Fake Accents

[elfs]

So, I finished the first semester of Japanese and started in on the second set. And oh, goddess, can I tell that the voice actress in the second set of CDs sucks. All of the voices have changed: the instructor and both voice actors, and neither actor sounds like a native. I've watched enough anime, Japanese Broadcast News, J-pop video and miscellaneous japanese television to have a clue about at least standard media accents and the actress just does not have it. She over-pronounces several of the common plosives, has excessive pauses when separating time statements from the rest of the sentence, and doesn't do the Tokyo accent rise and falls properly.

I want to do the second semester, but I'm worried that my accent will get all messed up. I guess I'll just have to trust my own instincts. And try copying the dialogue on my favorite shows. Yeah, people don't really talk like that, but at least their accents will more or less be correct.