[WallShadow]

I, too, have always wondered what the several American regional accents sound like to a non-native ear, and just what changes are required by the non-native speaker to torture English into 'Merkan?

I do remember a very old version of Dracula produced in England back in the '70s that had someone trying very hard (and failing) to produce a Texan accent as one of the characters. Now we have Hugh Laurie (as "House") and Damian Lewis (Capt. Dick Winters in "Band of Brothers" and Charlie Crews in the series "Life") who have quite aptly mastered the art of phonically fooling the Colonial ear.