Via @Withanaccent, Richard Armitage does accents
Me + Richard Armitage
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Me + Richard Armitage 
Man, what? What do you say in a (supposedly) German accent??? (Armitage wird übermütig!!)
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“We are here” — it didn’t sound like a German accent.
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Well, maybe he was specifically doing a ‘light German accent’… 😂
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German light??? 😂
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Da gibts nichts zum Lachen!!!
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German is never light 🙂
Honestly, though, if you miss the “v” for “w” in “we” you lose practically that whole sentence 🙂
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Hehe, yes, that would be the big marker. And yet, most Germans who speak English have nowadays copped on to the pronunciation of “w”. So RA was really mimicking a very subtle German accent… 😉
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Oh, no question, although you’d be surprised how many haven’t 🙂 It’s just that in the phrase “we are here,” there’s no other great marker. The next one would be the “r” sound in “are,” but it’s not that different from his own native sound in that case. Really, if you want to make fun of how Germans speak English, you need to find a phrase with a “th” sound in it. That presents a real difficulty as a sound not native to German.
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In the spirit of disagreement (see your previous post 😉 ), I’ll say this: I think nowadays the heavy accents are not that prevalent anymore, largely thanks to the internet and the channels of communication that enable us to watch US TV undubbed. And what comedians like to present as a typical German accent, is actually a stage-German version of it. May apply to older generations (up to mine), but less so to younger people. I believe the real “Djerman accent” comes out in more subtle ways, such as the intonation of a sentence or the emphasis in individual words. I know that that is what will forever mark me as a non-native speaker. (But I have to admit I am totally in APM right now haha)
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well, I agreed with you — see “no question,” but again, you’d be surprised. I regularly met / meet people in my own generation who haven’t mastered basic English sounds (and I spent weeks on “th” with ex-SO). However, I’m definitely not in APM mode. I find this kind of joke mildly questionable.
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Oh, you mean mimicking accents? I am in agreement there with you. I do find that offensive tbh, yet I am constantly at the receiving end of that particular joke with my boss in London. Whenever I turn up in the office he goes “S___, vee gates? Guten Tag” and puts on a stage German accent for the day. There isn’t much one can do about it, though, than to play along and pretend it is funny. (Sometimes I answer back viz a rrrrreelie rrrrreelie strrrong acsent myself just to get him back…)
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oh — in terms of improving Germans’ English pronunciation: the prevalence of school-age exchanges nowadays also plays a really important role. Ex-SO’s niece spent a year in Iowa and with the exception of one or two things that crop up very occasionally, you’d never know she hadn’t grown up in a cornfield.
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Yep, my experience also. It’s pretty amazing how many kids I meet nowadays who have spent a year abroad and speak English with perfect accents. So jealous for the opportunities they have…
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Wow. I’d try to find a way to let him know that’s offensive. I know Germans have had to put up with this stuff but honestly WWII was 70 years ago now.
re: Armitage — reserving judgment as I don’t know the context (maybe the reporter was remarking on his US accent or something) but making fun of the accents of others is something our current president does and it’s just basic manners never to do that IMO.
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natch still trips even the best ones up, like Jonas, always make me laugh as his English alvays goes back to being wery Bayerisch 😀
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Vee gates….🤣🤣 Meine Güte, ich stand gerade mächtig auf’m Schlauch! Jou, max. witzisch 😁
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Ich lache mich tot … 🙂
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Bitte nicht. Wäre schade drum. Außerdem ist der Witz dafür nicht gut genug 😂
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well, he said he couldn’t tell jokes 🙂
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Sounds to me like he was just trying to play with “With an Accent”. I think he was actually trying to do a GOOD German accent and only proved that he is not good at accents on the fly. One more reason why he has to stay in character (and in accent) on set.
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I suppose it depends on whether a good German accent should be recognizable as a German one. To me he sounded more Norwegian …
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oh well, it seems to be instinctive with people, if it is not the accent thing it is the eternal questions ‘where are you from’? as soon as i have said something and it’s not the ‘I’m from London’ they want, when they do: yes, but where are you really from? And this is from complete strangers, drivers and so on. And i always think: what entitles you to the story of my life???
I personally love accents, ie natural ones it’s fascinating and beautiful people speaking different languages but even more when they speak the same language in different ways.
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When I was a young adult, I told someone they had such an interesting accent and asked them where they were from. He replied, “I have a speech impediment.” I stopped asking people after that!
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I love listening to them, too.
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