rabsody

Wash your mouth out with soap young man, it's da-ta!

What about project: pro-ject or (the other one )?!

bcworld

Ah but da-ta and dayta is also a UK north south divide thing - I think you southerners have always been da-ta people, us northern savages more into dayta! Although I have noticed geordies saying da-ta, or actually more like daaaaa-a!

And project for sure!

rabsody

Say no more

JoanL

Unless you make a deliberate effort, the end of puberty is the dividing line, usually, between picking up the new accent, or maintaining your own...It is also the dividing line between absorbing a new foreign language which is all around you, ie if you move to another language area, or having to learn it the hard way. Post-puberty you'll probably never become totally fluent in the new language or accent - you'll always have a tiny bit of an accent.

Mind you, it IS true that southerners blend in better than northerners like me...this must have summat to do with London judges having been the most enthusiastic about choosing the 18th and 19th century arrivals....hence strine derives from cockney.

I think we all pick up Aussie expressions and then we use them in our old accents, adding to the general linguistic confusion.

spartacus

I'll vouch for that one, data with a silent 't'.

stevemich

I read somehwere once that once a child gets to around 12, their accent is mostly set and will not change much.
Obviously there are exceptions, and if kids deliberately force the accent to fit in or whatever that may be a factor when they are older.
I think it is unusual for an adult to change accents at all, but will deffo () pick up the lingo which is a compromise

bridie

wish i could pick it up, fed up of well meaning people asking "where are you from?" after three years....

bridie

Know what you mean, I always say "hey, how's it going?" on the phone now.... but still can't use pants instead of trousers....

DebraH

my two boys picked it esp the eldest, but he did mix with more aussie kids than the youngest (he had a fair few brits in his class at school).

Saying that I've noticed that quite a few Brits say "no worries" and how yer going without the aussie accent though

The O'Neills

I've been back from Oz for 12 years, and I still get people asking if i'm Australian!

JoanL

Still goes on after 30 years.....I like the one where they ask how long I've been here. If they are under 30, I say "longer than you"

Chipster

I think it depends very much on the individual.
How easily influenced they are by the accents around them, how sociable they are too I believe has a factor, and how much you want to change.

I'm from Lancashire and have lived in Essex for 21 years. I still have a Lancashire accent and my accent even when I lived in Lancashire would not be described as a strong Lancashire accent.
I'm quite quiet and introverted and I think that plays a part in why my accent hasn't changed much. Also I don't like the accent most people speak with in Essex so don't want to speak like that. (Sorry Essex people).
When I go home friends do detect a slight southern accent but not much of one.

I have a friend who moved from Yorkshire to Essex when he was 15, now in his 30's, he has a strong cockney/Essex accent.

I also have a friend who is from South Wales, he's lived in Essex/Suffolk for about 15 years, since his 20's and has lost his Welsh accent.

Regarding Dayta/da-ta I work in IT and I wouldn't say that it is a North/South thing. The only people who say da-ta I know of are Aussies and Kiwis.

Cheers
Dave

BadgeIsBack

I think people, especially Londoners, and southerners pick up a bit, in fact people change in some ways whether they realise it or not, (or deny it) and you'll probably speak slower than before.

It ends up the case that you sound like a Brit to the Australians, (you're not an Aussie) and an Aussie to the Brits (something else there), so 'No man's' land.

Edit - just a thought - you know that your accent or diction has changed when English people sound very strange whether new migrants or people on TV, I find some Brit accents on TV almost unbelievable/unfathomable now. "Where did they get that from?"

B

Jaycee1

I grew up in Australia and returned to UK aged 13.
I fully lost the Aussie accent when I was about 18.
We are hoping to return and I was wondering if I would get the accent back!!
J x

MillsyandtheTroop

We only went on holiday to Oz for a few weeks and came back saying 'no worries'! Was very easy to pick bits up without thinking about it