Does my cousin have a difficult voice to understand?

[zenithfreedom]

By voice I mean accent. He's given me permission to post a short soundclip of his voice. He's moved abroad and learned English quite later on in life.

vocaroo.com/aKPfKojiOvC1

Can understand him fine, I thought it was maybe somebody Dutch that had moved to America at first. No idea what race he is but I would guess 30s for age. Is he from a place that was has Dutch language influences?

I can make him out perfectly, for some reason I think he is Japanese but really I'm not good at this sort of thing. He just sounds like a guy that I follow on YouTube.

I don't think he sounded Dutch/Scandinavian. He sounds like he's been to an international school (slightly learned American accent) with some Asian influences, perhaps heritage/family. the irish only came out when he said Ireland.

I agree Japanese or Chinese 30-40 years old.
His accent is all over the place within even one sentence! I think that makes him more difficult to understand than most because it is not at all predictable. Its very quirky.

He's not difficult to understand.

If he moved to Ireland in 2009, I'd imagine he's lived there at least half his life as the accent has permeated his vocal pattern. So I'd say he's 24 or younger.

There's clearly Irish in his accent and something that sounds a bit Dutch. I can see other people have mentioned a US accent. I don't hear that.

Race? I'm not sure someone's voice is the best indicator of their race - but I'd expect him to be white.

He's actually 21 and fully black..lol. He does regularly get told that he sounds "white".

Ha ha we were amazing detectives then!

I found myself having to concentrate a bit, didn't catch the name. I'd say 40s, white and you could hear a few accents in there but sounded a bit strained/put on as well and not natural.

Did he spend any time in the mid west? I hear South Dakota.
Reckon he is mid 30s.
Not sure re race but would say probably not African.

I can hear a couple of different accents but his voice is very clear to me and perfectly easy to understand. In fact I think he has a really nice sounding voice. I am a bit about how this thread came to be a race and age guessing game and I have no idea about that, but I wonder if PP are wondering the same as me; that you’re asking because he’s received feedback about his voice which you or he suspects is a deflection from another prejudice (I hope that’s not the case)? Or (less sinister) are you just trying to prove to him that his voice is absolutely fine?! Which it is!

I thought his accent sounds clear and educated. He accent reminds me of a couple of Canadians I know. He sounds older than 21!

Given that at least two posters didn't catch him asking how old people think he is and what race they think he is, perhaps he isn't that easy to understand!

I'd have said mid 40's, white and with an Irish/Dutch heritage. My powers of deduction are not good!

I’d have said white and of Dutch extraction too! I would have said older than 21 also but I’m not so good with male voices when it comes to age.

I find this sort of stuff so fascinating. What is it in his dialect/cadence that makes us think that?

I hear a little Chicago and a little Dublin. I'd say late 20s, Asian.

It's hard to figure out his first name but everything else is very clear to me.

He could do voice overs

I'd have said 20s. No hint of any black African accent and i couldn't hear South African either.
Just sort of East Coast US with quite a bit of Irish. (A bit like Michael Fassbender - German nationality?/parentage but brought up in Ireland)

He does not sound black at all

I hear the Dublin accent prominently in the word 'nine'. The Chicago accent is audible in the D pronunciation of 'th'.

The pronunciation of ''Ireland' is like 'ahr-i-land' which makes me think he spoke a SE or NE Asian (Korean, Japanese) language as his first language.

The D pronunciation of the 'th' might be Dutch too, or South African, but also Dutch via Indonesia.

For some reason, I too thought Irish Asian, but I did think early 20's.
Really attractive accent in my opinion.

@SoupDragon and @LadyPoison ~ my error, didn't listen to the whole recording as I could understand him !

Yououk,
The race and age bit was a question asked by the OP’s cousin on his voice recording, if you listen he asks specifically for guesses on age and race.

Very easy to understand for me. I'm American, and I agree with posters who suggest that the American elements of his accent have some Midwestern features.

@user1495884211

Given that at least two posters didn't catch him asking how old people think he is and what race they think he is, perhaps he isn't that easy to understand!

That was me @user1495884211. I confess I didn’t listen to the end of the recording!

I hear Dutch with a little American/Irish. He sounds more European than African but I'm not familiar with African accents.

I think he sounds young but not 21.