Don't mess with Texas

Haha, I'm pretty shocking at telling accents apart, except distinct ones like Texan, and eh, Texan haha.

Apparently as soon as I open my mouth I'm from England too, even though I'm on the opposite side of the world to it.

an australian accent is not TOO bad...there are a few enlightened folk that will be able to pick that one out.

the one i feel really bad for are new zealanders...it is actually a point of pride that i can pick out the difference between aussies and kiwis because NO ONE can do it in this country.

I couldn't tell the first difference between Aussies and Kiwis if I tried. Yet I can tell the exact area in country people are from over here just by their accent.

That's pretty impressive, sometimes I can't even tell the difference.

it's only because my best friend from high school is a kiwi...i was around it a lot

Both the NZ and Australian accents are for the most part non-rhotic, meaning that 'r' is only pronounced after vowels (unlike Scots and most Americans who always pronounce 'r').

You can use the 'fish and chips test' to distinguish between Australian and NZ accents most of the time since there is a poignant difference in the way the short 'i' is pronounced. Australians pronounce it closer to "feesh and cheeps" whereas NZers are more likely to say "fush and chups" on the other end of the spectrum. This is an exaggeration as both tend to find more of a middle ground.

Also, for most Australians 'dance' has the same vowel sound as 'tap' whereas NZers would pronounce 'dance' with the vowel sound of father (closer to Queen's English). I realise this explanation is probably pointless since Scots pronounce tap/dance/father/psalm all with the same vowel sound if I understand correctly.

I'd illustrate more differences if it wasn't awkward to textually represent pronunciation without a common frame of reference (i.e. the IPA which I won't resort to using). I get the feeling there's a youtube video which would do a better job. :D

^ That is a pretty accurate description, nicely done :) I'm one of those weird Australians though that say "dance" and "chance" with the same pronunciation as "father" - although it's a bit hybrid. And this could possibly be because my mother is a New Zealander and would've had some influence on me growing up I suppose...

Seltzer, you were born in Australia right but you live in New Zealand? What kind of accent do you have, or have you noticed your accent change as you've lived in a different place? I find stuff like that really interesting as both of my sisters moved overseas when they were about 18 and I've noticed changes in the way they speak since. Accents and their behaviours are so odd.

SouthA accents all the way - 'Daarnce' or 'chaarnce', **** the rest.