Difference between Pakistani and Indian English accent

[minamino]

As opposed to what people in the West believe that the accents are same but I think the accents are very different from each other. When an educated Pakistani is speaking, they are more fluent in English whereas when an Indian is trying to speak English, it sounds very forced and there is a whole different accent.

Educated Pakistanis are much better in speaking English than an educated Indian and that's what most people in the West believe as well.

 

[Rayyman]

I’m American and I find it hilarious whenever I see a non-white person speaking perfect English in a British accent.

 

[Captain caveman]

As opposed to what people in the West believe that the accents are same but I think the accents are very different from each other. When an educated Pakistani is speaking, they are more fluent in English whereas when an Indian is trying to speak English, it sounds very forced and there is a whole different accent.

Educated Pakistanis are much better in speaking English than an educated Indian and that's what most people in the West believe as well.

Both educated indians and pakistanis speak wonderful english. It is something that i admire, that both countries place a desire to speak the universal language that is english.
There is a difference though in accent. I think northen indians, especially punjabis, speak in a similar accent to pakistanis when speaking english, but central, eastern and southern indians, have what is refered to an indian accent. This accent is made fun of in the west eg in the simpsons cartoon.
But you ask these westerners to speak a foreign language and they cant speak jack, apart from the countries that dont speak english as their national language, then alot of these guys learn to speak english, but at a lower standard than indians and pakistanis.

 

[Knight_Rider]

What the heck. Ppl ve so much to waste by making threads like this.
Common sense isn’t very common

 

[Slog]

Random thread but Pakistani accent is fairly neutral

 

[CricketCartoons]

Indian accent in general sounds very sophisticated, while pakistani one is very thick but it is not an issue, as it is a foreign language for them.

 

[Captain caveman]

Indian accent in general sounds very sophisticated, while pakistani one is very thick but it is not an issue, as it is a foreign language for them.

You are listening with indian ears, in the west, indians are made fun of for their terrible accent eg in the simpsons and big bang theory

 

[Captain caveman]

What the heck. Ppl ve so much to waste by making threads like this.
Common sense isn’t very common

This is an important topic.
Why can't indians speak english without speaking with a terrible accent.
Hindglish is not cool!

 

[CricketCartoons]

You are listening with indian ears, in the west, indians are made fun of for their terrible accent eg in the simpsons and big bang theory

It may be some region specific accents ( from kerala/andhra/tamil nadu) which sounds more like pakistani accent than the "neutral" western accents.

 

[Captain caveman]

It may be some region specific accents ( from kerala/andhra/tamil nadu) which sounds more like pakistani accent than the "neutral" western accents.

Brother, pakistani accents are neutral mainly, indians have in general a sharp piercing continuous foreign rhytmic sound.
Like i said the exceptions are northern indians or highly educatef indians from high class schools. But most indians who speak english, are very good with the language, but their accent is painful. You see this represented in such shows as the simpsons and the big bang theory.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Brother, pakistani accents are neutral mainly, indians have in general a sharp piercing continuous foreign rhytmic sound.
Like i said the exceptions are northern indians or highly educatef indians from high class schools. But most indians who speak english, are very good with the language, but their accent is painful. You see this represented in such shows as the simpsons and the big bang theory.

They appear neutral to you because you listen with pakistani ears, which have a babel fish inside which neutralizes the pakistani accent and accentuates the indian one.

 

[Realromeo]

Random thread but Pakistani accent is fairly neutral

That is very subjective. Lot of Indians also think they don't have the accent but lol. I find French accent extremly ugly and untolerable but Americans think it is attractive.

 

[Captain caveman]

They appear neutral to you because you listen with pakistani ears, which have a babel fish inside which neutralizes the pakistani accent and accentuates the indian one.

I am ENGLISH!
I speak the queens english.
Everyone who tries to speak english from another country has an accent, whether it be americans, canadians, australians or indians and pakistanis.
Indians are generally seen to have the worst accent when speaking english.

 

[Captain caveman]

That is very subjective. Lot of Indians also think they don't have the accent but lol. I find French accent extremly ugly and untolerable but Americans think it is attractive.

We English love a french accent. French women speaking english with a french accent takes them up a couple of levels and english ladies say the same thing about french men.
Indian accents on the other hand, relegates even the prettiest indian girl to the bottom of the ladder!

 

[Danyaalr01]

New Pakistanis in New Zealand from Pakistan have a neutral accent which isn't close to the Indian stereotype accent we see on TV. However people fresh from India have that accent where they really stress on each letter. One particular incident was when an old Indian was arguing with a taxi driver in a thick Indian accent and swearing at him, it was too funny to take seriously though.

 

[Itachi]

As opposed to what people in the West believe that the accents are same but I think the accents are very different from each other. When an educated Pakistani is speaking, they are more fluent in English whereas when an Indian is trying to speak English, it sounds very forced and there is a whole different accent.

Educated Pakistanis are much better in speaking English than an educated Indian and that's what most people in the West believe as well.

First, let the people of the west differentiate between Indian and Pakistani. Then we can talk about their accents.

 

[Pakistanian]

Pakistan is geographically west of India so it'd make more sense for Pakistanis to be culturally more western.

 

[Itachi]

I am ENGLISH!
I speak the queens english.
Everyone who tries to speak english from another country has an accent, whether it be americans, canadians, australians or indians and pakistanis.
Indians are generally seen to have the worst accent when speaking english.

In India itself, you'll see different accents of English between Northern and Southern. It happens due to different stress in local languages where you'll require to control the wind, tongue, and vocal chords in different ways. Obviously this will get carry to other languages and everyone will have to re train their vocal chords, tongue movement, wind control accordingly.

In most cases, especially in comedic shows, when they mimic Indian accent, it's actually the southern accent. The northern is very different from it as the northern local languages have different ways of pronunciation than Southern ones.

 

[Captain caveman]

First, let the people of the west differentiate between Indian and Pakistani. Then we can talk about their accents.

True people of the west find it hard to tell the difference between pakistanis and indians, but there is a distinct difference in the accents.
I am really surprised that indians can't tell that common indians who speak english have an incredible squeaky and rhythmic accent.
I am not talking about people like virat kohli, who speaks with no discernable accent and has an excellent grasp of english nor am i talking about pakistani cricketers who can hardly speak a word of english and have a terrible accent.
I am talking about the educated middle classes of pakistan and india.

 

[CricketCartoons]

I am ENGLISH!
I speak the queens english.
Everyone who tries to speak english from another country has an accent, whether it be americans, canadians, australians or indians and pakistanis.
Indians are generally seen to have the worst accent when speaking english.

The babel fish in your ears remains whether you change your citizenship or passport or get a doctorate in english literature.

 

[Captain caveman]

The babel fish in your ears remains whether you change your citizenship or passport or get a doctorate in english literature.

Nice try!
I am english born and bred.

 

[Ellipsism]

New Pakistanis in New Zealand from Pakistan have a neutral accent which isn't close to the Indian stereotype accent we see on TV. However people fresh from India have that accent where they really stress on each letter. One particular incident was when an old Indian was arguing with a taxi driver in a thick Indian accent and swearing at him, it was too funny to take seriously though.

The man in the car was speaking in that accent intentionally. The pedestrian looks pretty Pakistani as well. Funny video nonetheless.

 

[Itachi]

True people of the west find it hard to tell the difference between pakistanis and indians, but there is a distinct difference in the accents.
I am really surprised that indians can't tell that common indians who speak english have an incredible squeaky and rhythmic accent.
I am not talking about people like virat kohli, who speaks with no discernable accent and has an excellent grasp of english nor am i talking about pakistani cricketers who can hardly speak a word of english and have a terrible accent.
I am talking about the educated middle classes of pakistan and india.

what you mentioned here is the southern english. If you are really interested in pronounciation, then you can listen to southern local language and watch how the tongue touches the palate. As i find it, there are hard sounds in the southern language which also interfers while speaking english.

On the other hand, in most northern language, the tongue touches the palate in a soft manner and hence, hard sounds are relatively smaller than the southern. None the less, both the accent doesn't resemble the accents of british or american but what i will say is, what you generally take as "indian accent", it's more often southern.

The south is more developed than north (in average) and hence, south people migrate to more towards outside india. That's why it has become "indian accent" (outside india) while different accent do exist inside india.

 

[imrankhannsu]

I think Paistanis English is much pleasent to the ears than the Indian ones. However I think its remarable how ENglish is the medium for the whole India to converse in.

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

This thread proves that Pakistanis and Indians don't think twice in putting down each other on fairly stupid and trivial things. As they say, education isn't everything.

 

[Captain caveman]

what you mentioned here is the southern english. If you are really interested in pronounciation, then you can listen to southern local language and watch how the tongue touches the palate. As i find it, there are hard sounds in the southern language which also interfers while speaking english.

On the other hand, in most northern language, the tongue touches the palate in a soft manner and hence, hard sounds are relatively smaller than the southern. None the less, both the accent doesn't resemble the accents of british or american but what i will say is, what you generally take as "indian accent", it's more often southern.

The south is more developed than north (in average) and hence, south people migrate to more towards outside india. That's why it has become "indian accent" (outside india) while different accent do exist inside india.

I thought it was the north west region punjab, kashmir that did nt have a strong accent and the rest of india hat did. But after your explanation, it sounds like the morth west and south indians do not have an accent but central, northern and eastern parts do.
Anyway, accent or no accent, it is fantastic that pakistanis and indians can speak english considering its so different to the languages in the subcontinent and i dont think hardly any english person (non asian heritage) can speak any subcontinent language, though my english doctor when i was a child could speak fluent urdu/hindi as he was born in india.

 

[Captain caveman]

I thought it was the north west region punjab, kashmir that did nt have a strong accent and the rest of india hat did. But after your explanation, it sounds like the morth west and south indians do not have an accent but central, northern and eastern parts do.
Anyway, accent or no accent, it is fantastic that pakistanis and indians can speak english considering its so different to the languages in the subcontinent and i dont think hardly any english person (non asian heritage) can speak any subcontinent language, though my english doctor when i was a child could speak fluent urdu/hindi as he was born in india.

My mistake, i misread your quote, so i was right the first time that northern indians don't have an accent but southern do.
Yeah i agree with you.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

The Indian politicians'/"news" pundits' accent is hilarious.

Pakistani "actress" Meera's English accent is another one

 

[KingT]

Indian accent in general sounds very sophisticated, while pakistani one is very thick but it is not an issue, as it is a foreign language for them.

Lol what?
It's the other way around.

The Pakistani accent is a lot less thick. The indian accent is so hard to understand sometimes. Looks like you haven't been to the UK. Their accent is made fun out of so much.

And what do you mean it's a foreign language for them? Is India still a colony of Britian which is why English is not a foreign language to them?

 

[CricketCartoons]

Lol what?
It's the other way around.

The Pakistani accent is a lot less thick. The indian accent is so hard to understand sometimes. Looks like you haven't been to the UK. Their accent is made fun out of so much.

And what do you mean it's a foreign language for them? Is India still a colony of Britian which is why English is not a foreign language to them?

Indian english is a globally respected form of english, better than the queen's english which paindus in UK try to speak. Indian contribution to indian english literature is immense. And they were not even the best indian writers. One indian writer only translated his bengali poems to english and won a nobel for literature. Pakistan has only started to get noticed for english literature, but it is more to do with the subject (reluctant fundamentalist, exploding mangoes) and they will need some time before they can be seen at par with tharoor let alone the likes of Vikram Seth and Arundhati Roy, or RK Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand of the past vintage. But I digress and the topic is about the accent, to which I have nothing more to add. I don't judge anyone just because they have a pakistani english accent.

 

[kk1992]

Indian accent sound like every word ends with “naaa”.

 

[KingT]

Indian english is a globally respected form of english, better than the queen's english which paindus in UK try to speak. Indian contribution to indian english literature is immense. And they were not even the best indian writers. One indian writer only translated his bengali poems to english and won a nobel for literature. Pakistan has only started to get noticed for english literature, but it is more to do with the subject (reluctant fundamentalist, exploding mangoes) and they will need some time before they can be seen at par with tharoor let alone the likes of Vikram Seth and Arundhati Roy, or RK Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand of the past vintage. But I digress and the topic is about the accent, to which I have nothing more to add. I don't judge anyone just because they have a pakistani english accent.

Lol the inferiority complex in this post

 

[IAJ]

The babel fish in your ears remains whether you change your citizenship or passport or get a doctorate in english literature.

Kafi dair baadh tumhe koi shikaar mila hai, kar lo enjoy.

 

[troodon]

There is no Indian accent. The accent varies with each state.

Although the stereotypical accent of Indians on TV is taken from North India.

 

[MenInG]

Listened to Shashi Tharoor on BBC today and that is just the ultimate neutral accent. Great control of the language and no accent in it.

 

[Captain caveman]

Listened to Shashi Tharoor on BBC today and that is just the ultimate neutral accent. Great control of the language and no accent in it.

He has a clear indian accent, not thick, but you can tell its an indian man speaking, just close your eyes and listen, does he sound english, american, australian, europeaj, african?
No he sounds like an indian!