John the OFM | 21 Aug 2014 8:31 p.m. PST |
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Panzerfaust | 21 Aug 2014 8:46 p.m. PST |
The first fifteen seconds are supposedly Willie speaking English. YouTube link I have wondered the same thing. I guess this answers the question. His mother was English of course so you would suppose that his accent would be exactly like the Brit royals. Perhaps English was seldom spoken in the home. I imagine he was raised by nannies who only spoke German and though he was fluent he seldom had occasion to speak it and did not acquire the accent. |
enfant perdus | 21 Aug 2014 10:18 p.m. PST |
His mother was English of course so you would suppose that his accent would be exactly like the Brit royals. The problem, of course, is that his mother grew up speaking German at least as much, and possibly more, than she did English. German was the language of the nursery and the hearth for Victoria and Albert's children. Edward VII is frequently described by witnesses as speaking English with a pronounced German accent; others merely note certain mild peculiarities, especially the rolling /r/. It's likely that both are true and depended on the audience and the King's mood. I've seen people (excited, angry, surprised, relaxed, etc.) "slip" into their native accent more times than I can remember. |
Royston Papworth | 22 Aug 2014 4:34 a.m. PST |
I remember reading that Willie spoke perfect English and the only accent was an upper class one. Was it Massie in Dreadnought that said this? I think so. |
Who asked this joker | 22 Aug 2014 6:20 a.m. PST |
It depends on who he learned English from. If he learned from his mother (upper class accent) then that is how he would sound. If he had learned from an American teacher for example, he likely would have had more of an American accent…assuming he was going for perfect diction of that style of English. |
Roderick Robertson | 22 Aug 2014 9:00 a.m. PST |
Of course he did – he's a Bad Guy, and everyone knows that Bad Guys speak with a British accent. |
spontoon | 22 Aug 2014 3:21 p.m. PST |
Sounded more Dutch to me! |
brunet | 23 Aug 2014 11:44 a.m. PST |
that's because you not dutch |
Great War Ace | 23 Aug 2014 7:07 p.m. PST |
How intriguing, part of his phraseology sounds decidedly "English", but most of it, naturally, sounds more German…. |
Chouan | 02 Sep 2014 6:21 a.m. PST |
A strange cross-over voice, partly English, partly German, dependent upon the word being spoken. George VI's accent was similarly distinctive, and certainly not RP. YouTube link I would appreciate, by the way, what is meant by a "British" accent. I would be hard pressed to estimate the number of different regional accents in Britain. All British, but significantly different to each other. |
Old Slow Trot | 02 Sep 2014 7:07 a.m. PST |
I had read that both he and Czar Nicholas II had quite the command of English. And a few of Wilhelm's favorite English expressions were "ripping" and "topping". |
bobm1959 | 12 Sep 2014 2:33 p.m. PST |
I'm pretty sure he didn't sound like me….and more Shakespeare rhymes in a Yorkshire accent than any other apparently |