Fung bro said it best at the end - its the soft boy STEM accent, that comes from Sol Cal, and that is the "Asian American" accent we all talk about. It's not all Asians who talk like that, just like not all other racial groups have the same accent. It's just the accent most people associate with AA's.

This is not true. I spoke to Asian Americans from the Bay area and they sound Black to me. I spoke to Asian Americans from Texas, and they sound like white southerners to me. It depends on what part of the country you are from. I imagine if I spoke to either of you two (David and Andrew FUNG BRO's) on the phone I would think you was a Hispanic American who was really into Hip Hop, Sneaker/Basket Ball culture, or Possible a brother who's into anime. Lol. (Joking) So to make it plain and simple Maybe some Asians Americans sound like how the Tik-Tok mentioned. But definitely not all. People are people and can sound like anything.

Andrew Yang will be on TED Talk soon. I will close my eyes and listen for his accent.

Most of what is discussed here is called TIMBRE. And yes, many Asians have a specific built-in timbre because our vocal chords are grown a certain way because we have certain set of genes that do so. In the same way, various instruments can play the same note, but have varying timbres. The human voice is no exception.

It’s just like how we can tell if a black guy is speaking most of the time!

A blind man guessed that I was Asian. He said there is more of a nasal tone.

I agree because growing up, I went to schools that had up to 5 Asian people in them, so I never got to spend a lot of time with Asian American people outside of Church. It wasn’t until I went to college that I could spend a lot of time with Asian Americans. I noticed that my accent changed after a few months of spending time with Asian Americans. So now I’m conscious of my accent and it’s cool being able to switch between them.

Lol we do, it's just inflection related - there's alot more to language than consonants and vowels. I'm a musician so will talk about speech in those terms - you have unique timbre which could be genetic/vocal cords, you have speed / rhythm, you have pitch, finally you have vocabulary and grammar (small nuances). The latter could be picked up from parents and/or shared inflections from your parent's language. The true comparison experiment would have to be done with Asians that were adopted into white/hispanic/black families and communities

Being in Cali and Asian, I think it's just the Californian accent and then on top of that sounding a bit more thoughtful, that's how I'd describe the typical Cali Asian American accent. At least that's how it was in my day, I don't talk to any mid 30s and younger Asians.

I would like to test these guys wearing blindfolds…

it's just a west coast upper middle class accent

This isn't always true. Sure there are the stereotypical "Asian accents", but Asians born and raised in Western countries like the US can sound just like any other American. I have yet to meet anyone who knew I'm Asian according to my voice alone. In fact, people always assumed I'm White if they've only heard my voice.

The comedian, Henry Cho, has the best Asian American accent! My country accent is not as thick as his.

I can easily identyfy Black Americans on the phone. They have the same voice tone.

They definitely have one. One very distinctive aspect of it is that they pronounce every single "t" very crisply, including the ones that most other native English speakers leave silent. The impression I get is that Asian Americans typically speak English the way a perfectionist would speak it if they'd learned it from a book. It's very clean and lacking in any localized cultural identifiers, besides sometimes having a California tone. Also, this applies mainly to Chinese and Koreans. I've noticed that Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipinos, and others are much more likely to speak English exactly like a White person.

I've been told this by a two different girls I've dated in the past, both were White. I moved to the US when I was 3 yrs old BTW, so I consider English being my primary language. They mentioned to me that I have a distinct American-English accent that they can't put their finger on, but it's there. For the longest time, I thought they were being crazy and had some strange Asian infatuation, and were just trying to pick out any infatuated perspective nuances. Come to realize as I get older, I'm starting to believe this and that growing up how my parents spoke English as their second and also having knowledge of a second language definitely plays into how I speak English as my primary. I might not be mixed, but my vernacular phonetic is. LOL

I just think it is who you hang around

There is a similar cadence of upper middle class East Asians, who've grown up in the suburbs but there's too many factors involved to label this the "official asian-american accent". Being Filipino, most asians near me (mostly southeast asians) sound like Dante Basco or Pierre xo. Everyone is different tho. Most asian-american voices sound very easy on the ears.

On Accent pay attention to these factors: 1. Your life experiences are real and reality has mass 2. Communities have ways of expressing those mass 3. Communication is multiple ways, 2 ways at least. You'd match your counterparts' ways of understanding the weight, you match, you don't represent you match. At least if you care about effective and efficient communication the most in your exchange. 4. Politicians communicate politics through their emphasis and its all f'd up. These are the things people should shun out, not the other ones.

I have a little nephew who grew up with his mom Filipino and his dad Mexican. And initially had a hybrid accent because of his parents but after watching alot of tv, cartoons, and movies, and starting school he now sounds like a cartoon character 😂 almost like a mix of Charlie Brown and Diego from Dora. It turns out he loves watching both shows. Lol

The asian accents they’re describing are definitely Asians from a white neighborhood. Definitely East Asians too. Cus the Cambodians and Filipinos I know don’t sound like this.

Personally I feel asian Americans born and raised in the US speak the most clear and most easily understandable English. I guess this is because many of them take ESL classes in elementary school and learn English from teachers that give you textbook-based instructions on generic pronunciation.

It’s not really an accent. It’s the annunciations of words.

You are the sum of your experiences ... and environment. I can buy the idea of media influence on AA's, I'm in Montreal and Paris so in the former case, I can figure out who was born/raised in Quebec from the way they speak French. Another interesting data point: a lot of children of immigrants mostly do English language TV and radio (English Canadian or US, you can get Vermont stations on cable and sometimes over the air, and Vermont Public Radio bills itself as Montreal's NPR!) and many speak very good or even perfect English! A good friend in Portland, Oregon (South Asian but Canada born) from Montreal blew me away that he didn't go to McGill but to U de Montreal - after schooling in the French system!

It's generally true among Asian-Americans who only hang out with each other, I find. I hear it for sure; what I observe (or hear) is that the phonetics they produce is associated to the primary or secondary language they grew up with or were surrounded by. So, I see Chinese-Americans speak English with "choppy" phonetics. Korean-Americans' accent sounds similar to the standard Korean dialect, where the phrase ending position rises, as to sound like an interrogative and not a statement. However, the East Asian adoptees raised in places virtually devoid of other Asian groups' speak indiscernibly to, say, white Americans. The fewer Asian friends an Asian-American has, the less of the "Asian" accent they tend to have.

The thing that I don't like when people talk about "accents" is that people seem to think that having an accent is a bad thing. We all have an accent. The giveaway of someone knowing absolutely nothing about linguistics is when someone says "I don't have an accent". Also I want to say that the way the accent comes across to us is also somewhat a reflection of what we think of Asian Americans. Those who like Asian people generally will probably describe it positively. Those who see Asian-Americans as "strange" "other" "weak" "too perfect" will probably automatically associate it. People will hear what their brain wants them to hear.

American born male here, my parents spoke Cantonese to me as a kid and i spoke Cantonese exclusively until about 4 years old and then only spoke English after that. I still speak some Cantonese once in a while (a few times a year) but am not fluent by any stretch. That said they are still a few English words that I struggle to clearly annunciate/pronounce clearly. That's probably an accent? Words like Saturday come out like Sataday or appropriate comes out like apprapriate. Even words like sing, the "ng" nasal ending sometimes gets cut off a bit. Thoughts?

its not the accent , it is the tonality and color of the voice. Black voice can be differentiated easily from white voices

I’ve always noticed it. My theory was always around speech development in younger years with a second East Asian language in the household. Nothing to fuss over, if anything it’s a unique quality to celebrate.

Maybe the East Asian dudes sound like that but the South-East Asians in Sac, Stockton and the Bay do not sound like that 😂

It would be very strange if Asian Americans did not have a unique accent. Everyone does!

I've been thinking this for a while too. I am not American but consume a lot of Asian-American content and I could pick up on it. Interesting to know this has been a topic for very long. "They're going off the upper middle-class California Asians." That! Yeah it really depends. Even within East and Southeast Asia there are different accents. Like I can tell when a Korean is speaking Tagalog. People can tell I did not grow up in Manila when I speak Tagalog. They're such subtle differences, but it is there sometimes.

yea we do

As for higher pitch voices, that might be something. I sing in a choir and most of the male Asian’s, including myself, are tenors and not bass’s or baritones.

Answering this question is definitely complicated by the fact that about a third of Asians residing in the U.S.are not native English speakers and therefore likely speak with an accent and another (unknown) share are second generation and learned English , in part, from non-native English speakers (their parents).

As a Filipino American, I def. don't have this accent. lol

I never knew monotone voice recipe attempter guy was Asian but algorithmicly it makes sense cause youtube started giving me that content after i started watching other Asian youtubers food shorts

This happens with second gen immigrants from of all ethnicities. Usually when ppl grow up with a second language that is commonly spoken to friends and family, there certain speaking patterns and tones that carry over to when they speak English. Technically the English is still fluent, as its not a full on accent and quite subtle. But still recognizable

I really think it depends on the environment you grow up in and personality you have. Nothing to do with being Asian. These people who say we all sound like we’re giving a TED talk means they just got to meet more Asians or based on stereotypes fr lol

I think the way Andrew and David talk as Asian guys sounds “normal” American. Like if I was talking on the phone to Andrew I would think he’s just a white guy. David’s voice is a little more cultured though. David kinda sounds like a smart black guy (who could also pass for a white guy) but with clean English but his English also sounds casual and not over done like some other Asian Americans might sound lol other than that though I do notice I can tell if I’m talking to an Asian American. The super proper perfect English is a dead give away. And also some words they pronounce just sound different when compared to regular white American accents

Was not expecting that clip of Joshua nor vernon here lolol I love their voices! 🕊️🤍🤍✨

What everyone is talking is for sure a stereotype. The environment influences one’s accent. Where you were born, the people you grow up with, the culture you adopt, and the physiological makeup that you’re born with. Sadly, a stereotype is a perception and perception is reality for a lot of people.

Different kinds of asian americans have different accents though

It’s true. My husband is white and he told me that my entire family/cousins/friends including myself all have an accent. 😆😆😆 I hear it too sometimes with certain people. I think it’s because some English sounds are not in the native language so when they try to say it in English there is a slight accent. I’m Hmong and we do not have any R sounds or words so I always have a hard time with hard R words like “war” and “girl.” 😆😆😆😆

Chinese Americans have accents, Mexican Americans have accents, Afro Americans have accents. Not all of them do, but alot of them do especially if english is their second language. Or they grew up around others with the same kind of accent.

This is Upper middle class asian american accent. The ones you hear in north jersey, and other affluent suburbs. the asian americans in the working class and lower class neighborhoods sound nothing like that. their's is like a mix of American and fob accent with a hint of the local accent

SEA Working Class from Houston. Asians here don't sound "black" but they do sound more working class than an Asian from Cali. There's zero uptalk here.

Everyone of all colors have accents. I know a white guy who sounds Asian on the phone 😂

Just saying David and Andrew have extremely distinct Asian American accents. It’s a mixture of nasal enunciation with light aave, choose of vocab and not fully pronunciating words

Never really thought of that.. Interesting topic!

fung bros r awesome

its callled code switbhing the black community already made a movie about it

I notice that aswell asian american who are native speakers born in America do sound like gay white american men who are mid class and while aisan girls do have slower high pitched voices.

Probably residual effects of hearing our parents or older family members talk then learning and picking up little things here and there.

Korean Americans in college often talked as David said …they made statements that ended high as if what they were saying was a question. Perhaps that’s the Korean language has these endings or similar intonations? I am sure, however, that being in the cutthroat competitive corporate world changed how they spoke. If you want to move up the ladder on Wall Street or any corporate environment making statements that sound like questions for any male or female isn’t going to cut it.

"white gay men without flamboyance" honestly that's true but only for californian asians (where most of the asians in the US are). But that's just a californian accent. But even asians from other parts of the us regardless of which east or south east asian country they're from have a certain accent that's indescribable apart from the "white gay" voice.

I used to work in a call center. I'm Asian, and the client thought I sounded like Norwegian. 😂 I didnt tell her I'm Asian. 😂

As an Asian American, I think it is definitely influenced by their parents and what languages they speak. I would say that my Asian American friends who had Vietnamese or Chinese-speaking parents didn't have too much of an American twang to their voices. It was usually either soft-spoken or too nasally. Some of my friends also ignored grammar patterns like "s" sounds or plurals, but usually, their fluency in English wasn't as good as mine despite being born in America. They probably just didn't immerse themselves in American culture and media as much as I did. Although I had Cambodian-speaking parents, I put more effort into immersing myself in American culture and made the effort to mimic American characters and force myself to improve my vernacular. I still don't think I can speak perfect standard American English or even AAVE probably because I still spoke a different language with my parents at home, so my "Asian" voice might slip out sometimes. I have to concentrate a little harder to sound standard, and probably I have to watch a lot of media in English and avoid watching stuff in other languages to keep it consistently standard. In conclusion, I think the more time Asian Americans spend with their families vs their friends, the more they end up sounding like their family members, and if you happen to be 2nd/3rd/4th generation Asian American, you probably don't have this Asian-sounding voice. For most 1st-generation Asian Americans like me, it's kind of a natural sound unless you put a lot of effort into avoiding speaking your parents' mother tongue, hanging out more with standard American English-speaking folks, and focusing a great deal on your vernacular.

How we speak is a product of our upbringing and environment. Part of it is also subject to personal manipulation. We can modulate how we sound to some extent depending on who we're speaking to or to fit in within a particular context. For instance, we might speak to our friends differently compared to how we speak to our parents or our teachers. In terms of vocal pitch, it's true that Asians on average tend to have higher-pitched voices, largely due to their smaller frames. Black men are known to have more baritone voices because of higher testosterone. Having a deep voice is intimately tied to being perceived as hypermasculine.

Even Fung Bros have accents! LMAO. Because they're multilingual. Great topic!

5:38 Interesting i'm surprised this wasn't an episode topic years ago

I think it depends on the person. I think personality and influences in music and the environment play a huge role in accents. Also, how fluent or not with their native language will have an effect.

it's funny and debatable, for me personally, I can tell some Asian Americans have some kind of accent without looking at their face, the voice tone and the way they talk are somehow different than whites(I mean the Asian born and raised in the USA), not sure if that is really accent or not, while some Asian Americans sound totally like whites, and my family can Always tell who is Asian speaker or not by listening to them talk without looking the face. But some white American friends, always say Asian Americans do not sound any different( even the ones who I can easily tell that sound different than whites)

I can tell if a person speaking is an Asian-American male 80% of the time just by their voice alone. I think the reason is because there are some english words that cause you to speak with the intonation of your mother tongue that non asian language speaking people don't have, whether you are fluent in that language or not.

This only applies to East Asians. As a Cambo, I don’t run into this.

I think it could be the equivalent to a chicano accent?

I’m 2nd and 3rd generation, so I’m not sure if I have it. Plus, these people might be referencing certain specific East Asians. There’s definitely something there, but it’s not 100% applicable to all individuals. It really depends on generation, socialization, location and maybe genetics. Plus, all Hispanics speak Spanish and African Americans all speak English. That’s more homogeneous than Asian Americans that have different languages and dialects.

An insight here from an Italian American from Pittsburgh. We often get stereotyped in media for all speaking the same way, With a NYC-Jersey accent when in reality, we speak with all kinds of American Accents. Nobody I knew growing up sounded like the Sopranos, the spoke like everyone else from Pittsburgh. I even recall recently watching a Netflix film that took place in West Virginia with Italian Americans, and they gave them NYC accents. I see a similar thing happening with Asians and Gay People where they are both attached to A California Accent due do being heavily represented in media with such accents, while in reality Asians and Gay people have all kinds of American English Accents.

I’ve noticed the accent, it’s subtle but apparent. I think it develops as a result of being in social circles rather than carryover from their native languages, because the native languages are so different (Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Japanese), yet the accent is the same. I don’t know if that’s factual, but it’s just my observation 🤷🏾‍♀️✨ I know a white guy who grew up and hung out with mostly Asians, and he has this accent too.

If we're talking about an ABC or really any Asian born in America, I think there is an accent. To me, it's based around tone and inflection. It tends to be heavier depending on how bilingual they are. My cousins who are very fluent in Cantonese have a noticeable accent compared to me, who can't really speak it but understand some of the language. I think social media plays a big part as well. A lot of people change the speed and pitch of their voice when posting. I would equate it to hitting a predetermined pose for photos, it's almost a reflex.

0:31 - Haha! Oh, dear... 😂

my black friend is mistaken for white on the phone. His name is Joseph, too. lol when he started on the job, everyone was surprised when he came in on the first day.

Love this topic. I am filipino/american and can tell when I speak to a filipino/american without seeing them. I usually can tell other asian/americans as well. I think it's cool. My voice is typical filipino male 57. When I was in my 20s as an artist, everyone assumed I was gay. I am not, but it comes with the territory. It has it's pluses and minuses.

Everyone has one

0:30 LOL what? 3:50 nope i really couldn't tell because i'm not racist

Can you tell if someone also speaks a language besides english? yes. But no, Asian Americans as a whole do not have a similar distinct accent. It doesn't even make sense because there are so many different languages. But, when he gave those two examples...wow. But were those two guys from the same ethnic group? Here's a question. If you are trying really hard to assimilate, and want to try to hide any hint of your ethnic language, will you speak english in a certain way? & Chinese people have a higher pitch? That doesn't make sense. When I listen to chinese, a lot of them have ridiculously deep voices. Same with Japanese

It’s got to be both social environment + physical because the kids that graduate Stuyvesant & Bronx Science schools (to those that are familiar with NYC) sound exactly identical to the kids who graduate from Hong Kong’s international/private schools when speaking English. Maybe it’s more a function of education and not socio-economic class as many kids that attend NYC’s elite public schools come from families below the poverty line.

I've notice some Korean Americans have a accent but it doesn't sound like any South Koreans. I assume that it's just that Korean Americans mostly hangout with other Korean Americans so their speech is only influenced by each other. That also applies to anyone who only hangout with there own people or similar cultures

Final consonants. It’s a challenge for a lot of esl speakers, and Asian Americans often grow up around esl speakers in the form of family members, neighbors, or friends if they live close to their ethnic enclave.

I notice it. I notice it even more when I come across an Asian who was adopted by a white family as a baby cause there’s a distinct …lack of the accent.

YES

Asian languages are vastly different. Even with Chinese…Mandarin and Cantonese sound very different to me. There is no way that there could be “Asian” American accent. These examples sound more regional than anything. The only time I heard something that could be an Asian American accent is in LA K-Town. They could be 2nd, 3rd, etc generations in and still talk like Korean fobs with good grammar.

I have lived in the U.S. for over 30 years, and I still have an accent. White people said I deliberately try sound posh by speaking RP. The fact is I am bidialectal. Sure, I can speak with a Midwestern accent but I just choose to speak with my own accent.

I think we DO have the accents but not just like “Asian English” accent, but there are infinite variations in Asian. It could just be the shape of our nose or lips, and it gives the sound.

13:00 some interesting analysis by Andrew.

It’s the non-threatening YAPPIE archetype that has became the modern Nerd

If someone speaks a different language with their parents/family (which many Asians in the West do), then they'll have some kind of accent when they speak English. It comes out even a little. Everyone has an accent though. People don't think they have an accent until it's pointed out to them lol Even if English speakers go to Asian countries speaking the languages of an Asian country, they definitely have accents in those languages too. The way people speak in some communities will differ (like AAVE). Different words to refer to a thing, concepts, etc. As long as you make yourself understood on the other end, you'll be fine.

As an Asian American I used to have an African American neighbor who was very tall and buff. He used to do voice over work for commercials. I used to always tell him that I wish that I had a deep voice like him. It would make women melt. 😂

Asian Americans are scattered, so they don't have large cultural bases like other minorities do. AA's seem to latch onto whatever dominant culture they grew up with, whether that be rap music or news reporters.

No, Asian Americans sound like where they grow up. It's based on class and regional dialect. Listen to China Mac talk.

I'm Japanese/Chinese from Hawaii We don't sound anything like that. Think this is just another case of Other races trying to stereo type us. I heard some black people speak the same way to. Think it more depends on where you live and what aera you live in. I was raised in the projects. And on top of that Hawaii just speaks differently.

As a Latino man, I’ve always thought Asian women have some sexy ass voices

Bring back Executive Order 9066 lol

Bay Area has one. I went to school with this in college…

Depends on what generation you are, some are 5th generation now in the USA among mainstreams.

I think regional and ethnical differences in accents will gradually diminish as a result of social media

I've never had anyone tell me I sound Asian. Maybe a Filipino accent when I was a kid because I was more fluent in Tagalog. But not as an adult

Asian accent is quite noticeable for first generation Asians that were born in the United states. It is true that most first generation from other countries have accents.

Some people in the comments do not get that it's not just about the accent per se but how the vocal cords or the hardware built in your body according to your race. One can be born and raised only speaking English but is born from East Asian parents, but one can still have that voice that is much like how native Asian would sound if he has the same accent and enunciation as the native English speaker. If you search for videos for white people born and raised in China or Japan speaking Mandarin or Nihongo, you can still tell from their voice that they're not Asian even if they speak the language fluently.

I definitely agree that Asian Americans have a very monotone accent! They sound like they all are giving a Ted Talk 😂White, Black, and Latin Americans definitely have more inflection in their tone.