Catchafire

I love New Zealand, I love living here, I love the people. I am proud to be the parent to two beautiful young kiwi girls.

Except my eldest is now saying things like

burd=bird
Fhirst=first
hoorts=hurts

And it really annoys me!

So I encourage her to say it the "proper British" way, hopefully without coming across as a intolerant bigoted d*&khead.

How did it work out with your kids?

barnsleymat

Have they started saying 'hey' at the end of every sentence too?

Bo-Jangles

I guess they'll end up being confused all their lives and afraid of saying the wrong thing and likely they will talk like that outside of the home to spite you and fit in with school friends.

My own parents have accents that are very different to the locale where we was brung up and I have ingrained in me the pronounciation of certain words according to my parents teachings, which neither reconcile with my own accent nor that of my 'home' town. I was always in trouble for saying the wrong thing.

Much to my own annoyance and despite resistance to it, I can often hear those dreadful Kiwi sounds come out of my own mouth. I think I need a trip back to the old country to be reprogrammed.

MrsFychan

caught myself the other month say "a" at the end of a sentence.
my youngest started with saying tin instead of ten.

my eldest 12 mumbles so much that half the time even if it is english we are at a lost to what she is saying ayway

as long as they don't pick up the habit of swearing in every sentence we shall just continue to take the mikey out of them

simonmarkellis

The wife gets me....

Sweet as.....
Wet as......
Thirsty as....
Hungry as....


As what?

Catchafire

My eldest is only 5, but her best friend is "Kiwi as", like an extra from Outrageous Fortune.

So, thats what to expect from kids going to a Kiwi school.

I do not really mind her speaking Kiwi, just not in this house!

Bo-Jangles

I hear early years kids of some friends around these parts and to me they sound more Transatlantic than anything else, I think too much Dora the Explorer is to blame for that.

It doesn't end there, the older ones all like you know, so like, totally like Valley girls, like!

Snap Shot

That's the mystery. I used to struggle with the expression, 'as kiwi as'. I didn't know what the end of the sentence was. I now realise it's just left hanging. It's not like it's taken as read that it's as kiwi as jandals or as kiwi as a Swandri etc etc.

It's about as useful as, 'know what I mean ?' When, as it goes, you don't.

Or worse still, 'I was as hungry as, eh'. Um, do I agree or sympathise, or what ?

'I was as wet as'. As you say, as what ? Finish the goddam sentence can't you ?

Perry Groves

We watch "Are you being served", and "It ain't half hot mum"....seems to help

M_and_M

I am a teacher and have had to adapt how I say things to make myself understood by the kids. Accents are inevitable. I wouldn't worry. My mum was living in the UK (from Ireland) for most of her life but you could still hear an Irish twang in her English accent.

Persephone

You'll not be able to do much about it, they'll probably talk 'proper' at home with Dad and then talk how the rest of their class does at school. It's about fitting in. I think my dad had ideas above his station as he used to try and calm down my regional accent at times-having lived in the same place all his life and also having the same regional accent. Having said that there is a broader version of my accent that is a bit nasty so I can't blame him

And Bojangles, I also sometimes hear myself say something and think 'how Kiwi!' That's when a phone call home and listening to some NE accents gets me back on the right track
Hard when you live with a Kiwi who seems to be overplaying the accent here to distinguish himself from the Aussies...

Charismatic

It's the same accent .

BEVS

My mum too. She had a lovely lilt.

My husband has started ending all sentences on an upswing so they all sounded like questions ? Does my head in ?

Although he states that I now do the 'yes-no' thing.

Snap Shot

We watch, 'Are you being served ?' and, 'It ain't half hot mum'. For much the same reasons !

Yeah - no, is around in Britain too. Does it just grate more with a Kiwi accent.

I thought my kiwi husband's accent would come racing back as he fought to make up for lost time. Turns out it didn't which is great.

We both notice when I say, 'sit' when I was saying 'set' etc.

TommyLuck

I was discussing is the other day. My personal opinion on this is people aren't saying something that is blatantly contradictory, what they are saying is 'yes, I know'. But it's all slurred and merged in to one word 'yeah-no', which appears as of they are saying yes-no.

At least this would make sense.

I've been here 10 days and having spent 5 week in Australia prior to arriving in the NZ my two year old is picking up language tics and words.

All told (though I'd never admit this to the wife) does it really matter? If I've bought the kid to NZ is can't really blame her or take umbrage at her for having the local accent, can I?

What is odd is my wife's 19 year old cousin here in Auckland who has more of a posh American accent than anything, it definitely doesn't sound Kiwi. Think Ross and Rachel's Mum in friends, but obviously much younger. Or should I say Mom?