philian4

Hi All,

Just a quick one! How long did it take for your children to start talking like little Aussies? I noticed a change in their accents (certainly the school age ones) pretty quickly once they started school. We've been here just over 3 months and tonight on the way home in the car I was shocked to hear quite a few minutes of almost there Aussie accents-I'm finding it really wierd!!!

Can you tell there's nothing on the telly.....again!!

Phil x

NAC

It must be weird to hearing your own kids talking with an australian accent although I'm sure children will develop one pretty quickly. On the subject of accents I have also been wondering - is their a variety of australian accents depending on where you live? Can you tell if someone is from Perth or Cairns or Syndey?
There's nothing on the telly here either!
Carolyn

philian4

Hi,

there is a differnce in regional accents..........but they all sound the same to me so far!

It is strange hearing their accents change......although it's irritating when they argue no matter what they sound like!!!!!

xx

island.girl

hello! sorry not exactly about ozzy accents but i noticed it said u were heading to wollongong are u there now? as that is where we are planning on going and thought id say HI!! and what can u tell us about the place!?

sj oldfield

My 2 boys have 'defo' picked up both the slang and the twang.............I have also noticed that my own accent is also changing.........whooaa, thats scarey!!!! :scared:

Merlot

Kids seem to pick up accents much quicker, I had a twang after 7 years though it has gone now back in the UK.

I think that Northerner like myself tend to keep their English accents a lot longer in Oz.

M

wmoore

I heard that too. Though my accent has changed every time I've moved to another area, or taken a job ina different area so I expect to have a twang at the very least.

Kids though: I've got a mate who spent a year in Canberra about 10 years ago. He said his kids (aged about 5 and 7) picked up the accent almost straight away but that they had lost it as soon as they stepped off the plane back in Manchester

68MEVY

Kids are able to change their accents to fit in with their surroundings. My family moved to Scotland from Plymouth when I was 3 and I was speaking in their accent after about a week at nursery, we then moved to the East Coast of England when I was 4 and straight away I was back to using an English accent. Now in Sheffield I don't know how long it took me to pick up the yorkie accent but I do remember having the pee taken out of me at school, and for some reason everyone wanted me to say 'potato' all the time.
Marie

wmoore

Merlot

I had to give up saying "bowl" as in "bowl of cereal" as they did not understand that, I had to say dish.

Also, asking for a "Coke" at the bar was met with confused looks, had to say the full "Coca Cola".

M

philian4

OMG have you got a week!!!! We've been here for 3 1/2 months and love the place. We found it after our reccie visit when we had thought we would end up in either Sydney or Queensland! Came to visit my friends mum who lived in Thirroul at the time and fell in love with the place! The locals call it God's little secret......!

We live in Woonona a suburb to the north of Wollongong (10 minute drive) my morning walk takes me 15 mins to get to a beach and we're about as far away as you can get! The escarpment restricts the size of the northern suburbs so we know our view will always be escarpment or ocean.

I can give you low down on anywhere, if I don't know I'll find out for you. Are you coming for a reccie first or just turning up? Friends live in Inner West Sydney and it takes us an hour to get to them. PM me and I'll tell you more......don't want to bore everyone here.

For what it's worth I reckon you've made an excellent choice affordable housing and near everything

Speak soon,

Phil x

debreeve

i have 2 boys 18 & 22 hadnt heard the change myself in them as i thought they were to old to lose their accents but louis [18]has gone back to uk for a long visit & all the freinds & family say he sounds like an aussie ,but i bet he still has that norfolk twang!! . miss him like crazy.

philian4

Hehehe

I have a friend from Sunderland who now lives in Worcester and her kids wet themselves when Mummy offers them a Coke!!!!

gdcollectables

Hi

I'm in Adelaide and haven't found the Aussie accent here too strong. In fact they don't realise I'm not Aussie, just posh Melbourne!?

The other day I was at the relies and met their new lodger - I couldn't understand a word she said! Apparently she was from North of Sydney somewhere - is the accent different there?

(My son is a big hit with the girls here - they think he sounds like Prince Will - so he's going to try and hang on to his accent as long as possible)!!

philian4

Dunno, the only Sydney sider I know is originally from Merseyside.........so if you couldn't understand a Sydney accent, you'd have no chance understanding her!!!!! Everyone here talks very nasaly-is that just an Aussie thing or just Sydney????