Aussie accents
 

Has anybody else noticed how quickly Brits seem to pick up Aussie accents? I've noticed it particularly on these Get a New Life type programmes where people who've been there for a short time already have the Aussie twang. I am travelling out there myself tomorrow for two weeks so my guess is that by the time we come back we will have accents too! An interesting thought because it certainly doesn't happen the other way round. Can you imagine an Aussie coming to live in, say, Cannock, and within two weeks picking up the accent? I can't.

Re: Aussie accents
 

I worked with someone from melbourne. He deliberately dropped his aussy accent when he moved here to work. He hates it when i mention it and he admits he dumped it on purpose. so perhaps if you wnat to integrate you subconsciously get into the lingo!

I think mumomonty might have a point about the subconscious thing. We've been here almost 2 years now but I don't think I'll ever lose my yorkshire accent!!

I find that I use aussie phrases and pronounce words how they do, but that is more for convenience sake as I find they have trouble understanding my accent otherwise.

Mind you, my mum says she thinks my husband sounds really australian now...although I reckon she's just mad...either that or Telstra have an "australian accent" filter on our phone line...he sounds more yorkshire than ever to me (he's from Wakefield and the accent is much stronger from there than Leeds!!)

Our 4 year old has a very definite Aussie twang now tho...he sounds really funny cos his accent is now predominantly WA but he uses yorkshire slang phrases...well weird!!

love sophia xx

88 - Mate
 

The guy from Cornwall on Get A New Life yesterday had been in Oz for 6 years and sounded as Aussie (to me) as a native. When I hear things like that I get the impression these people are frauds. A little unfair, maybe, but having come from Dubling 16 years ago to work in London, I can't understand how anyone can lose their accent completely.

Sure, having worked with English people and having English friends means I've picked up the odd word and phrase (much to the amusement of my family back home) but I try to hang on to my original accent.

Maybe that's what it is - you only gain the new accent if you want to.

On the other hand, there may be something particularly insidious about the Aussie accent - it creeps up on you. Seeing as my missus is Australian I occasionally say things with my version of her accent (she cringes) for a laugh. This is how it begins. She's been back in the UK for nearly 3 years and all her Aussie friends say she now sounds English - but she lived in the Uk until she was about 10 anyway. Oh, all confusion.

No worries.

Anyway, I think it's normal to pick up the odd word. I think it's abnormal to lose your accent completely if you emigrate as an adult.

Just my tuppence-worth.

Big.

Friends of mine have been out there for 50 years now. They're both originally from West Yorkshire. She has a wierd accent Yorkshire/Australian - with the word "but" at the end of every sentence whereas he is still as Yorkshire as they come. To this day he keeps "gettin ont' bus" and "goin t' shops"

nice to see you back sophia,hope all is well with you and yours.I come from the fens originally and have done my utmost to lose that accent.
donna

Did the Aussie accent come about from a mixture of cockney ans irish accents?

I have to disagree with you on this one. All the Brits I know out here have not lost their accents! I am friends with a few Northern lasses that have been here 5 years plus and they are very much still Northern. I have even met people who have been here for 20 years and sound completely British. Possibly your accent loses the edge, but it is still recognisable.

One thing that is great about Britain, is all the different dialects so be proud of them!

You do pick up the lingo though:
alrighty
youse
gday

etc.

Hi:)

We have been over here for nearly a year now and mine and Cheryls accent no different, you may say the odd "good on yer" or "how ye doing" but that I think is just learning and using different phrases which we all do at some stages where ever we live!. The kids though through there mates and schooling etc have started to adopt the aussie twang! raising the pitch at the end of each sentence and making each sentence a question:D :D .

Cheryl had a lady round at the weekend one of these claivoyant type things;) an old lady about 70 originally from Doncaster been over here for about 30 years and still very much a Tyke!!!.

We are heading back to Wakefield West Yorks in Sept so it will be interesting to see if anyone comments on our or the kids accents:)

Mick n Cheryl:)

Northerners keep their accents longer - a mate of mine in Tas has been here since 1960 but still sounds like he belongs in Corrie! Same with the woman living next door - brooooad Yorkshire, and again been here 40 years. Scottish seems to last as well, theres a guy at work who's been here about 25 years but people have terrible trouble understanding him!

Re: Accents
 

Hi People

I spent 6 months doing the backpacker bit over 17 years ago and been to Sydney 4 times now since and in order to get any good work I found I was more accepted when I sounded Ozzie. As you say it just creeps up on ya! An being a southerner some of the vowels are similar, so it was easy. Put a little effort into it and bingo! You sound fair dinkum! A true blue! Anyone with a northern accent such as my wife Lynne just doesn't cut it. Her bro has bin there 4 17 years and he still sounds Yorkshire. A bit strange sounding in tonation but still a brit! I think they call those people who adopt the lingo etc as 'Sociopaths' or similar. It's actually a psychological condition, a state of mind, a willingness or desire to be accepted. Most people like that tend to be very successful at what ever they do...can't think of any examples but that Lifeguard in 'Get A New Life' done good!
Listen to me go on! Must've taken something...
I've finished now.
:D

Re: 88 - Mate
 

The Cornish are very laid back like the Aussies so it was probably easier for him to intergrate :)

Nobodys yet answered me.

i was about to say the same :)

i left manchester in 1963, and can still be recognised by my accent, even after spending many years in both south of england and australia.

So the historians tell us.

As an aside, TV here in Dallas once showed an interview with a woman from St. Helens. I understood her perfectly, bu they subtitled it for the benefit if Texans. :rolleyes:

That explains it then...born in London with some Irish blood from some where. Heh! heh! Cheers mate! Good on ya!:beer: :beer: :D

Me? LOL, I have no British blood in me at all. My ancestry is Greek. You know, where Lesbians come from.

I hope I never lose my Norfolk accent, although it's already not as strong as it used to be after just 2 years over here. I work on a reception so I try and tone it down on purpose as nobody would understand me otherwise! It comes out when I'm emotional though!
People at home reckon I've picked up the Aussie twang. Some words are hard to say without putting on an Australian accent. For example: we have a friend called Matto. Aussies say it Maddo, whereas I would probably either leave the t's out completey or really pronounce them as t's except then it doesn't sound right and you usually end up with people taking the p$@s! :D

I love getting on the phone with my mates & family from back home as they sound just like me!! It's reassuring to know I'm not the only country bumpkin!!:D :D

No hope from me and the hubby then we are from leeds, I hate my accent but it is so strong I dont think it will ever go ... worse luck

Re Accents
 

Hiya.
Norfolk? Where? I grew up in Hunstanton! but i still sound like a southerner as the family are from London with a hint of aussie and the north..oddd, I know. Cosmopolitan really...
If the hat fits...
:D :cool:

I find I have to translate the dialogue for films like Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels for the benefit of my in-laws.

I also have trouble with trying to be understood by some Aussies on the phone: during a recent enquiry to our local council about zoning requirements and setting up a business from home I was told "Oh I will just put you through to Plumbing and Drainage, they will be able to help you"

I'm seriously surprised the Americans that saw it, understood everything in The Full Monty. I'm surprised that wasn't subtitled somewhere.

The only time I've really had to listen to another person speak English (where it's their first language) was a fellow from Belfast I caught a bus with once.

I had to listen a little closely to a fellow from Orkney I gave a ride to once as well.

I'm English and my husband is Canadian...I do find myself saying some things in 'Canadian', just to make life easier!!

He's been here for over 10 years now but to me he still sounds Canadian, when he goes back to Canada though they all tease him about how English he sounds! I guess his Canadian accent has been 'softened' by the English one so now he doesn't really 'fit' in either place.

Maybe that's what happens to the English in Oz? We all end up sounding English to the Australians and Australian to the English!:D

Completely agree as speaking to a librarian at S.A. state and I could tell he was from York although he'd been here THIRTY years and didn't sound at all aussie. Think I upset him a bit as he probably thought he sounded aussie:D

This thread is an intersting one. I too listened with interest to 'Get a New Life' and that lifeguard bokey who sounds'true blue' aussie. I reckon he simply has put roots down and chosen to become Australian.

I get a bit annoyed though with people who say picking up accents is 'fake' or 'sad'. I think it all depends on your background and your desire to fit in. Don't forget, to be in a country 30 years, surrounded by an Australian accent, it takes effort to retain a Yorkshire or whatever accent. Perhaps this is fake? A reluctance to integrate?

I grew up all over Europe and in Canada and spent my formative years in international school in Portugal. So, my English is perfect, but I have a transatlantic/Dutch/Aussie accent as a result of the friends I made at school.

I also know that as I have no real roots (and I think this is key), and no accent to call my own, I pick up accents very easily. I am also very adaptable to other countries and cultures and languages, and thus accents too. I don't consider this a weakness though - I am just a product of my upbringing. In fact I think its a strength.

And, I know I slip into an Aussie twang when I am there. Can't help it.

ONE of the rigs ,i worked on, we had Halliburton engineer ,from Louisiana, we had to get the Texans to interpret for us:D .......:D :beer: MM

But which Aussie accent are you refering too ?. When you have been here long enough, you can tell which state people are from by their accent............:D :beer: MM

It's funny how you all think the Cornish lifeguard had an Aussie accent - to me he sounded like a West Country person with a bit of an Aussie accent (I'm fair dinkum here). It is an interesting topic. To address lathlain's question (was it?) - yes, the Aussie accent obviously developed initially out of the mixture of convicts, largely English and Irish with some Welsh and Scots thrown in for good measure (!) and this was further supplemented when free settlers moved out, the wider mixture in the gold rush days and so on. After the second world war there was a great influx of European migrants and latterly Asian migrants so it is a bit of a mixture of all these influences I think.

I've been in Scotland a long time and to the locals I have a strong Australian accent but when I go 'home' my family and friends tell me I'm losing my accent a bit and picking up a bit of a Scottish accent. I have not made a conscious effort to change my accent at all (be true to yourself and all that) - I dinna' think say anywa'

OzTennis :)

I'd dearly love to lose my brummie accent but its sticking fast so far:( a friend of mine from brum has lost hers completely after 8 years here, even ausie friends cant spot her as a pom, until she has a few drinks, then she reverts which is quite strange!!!

Yes, if I moved to France I would speak French and try to speak it without an English accent. It seems to me that moving to an "English"-speaking country is no different. You're going there, you should try to integrate to some degree. It's only polite. (Hot topic as far as emigrating *to* England goes!)

Having said that, I'm not sure I would be terribly happy at being told I had an Aussie accent. At least not at first. At least not by Brits. If an Aussie congratulated me on my lack of accent then I suppose I would take that as a compliment, much as if a Frenchman did.

If you moved to Leeds would you be ok about picking up our accent then lol and what is perfect english ... just joking but I cant wait to shed my accent but alas I think it is too strong and will be with me for ever

:D Conscious effort to lose accent when sober, revert to type when not?:D

OzTennis :)

you're probably right Oztennis, must try harder with my conscious effort;)

Sky,
Can't comment on Leeds, but I did live in Manchester for about 8 months as a kid and started to integrate i.e. pick up the accent. It just happens.

Perhaps it happens faster in kids because they are not really that rooted yet, and also because they just let their accent naturally evolve without concious thought?...

I stayed in a holiday cabin park in Victoria last Nov. run by Brummies who had lived in oz 35yrs and I could tell immediately where they were from! Whereas my old school friends from Aylesbury have really picked up the Aussie accent, although they both say that the Aussies can tell they are Brits! :)

Aussie accent
 

There's a theory that the Aussie accent comes from British/Irish convicts and settlers getting there and having to squint a lot due to the bright sun.

Go on, try it now - squint your eyes and say 'yeah'.

Aw mate.

If anyone wants to learn the lingo to go with the accent!

http://www.abc.net.au/civics/globalc...s/ozstrine.htm
http://www4.tpg.com.au/users/bev2000/strine2.htm
http://library.trinity.wa.edu.au/sub...t/austlang.htm

OzTennis :)

To me an Australian accent is 'normal' and any other accent I hear is immediately obvious to me and sticks out a mile.

My own accent is also 'normal' to me so I don't think I sound any different to anyone else.

So I still get a shock everytime I call someone I know on the phone here and they know it's me immediately - even though I only said hello. I'm always told that it's my very strong English accent.

Naturally, family in the UK think I sound like Dame Edna.

The other strange thing about accents is I only have to have a short conversation with anyone from South Africa - and I start clipping my words and begin to talk like them. Really wierd..

Re: Aussie accent
 

Well I'm scots/irish (born in Scotland with scots parent, live in Norn Iron mostly)and was reading 'Culture Shock Australia' this week, and I laughed at the phrases they claim to be uniquely Australian.

Togs - Swimming costume (nope Dad has always reffered to swimming costumes as togs, so Glaswegian scots origin)

Tea - Evening meal. M&D always refer to the evening meal as tea, so again Scots, maybe irish as well

Dinner - Refers to any meal, not just evening meal. Yip, I have constant arguments with Mrs JTL about what I mean when I say dinner. It CAN refer to lunch, though probably not breakfast.

Loads of other phrases all seemed familiar to me. Not so much 'Culture Shock' as 'Yes and...' :o

So I reckon I'll pick up the Aussie accent really quick. It doesn't help that I'm working with a bunch of Aussies in Glasgow already, I keep catching myself refering to everyone as 'mate' , and saying 'no worries'

Cheers,
JTL