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AS AN AMERICAN LIVING IN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIANS are constantly trying to place my accent. If they are polite, they usually ask, "Where in Canada are you from?" Then, if I am feeling equally polite, I respond, "No, I'm from the States, but I grew up not far from the Canadian border. I'm told I have a bit of a Canadian accent." I have only ever been told this by Australians, who wouldn't know a Canadian eh? from a New Yorker's ay, whatdwo looldn at? But I see no harm in a little white lie that makes everyone feel good about themselves. I feel better, given the current political climate and widespread feelings of antiAmericanism, identifying myself with Canada. The curious Australian equally feels like he (they are usually male) is finally catching on to the differences between various North American accents.
In time, our curious Australian will become a confident Australian. He will claim, as I have heard so many of his fellow countrymen claim, to be able to distinguish between a Canadian and an American accent, as well as identify someone based only on their accent as from either New York, the South, or the West Coast. Interestingly, I have heard these particular regions named many times by confident Australians in my highly unscientific survey of friends, friends-of-friends, and the occasional overly friendly "guy standing next to me at the pub." It would seem these are the accents (supposedly) most familiar to Australians.
Yet, in spite of their often parodic representation in movies and television shows, regional dialects in North America are frequently so understated as to be indistinguishable to the casual listener. Sure, there is the tobacco farmer from South Carolina who will be interviewed on the ten o'clock news when a locust plague strikes the region, and he will exhibit all the speech characteristics commonly associated with someone of his position; but his neighbor is just as likely to have an accent which could be mistaken for that of a Vermont tax accountant. There will be differences, but they will be subtle and often confined to the space of a few vowel sounds or a handful of words hinting at a localized vocabulary-something most Americans, much less Australians, would never pick up.