Anyone here who's a native English speaker, but learned a General American (or other) accent

[raccoon]

for whatever reason? If so, how's that working for you?

I'm asking because I have a heavy regional accent. I don't mind it now (in fact it was fun to be in Maine and every time I opened my mouth, someone said, "Where are you from?" )
but I wonder if voice recognition technology would work better with a General American accent.

I wonder if I could learn it from Youtube, or English as Second Language materials.
I'm probably too lazy to do either, but just wondering.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I've been told by several that my "accent" is Mid-Atlantic.

The Mid-Atlantic accent, or Transatlantic accent,[1][2][3] is a consciously learned accent of English, associated with the American upper class and entertainment industry of the late 19th century and mid-20th century, that blended together features from both American and British English (specifically Received Pronunciation). It is not a native or regional accent; rather, according to voice and drama professor Dudley Knight, "its earliest advocates bragged that its chief quality was that no Americans actually spoke it unless educated to do so".[4] The accent was embraced in private independent American preparatory schools, especially by members of the Northeastern upper class, as well as in schools for film, radio, and stage acting,[5] with its overall use sharply declining in the decades after the Second World War.[6] A similar accent that resulted from different historical processes, Canadian dainty, was also known in Canada, existing for a century before waning in the 1950s.[7] More broadly, the term "mid-Atlantic accent" can also refer to any accent with a perceived mixture of American and British characteristics.[8][9][10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_accent

I was born and raised in northern NJ. Both my parents were "accent-less", Mom being from Brooklyn and Dad from central Pennsylvania. I subscribe my "accent" to a four year private college, where I was educated in European culture and liberal arts. Maybe I unconsciously adopted it there.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. I'll bet you say 'post office' with a stretched out ou sound in post and 'aw' sound for o in office!

[no_hypocrisy]

3. No. I subscribe to strict phonetics, with short vowel sounds.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. Oh, OK. But you've heard that accent before in the NJ/PA area, right? The one they are mocking here:

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Mine is more similar to Katharine Hepburn.

[AllaN01Bear]

4. batman and robin doing batclimb , a man pops his head out the usual window

and says " hi batman and robin". batman states ," you are from the mid west arnt you"? the man asks " how do u know? batman says " people from the mid west dip their dipthongs , you dip your dipthongs" i was told that i have a hefty californian accent by a auzzi who had an even more hefty accent.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. When I was 14 we moved from northern New York State

to Tucson, AZ. People could barely understand me because of my accent. I joke that even my French teacher couldn't understand me. Actually, he had no trouble because my French was okay, and he was himself from Buffalo, NY and so had no trouble with my accent.

Over the next two years I moved mostly to a general American accent, although some sounds persisted much longer.

[coprolite]

8. I grew up in remote Alaskan Villages

for the first 17 years of my life. I developed the cadance of the spoken language in the villages that was usually questioned when we traveled out of state.

Over the years I have dropped the cadence and am rarely asked about my accent anymore.

[Xavier Breath]

9. I have what I've always called a generic American accent

suitable for the average actor in a scripted television show and not sounding like I am from anywhere. I take pride in my not sounding like any of my relatives who add that "uh" sound to words ending in "i" (Cincinnatuh, Missouruh) or inserting an "r" where there is none (Warshington).

[zanana1]

10. Until the age of five, I spoke only French.

I came from a French-Canadian household and my parents only spoke French. I learned English from television, especially newscasts where the talking heads had that generic English speech.

[Mr.Bill]

11. I was born in Baltimore and lived in

Maryland and Alexandria until I was eight years old. I had a strong Baltimore accent, which if you've ever been there, is very strong and distinct. We moved to California and peer pressure made me lose that Baltimore accent quickly.

But today, at 70 years old, if I go to Baltimore now, 30 minutes after I get off the plane the accent is back.