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What language is Ryder Hesjedal speaking?

Dec 6, 2009
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Is his native tongue something other than English? Sounds like he has marbles in his mouth when he attempts to speak the English. But, he did do a great ride in the Tour.
 
Jul 23, 2009
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Here is a video from his mtn bike days. Any accent etc due to ESL would probably be even more pronounced as a youth. One or both of his parents are Dutch I think so maybe there was some of that language spoken in the home, I have no idea. He sounds like the typical young guy speaking western Canadian English to me. He's got a pretty relaxed personality which might lend itself to mumbling.
 
Jan 29, 2010
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He grew up in Victoria, BC, which is surrounded by some of the best marijuana in the world. Even if he's never smoked it, he is probably surrounded by cronic users who tend to speak in a very relaxed way. This lends itself to a distinct accent for the area, which is what Ryder sounds like to me.

For other examples, listen to interviews with west coast Canadian mountain bikers, snowboarders, skiers, and skate boarders. They all talk like that to some degree.
 
pedaling squares said:
Here is a video from his mtn bike days. Any accent etc due to ESL would probably be even more pronounced as a youth. One or both of his parents are Dutch I think so maybe there was some of that language spoken in the home, I have no idea. He sounds like the typical young guy speaking western Canadian English to me. He's got a pretty relaxed personality which might lend itself to mumbling.
He's probably of Scandinavian ancestry, not Dutch. Hesjedal isn't a Dutch name. Norwegian, I think.
 
Aug 19, 2009
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WinterRider said:
He grew up in Victoria, BC, which is surrounded by some of the best marijuana in the world. Even if he's never smoked it, he is probably surrounded by cronic users who tend to speak in a very relaxed way. This lends itself to a distinct accent for the area, which is what Ryder sounds like to me.

For other examples, listen to interviews with west coast Canadian mountain bikers, snowboarders, skiers, and skate boarders. They all talk like that to some degree.

Yup, sounds like he's speaking Stoner to me too.
 
Mar 31, 2010
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pedaling squares said:
Here is a video from his mtn bike days. Any accent etc due to ESL would probably be even more pronounced as a youth. One or both of his parents are Dutch I think so maybe there was some of that language spoken in the home, I have no idea. He sounds like the typical young guy speaking western Canadian English to me. He's got a pretty relaxed personality which might lend itself to mumbling.

his dad is norwegian, same with svein tuft
 
Just like the US, Canada is full of regional accents/dialects. Newfie is the craziest and most difficult to decipher (even worse than Capers). Northern Ontarians are a funny bunch too. Inuits speaking English is even slower than what Ryder speaks...they average about one word every 4 seconds.

Ryder sounds like a lot of west coasters. Those with the thickest Canadian west coast accent are those who've just moved there from Ontario.
 
Jul 18, 2010
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pedaling squares said:
That there is the Vancouver Island accent. Try the Newfs if you want to hear a great accent from some of the nicest people in the world. Or God forbid, Cape Breton. Capers are essentially Newfies with their brains bashed in.
Lots of Wexford emigrants out there, you can still hear it b'y ;) Lots of newfisms that are perfectly understandable to me and quite local to here (Wexford)

That's a newfie trad song, and not only is it irish music but I could sell the accent as that of a Wexford man who lived in Canada for 30 odd years. (younger people seem to now speak in a much more americanised way. Shame)
 
Mar 12, 2009
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Whaaa?

WinterRider said:
He grew up in Victoria, BC, which is surrounded by some of the best marijuana in the world. Even if he's never smoked it, he is probably surrounded by cronic users who tend to speak in a very relaxed way. This lends itself to a distinct accent for the area, which is what Ryder sounds like to me.

For other examples, listen to interviews with west coast Canadian mountain bikers, snowboarders, skiers, and skate boarders. They all talk like that to some degree.

Duuuuuuuuuuuude....Is purple kush on UCI banned list? I doubt Ryder indulges but if he does, I'll hook im up.
 
Jun 21, 2009
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ingsve said:
He does have Norwegian ancestry but I don't think it's recent enough to effect his accent. I think people just aren't used to hearing certain Canadian accents.

back in the day when i attended brighton uni we had a guest lecturer once who everyone thought was a genius, sorry, what's the pc word, surely not m0ng, can't remember, anyhoo, turns out it was his accent (canadian) which confused us all :eek: as it was he was actually quite a knowledgeable fella (which is why they flew him across the atlantic to speak to us for 90 minutes i guess)

i guess the lisp and gay hand moves didn't help his case
 
Jan 29, 2010
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BroDeal said:
Isn't that the way all Canadians talk?

Only west coast stoners and those in close contact with them. I'm from the next province over and that accent stops as soon as the conditions for growing pot in every second field dry up. ;)

As another poster mentioned, there is also the surfer influence in there, probably since Ryder lives two hours away from Canada's surfing mecca in Tofino (I never knew this existed until I went there a couple of summers ago).

I'll also agree that part of it could be the Norwegian influence. My father in law has Norwegian parents and he does have a much more relaxed manner of speech than most Canadians I know.
 

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