Learning about the Canadian accent 

I was born in Nova Scotia, grew up in New Brunswick. When our family moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland, I was in high school. It took me a month to understand what students and teachers were saying. It wasn’t just their pronunciation, or the cadence in their speech. They use different words for items. Instead of Kleenex, they said tissue. There were hundreds of such words. Maritimes: Harry has an orange hat. Nfld: Arry as han hornge at. Lol, try that, and speak it quickly. I quickly learned to love to listen to Newfs from different parts of the province speak. Once you pick up on the rhythms, it’s very pleasant to the ears. There are almost as many different accents in Newfoundland as there are small communities. Sadly, their colourful way of speaking is slowly disappearing. In 60 years, I have heard two people say “aboot”. One is a Canadian named JJ McCollough, who has a RU-vid channel. I thought he was sarcastically mispronouncing it, but he isn’t. The second person was Irish.

This was fantastic. Also great choice of example Canadian sentence. Ah geez. Also he has a great RU-vid channel, thanks CBC.

Bring more Canadian youtubers to the CBC! Awesome collab!

Amazing

YES, CBC picking up the high quality RU-vidrs early 👌

Love Paige Saunders and his work! Nice to see him represented!

This was fantastic!! Still waiting on that wikipedia page....

As a Newfoundlander, I grew up speaking one language at home (Newfinease) and another at school and work (English). Sometimes last week at work my Newfie accent came out while I was on the phone with a mainlander, and he bust out laughing. Accents and dialects are a wonderful thing 😊

Im so happy to see the CBC reached out to Paige Saunders a very underrrated youtuber who deserves a boost and that conclusion was very touching

"He's a deck" lol Good vid. Very relatable to anyone in North America with a non-local accent.

‘Nobody says aboot" you hear that JJ?

Great job Paige! Really enjoyed this.

More Paige!

Lovely to see the downunder accent blending with the Canadian. As a part of Paige's New Zealand history, I really enjoyed this - a world moving to an accent polyglot where we can all hopefully still understand and enjoy each other. kia ora from aoteoroa

omg i was just giggling the whole time, this is amazing

I love Paige's videos

Love the urbanist cameos

That was super fun. I'm a big fan of Paige from his youtube channel. um... my guess is the reason he has over 20% people using subtitles is because he's in Montreal, and some of the audience is Francophone. The other guys don't have a significant francophone audience. Your accent isn't that hard for anglophones, but I've noticed accents are a bigger barrier when dealing with a second language. There are lots of francos in the comments. so I would bet money on that being the issue.

love this, could watch it for at least 10 more minutes

As a Texan I really want to find out about my drawl now. Thanks for this really interesting, intelligent program.

“last week i avoided a conflict with someone instead was annoyed for 3 weeks” 😹

Thank you CBC. 😂😂😂

I grew up with my anglo mom in a French area (Gaspésie). Our accent is very "Newfoundland meets New Brunswick" with a hint of something else (the "something else" being Scottish and Irish... keep reading). The accent of those who have always lived here (in the small anglo community) is CRAZY. I lived in Montréal for 20+ years and recently moved back. I hear it so much more clearly now. Oh, then, I learned my franco dad's Québécois accent at the age of 17 for my French speach. Needless to say: there are sooooo many influences in Canadian's accents and vocabulary. HOWEVER. I can say that there's a LOT of Scottish & Irish influence. I watched Lawrence Chaney on Drag Race UK earlier this year and was surprised by how many Scottish-isms we use around here. I can't think of any right now... but when I do, I'll come back and post them.

Love the Canadian census motif framing the entire video, so creative

This guy is hilarious. I’m American and I love how he compared us to pirates with our r’s. It is so true though. I could not understand his pronunciation of Carl until he said it with his pirate r. So funny.

More Paige content on CBC please 🙌

I grew up in a Canadian city with that ubiquitous middle class accent, lived in the prairies and both of the coasts, and then lived abroad for along time. When visiting Alberta, sometimes I can't even tell the difference between a rural Albertan or Rural NFD accent anymore, and I think it's interesting because the oil industry has really brought those two communities together for a couple of decades and I think it's had a big impact on regional accents. From my high school, I find that the people I have reencountered later in life have really different accents depending on which professions they have gone into. For instance, the hockey player in the group has more of a rural type accent despite growing up in the same environment. My parents accents have drifted apart based on their peer groups and activities. The Canadian accent has some prototypical characteristics, but a lot of variety as well. I think I sound more like your older linguistic specialist than the young actor, but also with a lot of British and American influences for having lived there for a lot of my adult life. However, it's not unlikely that a lot of younger people sound more like the actor, though his accent does seem pretty specifically regional. I think older people have more of a British conceit to their pronunciation if they are middle class, and younger people less so, so the nasal twang is even heavier.

I love that they used "Aw geez...." but when I hear that I think of Gary/Gerry/Larry/Terry Gergich from Parks & Rec!

This was a fantastic exploration of language and identity.

Great Canadian content, thank you!

Fantastic. Love the presenter!

Paige's accent is amazing and part of what makes him so entertaining because it feels fresh and different to listen to him. Check out Paige Saunders on RU-vid for awesome Canadian content with a Kiwi twist. P.S. Canadians definitely pronounce "about" like "a boat". I've tried hard not to but still got called out (oat?) for it in New York...

I've never had trouble understanding you. About 20 years ago, I worked with a Kiwi that had a much heavier accent than you do.

This is Gold!!!! I immediately thought ... could be NZ, Aussie or SthAfrican, until 0:22 seconds in when you said 'with'... Definitely Kiwi born!💚 Your accent is fabulous and your attitude too, Canada is lucky 👍🏼 What an interesting place it must be.

I always thought the pronunciation of "aboot" comes from Scottish immigrants. They still pronounce "About" this way in Scotland today. The Scots had a massive influence on early Canadian history and culture. This concept of "Canadian raising" is new to me as a Canadian, but it makes sense. That being said, there are many areas in the east coast of Canada which have an incredibly thick "Canadian accent", because the culture of the Scots is still very present to this day, including the common use of Gaelic. Let me know if you think this makes sense, as I just assumed all of these things to be true, being of Scottish blood with the majority of my family being the descendants of Scottish immigrants in Eastern Canada, removed from Scotland as a result of the Highland Clearances (early 1800s)

I realize you’re probably not monitoring these comments anymore Paige, but I use subtitles on your videos because I have hearing loss, and I also use subtitles on all other videos on RU-vid too!

Heyy nice to see Paige

This video needs subtitles, Paige!

Enjoyed this

Welp. There's a ending to put a tear in your eye

How can you not understand him he has the lightest kiwi accent and I’m from New Zealand

Very enlightening discussion of accents in general. It has always been my feeling that people who say they do not understand a person with an accent other than their own are just not listening and possibly do not want to understand to make some rather uncharitable point. Sorry.

Paigggeeeee

DAMN... working class vs middle class?? that actually makes so much sense considering which provinces have more noticeable "accents"

Middle Canadian English accent here seasoned with an Ottawa Valley twang and un peu de québecois when I speak French.: Years ago, I interviewed clients for a service I was providing and my first thought was they were Australian. In discussing method of payment, once I heard them pronounce the word cheque, I impressed them by recognising they came from New Zealand. To my ear the letter e is squished and pushed up in the mouth resulting in what sounds to me like chick.

Recently, I saw a RU-vid video of Dr Jordan Peterson speaking with Bill Maher. I didn’t know who he was but I immediately knew that he’s a Canuck. This was not a so-called working class accent, this guy’s an academic. It’s all about the “arrs”. And the hard consonants. As a Canadian who’s lived in the States (only Canucks call the US “the States”) for well over 25 years, I believe I have enough distance to see the difference. However, just as there are folks from the South that don’t have southern accents, there are plenty of Canadians that don’t have stereotypical Canadian accents.

Honestly, only half the people I talk to everyday have an actual Canadian accent, and even though I was born here, and both my parents were also born here, I've heard people tell me that even I don't have a Canadian accent.

"Wanna go for a rip down to the dart shop there boys?" lmao

Wonderful video. Absolument merveilleuse. I'm from South of the Line and have lived in States as diverse as Texas and Alabama and North Dakota. My mother's native language was not English. My accent changes from word to word and from location to location and from conversation to conversation. I have been told de temps à autre that I have a Canadian accent and de vez en cuando a Spanish/Mexican accent. My unsolicited advice would be to simply speak - if someone doesn't understand you, it should be on them to ask what you said and for you to laughingly say it again. Be well.

Paige Saunders looks so cursed clean shaven I'm just soooooo use to him having a beard.

Fan of Paige here too, but... despite its title, the video only covered half the topic! You treated the Canadian accent just for English and forgot the Canadian accent in French. You do a great job on so many different interesting subjects; please complete the video by also covering French. Canadian accents are rich and varied in French.

There is no such thing as a Canadian accent, we just speak English correctly. That is doubly true of Quebecers with French ;)

For american born English speakers, your accent is fine to understand. It seems to be a hard problem. From a discrimination standpoint, I wouldn't tell anyone to change their born English accent. From an accessibility standpoint, you want as many people on the English speaking spectrum to understand you. As a compromise, I don't mind subtitling and leaving the decision to the content creator. No one should ever be discriminated against for their accent.

I was making fun of the way you spoke, then I realized that you weren't Amarican and I took it back immediately. The most Canadian thing ever

I am also from Nuu Zullund and I can understand you just fine! It's these damn Canadians that sound weird 😆

Please don't try to lose your accent! Who are these Canadians that cant understand a newzealand accent?? Even if its your first time hearing it, comprehension should be above 90% immediately! Accents are charming.

As a fluent Canadian English speaker....and I only speak the one language. I was a first aid instructor and had a easy time learning to communicate with others speaking English as a second language. The accent this guy has is not what I think is typical. He sounds like he's from Australia or England to me. I think this guy's review on the Canadian English pronunciation should've started with he's from New Zealand which he admits in the video

@ChicagoMike On the contrary, you don't have a good ear if you think Canadian Accent is difficult.

I never thought I had an accent until my American friends said that I did 😅

Australians in the early days of broadcasting didn’t hear their own accent. It took many years for the industry to change. Also due to broadcasting we have no difficulty with North American comprehension. But NZ? It’s from across the Dutch. The way they say ditch referring to the Tasman Sea.

There isn't such thing as a Canadian Accent. It's the clearest pronunciation of them all.

Canadians don't say aboot!

Everyone knows that the real difference is which city name you pronounce differently and thus originate from. (i.e. T'ronno, Mun-tree-awl and Vang-coover)

I had no idea people had a hard time understanding us

How many times do I have to tell people Canadians don’t sound like that I was born and raised here in Canada I’ve heard all different types of accents my favourite being the one I heard in New Brunswick but I’ve never heard a Canadian talk like that

The first thing I heard was "wikapeadear"

After another 10 years, you'll probably end up with a "Mid-Pacific" accent.

Yeah, the accent given here may be Canadian, but definitely nothing like Newfoundland pronunciation. As for dropping the pronunciation of a leading 'h', it often depends on whether it is said with emphasis. If I am rather forceful in tone, I'd say "h'eggs and ham!", otherwise "eggs and 'am".

Vernacular (regional idioms) and cadence are the central issues. Teaching English as a second language, I have always focused on these two elements. The accent coach here is overstating the Canadian cadence.

I have advice for all Kiwis: 1) don't fry eggs with a "pen," you'll get ink on them - 2) don't write letters with a "pin," you'll poke holes in the paper - 3) don't sew with a "peen," you'll .. ... well, just don't do it.

as you say WikipediER. :)

Honestly accents don't matter besides vocabulary

You are really talking about an "upper Canada" accent. (dialect to be pedantic) Lower Canada, the Atlantic provinces, have very different dialects and vary greatly throughout the region. I do not understand how you could make a video about "Canadian Accents" with out so much as a mention of Newfoundland?

As a Torontonians I have to disagree with the pronunciation example of "Toronto". It is, of course, not the American or other parts of Canada's pronunciation toe-ron-toe. It's also not "Tronna". The closest I can describe is simply eliminating the first "o". Really, it sounds like "Tron-oh". Not quite, but if you pronounce it this way you'll fool most Torontonians.

I don't hear any problem. You should come from where I do if you want accent problems!😆

Life is short: I've stopped at 1:37 because there's been no mention of 'the Canadian accent', let alone anything taught about it.

I’m generally good, but a strong Irish accent plus dry sarcasm can be hard to pick through

Funny 😂😂😂😂

2:14 this guy is Australian right?

Anglo-Saxons really have a hard time with languages as soon as there is the slightest deviation in what they are used to hear it seems. It's not what I have experienced myself in real life though, but this is the story this video is telling.

People still say aboot and eh when they are bored :^) just for fun

What's wrong with these people? I can understand you just fine. lol

I can tell where someone is from in Canada based on their accent. And, yes, I can also tell if someone is from rural or urban area or of the working class in a region/province. So I don’t agree that classes of Canadians share an accent across Canada. For ex, he mentioned NS as being in line with western Canada but NS has very unique accents. The main one being a sort of watered down NL accent. I know multi-gen NS millionaires with this particular accent so it isn’t lost even in the upper class pop.

More Paige!