Is the kiwi accent an embarrassment or cool?

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Forfirith

I like it. It annoys me when my Australian friends go on about it... there's is just as silly, they just can't see it in themselves. I think our accent comes down a lot to our heritage and pronouncing Maori words properly, even though a lot of us don't) so we should be proud of that! And we don't have an annoying twang.

I know New Zealanders talk very fast, this is half the problem of people trying to understand us, and we raise our voice (higher pitch) at the end of a sentence.

John B

i'm a kiwi and when i talk to myself i know what i am saying with no problems

Ladyhawknz

What accent? Its everyone else that has them lol

Whitecats

Kiwi accents are OK but Aussie accents I hate them no offense to you Aussies

Hs111

Personally, I am not embarassed by it. Compared to our sister nations (Australia, South Africa), our accent is the most easy to understand.

But then, it depends on how heavy your accent is.
If you have the accent similar to the news readers on TV, then you have a good and understandable accent.
If you have an accent like Helen Clark where the "e" is pronounced as "i", then you have a hard-to-understand accent. "Heello Niw Zeeeeeland, thiiis iiis your prime miiniister speeeaking"

I have noticed that the older generation has a heavie accent while the younger have lighter. This may be due to their exposure to media made by other English speaking countries, such as US and the UK.

So, it depends on how heavy your accent is, but overall i think the kiwi accent is easy to understand.

LOLface

Haha this guy told me that when he was in Walmart in USA this lady heard his accent and made him talk over the intercom.

Everyone over there loves it, and so do may people in the world.

Stranger in New Zealand

john key sounds like hes off sesame street

Mia

Haha, I have probably the most kiwi accent you have ever herd!!!
I do all the unmistakable kiwi habbits in my speech!!!! But I love it!
I don't care if other countries think it is ugly, I think it is amazing!
I have been all over the world and its a really great conversation started =] People are actually very interested in it and its always good for a few laughs when your overseas!
Im also a proud kiwi so I love my lil accent! We are resonalble easy to under stand its just the odd word like pen - pin, bear - beer - bare, ear - air, Alf - elf etc..... that foreign people get mixed up with!

xxmidnightshow00

I'm American, and its my dream to move to New Zealand one day, but I LOVE The NZ accent! I can understand you jsut fine.

Brandon T

Well New Zealanders tongues are quite lazy. We don't pronounce everything correctly. For example at the end of most words ending with the letter 'r' we do not say the 'r'. i.e. Car = Cah

Another example is the 't'. i.e. I am Just talking = I am jus talking. It is easier to miss out the t on the end of Just because there is a t on the beginning of the next word. We are quite lazy as I said so we shorten the way we speak.

But the thing is. We don't do it on purpose.

pinkredness

omg!!
i love kiwi accent!!
i didnt know i had an accent until i recently moved to usa...
and i think i am sorta loosing it! :(
but when i hear in youtube and my old friends its like the awesomest accent! and i think its easy to understand but some words are a little different so sometimes you need to repeat it...:D

emmachristina08

Im english and my Hubby is a kiwi (born in Lower Hutt) and I find his accent such a nice one to listen to.
My mum in law however is from right down the end of the south Island, and her accent is one that i find so hard to understand, and is so much different to my hubbys. that im having to go "pardon?" all the time.

I do think you guys have such an awesome acccent though, depending on where your from, etc.

Ttt360Drg

It is an awesome accent.... haven't read the article yet....

Alot of Kiwis move to Australia to work. We get a bit of ridicule on part of our accents but its not a problem, same as anyone who would move over to any country I'm sure.

Overall, I don't think any Kiwi would be embarassed with the Kiwi accent- I think I like Kiwi girls accents more, which may just be me as a Kiwi. Can't speak for the ladies with the appeal of the male accent to be honest?

jennifer h

I'm originally from NZ but haven't lived there for many years. The accent used to be normal to me but now I can usually tell a NZ accent as some words sound a little strange. It's ok though a few laughs will be had but that's nothing to worry about. Some NewZealanders have a more neutral accent and isn't so noticeable. Sometimes people don't know what you have said and if you ask for a pen your likely to get a pin .hehehe New Zealand accent to me is nicer than the American or South African accent. I like the Canadian accent it is soft and sounds polite to me. The australians well thats ok to some are more neutral normally the city folk .Some are a little rough around the edges.

sunmoonstarshine

I am a little embarrassed by it, but then again it is a really good conversation starter overseas (if they can understand you)! And I do like it better than the Aussie one- at least we don't sond whiny (no offence Aussies).
I've found so many foreigners are in love with the kiwi accent! But they do get frustrated how every sentence sounds like a question with the tone rising at the end, and also how we talk waaay to fast for them!
I would love a British accent though, omg they are sooo nice to listen to!

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