denhim

Can anyone tell me if there accent has changed or completly gone since they have moved to oz? obvioulsy you might not have noticed yourselves but do other people tell you?
The b&b i stopped at in Perth was ran by a geordie couple and they hadnt lost theres in 17 years of living there, but i got talking to one lass and she had an ozzie accent after only living there a year.
ive a slight geordie twang with living in durham and found that when i was in oz, they all thought i was irish???????

walaj

from travelling last year, at different stages I came across 2 welsh guys, one with a welsh accent as strong as ever, another who had lost it completely.

Some people it seems to stick others not. I have lived most of my life in the south, but still I still have northern words (where is the 'R' in 'bath'?) and phrases

sophiedb

my accent was a bit mongrel to start with - born and bred in the south, lived in Manchester for a couple of years, then London, and to top it all my mum's French (and still has the accent), which has left a few quirks in my vocab even now!

anyway, I've only been in Aussie for 18 months (lived with Aussies n Kiwis for a year before moving tho) and my parents insist that I sound like somone in Neighbours now.. :scared:

then again I'm still immediately identifiable as a Pom to most Aussies! (except for the daft ones who think I'm Kiwi..)

Mandy Bale

I have an Essex accent being a pure bred Essex girl (both my parents were born and brought up in Essex), I wish I could lose it as I hate it. I met a couple of old dears in Sydney who have been living here (near Sydney) for 30 years and they were originally from Southend in Essex and they hadn't lost their accent one bit! In fact I started to talk to them as I recognised the Essex accent, so there is no hope for me! Thankfully my two kids (7 and 6) are both losing their accent although my son (6) is having some problems with stuttering as he is trying to master the lingo! I suppose if I spent more time with Aussies then I would get the accent but unfortunately there aren't that many real Aussies around here, everyone is from somewhere other than Australia! My friend who has been out here for 3 years had an Aussie accent but she has just come back from 6 weeks in UK and has got her Essex accent back again! I think it all depends on what kind of person you are.

Mandy

BookBear

I get teased a little when I phone home, they say that occasionally my voice goes up a little on the end of sentences.

I lived in Ireland on and off from the age of 5 and never really picked up the accent then, so I don't think I will now.

What's funny is that people here talk about me *losing* my accent rather than *picking up* the Aussie accent.

One thing that I have picked up is the bloody americanisms: zuccini, eggplant, pants, etc.

Nara

madmancunian

Don't try to 'pick up' an Aussie accent - you won't be able to do it. If you want to sound less like a Brit - instead learn to drawl your words - especially the vowels - and don't clip the consonants so much. Then watch the Aussies puzzle over your accent and have fun when the try to guess where you come from. Always remember to raise the pitch on the last word of any sentence.

MM

Jaykay

I moved to Australia when I was 9 and lost my english accent very quickly.
Then when I cam back to UK 10 years ago, English people knew straight away that I was from Australia, and most people, even now, still question where my accent is from.
But when I talk on the phone to anyone in Australia, they all think I've got a posh english accent, and if I speak to any Australians over here, they think I'm English too.
Very bizarre!

Pollyana

I have a friend in Tassie, he's been in Oz for about 30 years but still sounds like he's just arrived from Manchester. Very strange - he's got more of an accent than people who live 'up north' now. No danger of him ever sounding like a local!

Mumto4

I've been here 7 years this year and I don't think I've lost my accent but I think you tend to pick up aussie words to try and fit in otherwise people don't seem to understand what you're saying sometimes.

My kids were all born here and they are so Aussie even though they spent much of their time with me - my mum says my daughter sounds more American - I wonder why - do you think it's to do with the TV here?

jockney

Hi,Our freinds in adelaide moved there as alarge family in 1982.Although the children they`ve had and their aussie spouses have ,of coarse ,aussie accents the family who originated from gourock,scotland have as strong an accent as when they left.I have lived in london for 21 years and my accent is softer but I think you have to do that in london otherwise you get sick of people saying WHAT or pardon me.I have been told that when Ispeak to family in scotland on the phone my accent changes accordingly although I dont intend it too.The more people you speak to with a similar accent will decide if your accent changes much. jockney