "English - United Kingdom". That's kind of funny, if not absurd, to anyone who knows anything of the incredible range of accents across the UK.

I also think the question "Do you have an accent when speaking English?" is an odd one. Everyone has an accent when speaking any language.

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I agree there is no such thing as a "British accent", though I'm lucky that my mockney lilt is considered to be one, but Dutch, Danish and Yorkshire are very similar for historical reasons so it's somewhat understandable for you to be detected as Dutch in this app.

I find Danes speaking Danish to sound like a soft Yorkshire accent, and the vowels that Yorkies use are better written in Danish, like phøne.

Well in Danish e's at the end of words aren't silent, so you may get som føni results:)

> I also think the question "Do you have an accent when speaking English?" is an odd one. Everyone has an accent when speaking any language.

Sure, I agree. But look at it from the perspective of a foreigner living in an English-speaking country, which is probably their target demographic.

We know that as soon as we open our mouth the locals will instantly pigeonhole us as "a foreigner". No matter how good we might be in other areas, we will never be one of "them". The degree of prejudice that may or may not exist against us doesn't matter as much as the ever present knowledge that the locals know that we are not one of them, and the fear of being dismissed because of that.

Nobody likes to stand out like that, particularly when it so clearly puts you at a disadvantage. That sort of insecurity is what this product is aimed at.

It's not ethical to lie to people about whether they need something you're selling, especially if you're playing on their fears of vulnerability to make the sale. Laundering the lies through an AI model doesn't make it any less bad.

BoldVoice is very clear about being an American accent "training app", so that's not (necessarily) what's happening here, but the point remains.

Yeah it's the same for having just one accent "German". Swiss, Austrians but also north vs middle vs south Germans do still sound different - even when they talk English.

It's quite offensive. English is my native tongue, I got a perfect IELTS score, and one of my parents was an English professor. But my accent makes me less than "native".

IELTS is a test for non-native English speakers. Why did you have to take it?

It's often required for immigration purposes. Countries/Universities will let you off where you're coming from a country that has english as it's main language or have studied a degree in the language, but they often won't if you're a native English speaker living elsewhere.

> Countries/Universities will let you off where you're coming from a country that has english as it's main language

Singapore is a “native” English speaking country yet has an extremely distinctive accent.

(usually seen as a negative by both Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans)

I had a 3-month stay in Singapore (at CQT, NUS).

The first two days were a shock, as I felt it was a different language. But just after some time, god adjusted. And I find endearing both Singlish pronunciation and phrases.

For example, the first time I hear "ondah-cah?" I was puzzled. Then understood that it is "Monday can?". Which, as I learned, means "Would Monday work for you?".

Migration purposes. I'm from South Africa, so it was required.

I would have done it regardless, because it got me extra points.

For me it doesn't think I'm reading the prompt correctly, and refuses to accept the input.

I'm also British, from Devon.

>That's kind of funny, if not absurd, to anyone who knows anything of the incredible range of accents across the UK.

Yeah I was disappointed when I realised this post was about foreign accents and not regional accents in English across the world.

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