Hey, what's up? What's going on? Welcome to English with Dane, a podcast designed to improve your English. As always, I'm your host Dane, and you can find me on Instagram at EnglishwithDane. If you want a full transcript of this and all future episodes, send me a message. And if you don't use Instagram, send me an email at EnglishwithDane at gmail.com. Today's episode is an accent challenge. It's been a while since we did one and people have been asking me about them, so today is the day.
These are all accents from movies. Okay, none of these actors are speaking in their native accents. They are all putting on a foreign accent. Anyway, let's jump in. You are listening to the 37th episode of season two of English with Dane. Hit it. If you've never heard one of these accent challenge episodes, they're very simple. I'll play an audio clip, in this case from a movie, and you have to guess the accent. They don't have to be from an English-speaking country necessarily.
There could be accents from anywhere. You can make this accent challenge extra difficult by trying to be as specific as possible. And extra points if you can identify the movie, but that's going to be super difficult, so don't stress out. As always, if you don't guess any, if you have zero out of five, don't worry, because it takes a while to develop your ear. Go back and listen to the previous accent challenges and work on it. Practice. I promise it gets easier.
If you have already heard the old accent challenges, go back and listen to them again and see if you can get them all correct. It's a great way to practice. Alright, enough talking. Let's start. I'll play each clip twice, as always, and then I'll reveal the answers at the end. I suggest you open the notes application on your phone or something and write down your answers to keep track of them. Here's the first one.
Why? That is the question people ask me most. Why, for what? Why do you walk on the wire? Why do you tempt fate? Why do you risk death? But I don't think of it this way. I never even say this word. Death. Yes, okay. I said it once, so maybe three times just now, but watch, I will not say it again.
And once again.
Why? That is the question people ask me most. Why? For what? Why do you walk on the wire? Why do you tempt fate? Why do you risk death? But I don't think of it this way. I never even say this word. Death. Yes, okay. I said it once, so maybe three times just now, but watch, I will not say it again.
Write down your answer. Here's number two.
Spectacle of fearsome acts. Somebody steals from me, I cut off his hands. He offends me, I cut out his tongue. He rises against me. I cut off his head sticking on a pike. Raise it high up so all on the streets can see. That's what preserves the order of things. And again, a spectacle of fearsome acts. Somebody steals from me, I cut off his hands. He offends me, I cut out his tongue. He rises against me. I cut off his head sticking on a pike. Raise it high up so all on the streets can see.
That's what preserves the order of things.
Write down your answer.
Here's number three. In the bus on the way to the stadium, nobody talks. But when I think we're ready, I have the bus driver to put on a song. Something I've chosen. One we all know. And we listen to the words together. And it helps. One more time. In the bus on the way to the stadium, nobody talks. But when I think we're ready, I have the bus driver to put on a song. Something I've chosen. One we all know. And we listen to the words together. And it helps.
Write down your answer. And here is clip number four.
When I hospital so a long time after TV box. People all over the world. Send me a happy card. Flour, candy, make me feel good. So many letters. One letter very special I never forget. From Jorgen Abjonsen.
You got a letter from Jorgen Abjonson?
Dr.
Abjonsen, right me. Say he feels so so bad. I suffer for he fall.
And again.
When I hospital so a long time after TV box, people all over the world. Send me happy card. Flour, candy, make me feel good. So many letters. One letter very special I never forget. From Jorgen Evjansen.
You got a letter from Jorgen As Bjornsson?
Dr.
Abjonsen, right mate. Say he feels so so bad. I suffer for he fall.
Write down your answer. And finally, here's number five. But let's do something different with this one. This one was called one of the worst accents in a movie. So what I want you to do is guess what accent the actor is trying to put on. Try and guess the actor too. He has a very distinct voice, and you have definitely seen him in a bunch of different movies. I have four short clips from the movie. I'll play them in a row.
I'll attend to the count. Thank you for your confidence. If I may inquire, what in fact happened to Mr. Renfield in Transylvania? We can be married when I return.
I've seen many strange things already. Bloody wolves chasing me through some blue inferno.
And one more time.
Thank you for your confidence. If I may inquire, what in fact happened to Mr. Renfield in Transylvania? We can be married when I return.
I've seen many strange things already. Bloody wolves chasing me through some blue inferno.
Write down your final answer. Alright, let's reveal the answers. Number one was this one.
Why? That is the question people ask.
If you guessed French accent, you are correct. This clip is from the movie The Walk from 2015, where Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Philippe Petit, who is a high wire artist, so he walks across wires from really high up in the air between buildings and stuff. Critics said the accent was pretty good, but not great. Joseph Gordon Levitt is American, by the way. Number two was this one.
Spectacle of fearsome acts.
If you said American accent, you are correct. If you said New York, you have a great ear. This clip is from the movie Gangs of New York from 2002, and the actor you heard was Daniel Day Lewis. Daniel Day Lewis is known for doing incredible amounts of research when he plays a role and even going to the extreme just to make it as real as possible. This accent is apparently one of the best ever. He's actually a British actor, by the way. Number three was this one.
In the bus on the way to the stadium. If you said South African, you are correct. You heard Matt Damon playing the role of Francois Pinard in the movie Invictus from 2009 about the South African national rugby team. Matt Damon is, of course, American, and his accent in this movie was actually very well received, so people thought it was really, really good. Number four was this one. This one was really, really difficult. If you guessed Vietnamese, you are correct.
I added this one for those of you who tell me you guess most of them. It's maybe not an accent you've heard before, but this intonation is perfect, apparently. This is from the movie Downsizing from 2017, and this is Hong Chao playing the role of Noc Lan. She was criticized for this accent because people thought it was racist, but she's a Vietnamese-American actress whose parents are Vietnamese refugees, and she also said she based the accent on her parents, so I don't know about all that.
Anyway, this one was really, really difficult. Let me know what accent you thought it was. Okay, last one. Number five was this one.
Bloody wolves chasing me through some blue infano.
If you guessed terrible generic British accent, you are correct. That was American actor Keanu Reeves in Brahm Stoker's Dracula from the year 1992. I love Keanu, but that was some terrible acting. It is part of his charm, though. He's the least talented actor that people love the most, you know? I mean, I'm a fan. If you haven't seen Speed, I recommend it. Alright, that's it for this accent challenge. How did you do? Was it too difficult, too easy, too short? Let me know.
Write to me at English with Dane on Instagram. Your feedback is always appreciated. Don't forget to follow the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. And remember, the best way to support English with Dane is to give it a five-star rating and leave a review. Alright, talk soon. Bye bye.