Do you ever lose your British accent? Do you need too?!
Jul 27th 2004, 7:12 am
#1
Melbourne, St Kilda
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: St Kilda Melbourne
Posts: 115
Do you ever lose your British accent? Do you need too?!
Hi there,
Just wondered whether people have started to take on a local Aussie accent. I still get people turning around in shops to have a look at the pommy when they hear me speak. Also as I look young for my age (26) so people always assume I am a backpacker!
I can just imagine in 50 years time people still calling me a pommy bastard and asking how my holiday is going! (in the nicest possible way!).
Just wondered whether people have started to take on a local Aussie accent. I still get people turning around in shops to have a look at the pommy when they hear me speak. Also as I look young for my age (26) so people always assume I am a backpacker!
I can just imagine in 50 years time people still calling me a pommy bastard and asking how my holiday is going! (in the nicest possible way!).
Last edited by joninoxford; Jul 27th 2004 at 7:14 am.
Jul 27th 2004, 7:41 am
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2004
Location: The hills, Perth WA
Posts: 589
Well, living in Townsville, am sure your imagination will be reality
Why u living there...u into crock hunting ?
well am scottish....but certainly dont see it fading judging by the fewllow scots i have met her. They have no aussie twang at all!!
Why u living there...u into crock hunting ?
well am scottish....but certainly dont see it fading judging by the fewllow scots i have met her. They have no aussie twang at all!!
Jul 27th 2004, 7:44 am
#3
Melbourne, St Kilda
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: St Kilda Melbourne
Posts: 115
I'm in Townsville because my Aussie girlfriend got a job at James Cook University, and we decide to try and make ago of it for the life experience... Lovely place but no bloody jobs so I think we will head back to Melbourne sometime soon!
Jul 27th 2004, 8:58 am
#4
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Joined: Jun 2002
Location: Gold Coast- the best place in the world
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I have met lots of Poms out here that have been here for 5 yrs plus. None of them have lost their accents and you can recognise them a mile off!
Even the South Africans still speak with the same accent. I think your accent may often a bit but that is about it!
Even the South Africans still speak with the same accent. I think your accent may often a bit but that is about it!
Jul 27th 2004, 10:09 am
#5
Home and Happy
Joined: Dec 2002
Location: Keep true friends and puppets close, trust no-one else...
Posts: 93,807
Us southerners tend to lose them easier than the northerners - they seem to still be as broad as ever after 30 or 40 years!
Jul 27th 2004, 10:23 am
#6
You sip .... I glug !!!
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Over the hill!
Posts: 2,790
I think you do lose it slightly but just dont recognise it.
After I had been in Scotland a few years all my scottish mates used to say I had an aussie accent but any time I phoned backed to OZ the rellies would say how scottish I sounded.
Now after 24 years away from OZ and also having a scottish hubby, I sound pure scots.
After I had been in Scotland a few years all my scottish mates used to say I had an aussie accent but any time I phoned backed to OZ the rellies would say how scottish I sounded.
Now after 24 years away from OZ and also having a scottish hubby, I sound pure scots.
Jul 27th 2004, 10:24 am
#7
You sip .... I glug !!!
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Over the hill!
Posts: 2,790
forgot to say, it also depends on the age that you move.
The younger you are the more likely you are to lose your original accent.
The younger you are the more likely you are to lose your original accent.
Jul 27th 2004, 10:25 am
#8
She's a bird, you know
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 7,655
Takes me about 3 days to adopt a garbled aussie-english accent whenever I'm in Oz. After a year in an outback town, most people passing through thought I was an aussie.
On the other hand, it also takes me about 3 days to lose any traces of an aussie accent and revert to pom!
On the other hand, it also takes me about 3 days to lose any traces of an aussie accent and revert to pom!
Jul 27th 2004, 10:27 am
#9
MODERATOR
Joined: Nov 2002
Location: Redneck Wonderland
Posts: 9,932
Aye oop ise reckon that be riyte.
Seriously, I know couples from Liverpool, Manchester/Salford, Teesside and Dorset, all have been here for 30+ yrs [10 pound poms] all still have accents easily recognised as U.K dialects
They came over as adults, though one couple brought teenagers and they have no accent other than Australian. I guess if you go to school here you loose the accent more easily.
Seriously, I know couples from Liverpool, Manchester/Salford, Teesside and Dorset, all have been here for 30+ yrs [10 pound poms] all still have accents easily recognised as U.K dialects
They came over as adults, though one couple brought teenagers and they have no accent other than Australian. I guess if you go to school here you loose the accent more easily.
Originally posted by Pollyana
Us southerners tend to lose them easier than the northerners - they seem to still be as broad as ever after 30 or 40 years!
Us southerners tend to lose them easier than the northerners - they seem to still be as broad as ever after 30 or 40 years!
Jul 27th 2004, 10:32 am
#10
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 2,666
Try being married ot a kiwi, living there 2yrs then coming to Aus...i never know what accent is going to spring out when i speak these days ... 
Jul 27th 2004, 10:37 am
#11
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Joined: Oct 2003
Location: Nappyland
Posts: 2,886
Originally posted by bundy
Takes me about 3 days to adopt a garbled aussie-english accent whenever I'm in Oz. After a year in an outback town, most people passing through thought I was an aussie.
On the other hand, it also takes me about 3 days to lose any traces of an aussie accent and revert to pom!
Takes me about 3 days to adopt a garbled aussie-english accent whenever I'm in Oz. After a year in an outback town, most people passing through thought I was an aussie.
On the other hand, it also takes me about 3 days to lose any traces of an aussie accent and revert to pom!
I have a Melburnian mate staying with us in the UK at the moment (arrived yesterday) and already I can feel my intonation rising at the end of each sentence!!!
Jul 27th 2004, 11:16 am
#12
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Posts: 1,384
I've been working in a nursing home where many residents are poms who've been here 30plus years, I think there are about 30 and they bear out Pollys theory, the northerners (midlands upwards) have all retained their accents but the southerners tend to sound ausie. One lady who has been here for38 years came from the same place as me and sounds brummier than most brummies i know!
Jul 27th 2004, 12:10 pm
#13
99.99999% there !
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: Essex, England, UK
Posts: 378
Oh god, I hope not ! 
I never want to lose my sophisticated mockney Essex accent.
(tongue firmly in cheek)
I never want to lose my sophisticated mockney Essex accent.
(tongue firmly in cheek)
Jul 27th 2004, 12:11 pm
#14
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,277
Originally posted by joninoxford
I'm in Townsville because my Aussie girlfriend got a job at James Cook University, and we decide to try and make ago of it for the life experience... Lovely place but no bloody jobs so I think we will head back to Melbourne sometime soon!
I'm in Townsville because my Aussie girlfriend got a job at James Cook University, and we decide to try and make ago of it for the life experience... Lovely place but no bloody jobs so I think we will head back to Melbourne sometime soon!
You'll be okay in Melbourne: they all sound English to me.
Cheers
Alistair (a Welshman with a hint of Cockney)
Jul 27th 2004, 12:32 pm
#15
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,360
Originally posted by HiddenPaw
I have a Melburnian mate staying with us in the UK at the moment (arrived yesterday) and already I can feel my intonation rising at the end of each sentence!!!
I have a Melburnian mate staying with us in the UK at the moment (arrived yesterday) and already I can feel my intonation rising at the end of each sentence!!!
I know what you mean, I lived in Lincoln for many years and whenever I am with people with a northern-type accent I feel myself slipping back into the "eh up duck"-type accent!
It's strange....
Unfortunately I know have a definite "kentish" accent, and am looking forward to dropping it in favour of an aussie twang
