Accent changes
 

Hi all,
We lived in the USA when my daughter was born and my step son (who I have raised since he was 2)
When we came back to the UK 10 years ago my son was 8 and my daughter was 4, my son still sounds American with an English twang, my daughter has completely lost her American accent. We are moving back in July and it got me thinking wondering if their accents will change? When I was there I picked up Americanisms stroller, sneakers, diapers etc but I think my accent stayed the same but people here said I had a "twang" it's completely gone now. :thumbsup:I remember coming back and hearing little English kids, they sounded so cute until I got used to it.

So has your accent changed? Do you hear English accents now and think it sounds odd?

Kelly

Re: Accent changes
 

My accent hasn't changed much since I was eight years old when my family left Sheffield.

I spent ten years in Glawster and picked up nothing of the local drawl. I then went to uni in Landan, and worked there until I left for the US, and picked up nothing of the accent there. It is unsurprising to me that after 14 years in NC I haven't picked up little or nothing of the local accent here either. This is unlike my sister who picks up the local accent about five minutes after she arrives somewhere and changes it whenever the wind changes direction! :lol:

That said I use lots of the local lingo and pronunciations - just in a mild Sheffield accent! :lol: So on moving to the US I immediately switched to "tomayto" and "gah-rahje", and very quickly to "wadder" and "ledduce", after experiencing blank looks in restaurants and sandwich shops. I also find "y'all" invaluable. :nod:

Re: Accent changes
 

I have moved more toward a big standard middle class English accent and away from my regional accent as a way to be understood in America, with the odd American word thrown in like Depot.

Re: Accent changes
 

I have never changed the pronunciation of any word (no tuhmayters here!) and have always been understood. However, I do cringe when I hear my recorded voice these days as I have, albeit unintentionally, picked up a definite US "twang."

Re: Accent changes
 

This subject has made me laugh as this is very much on my mind! We move out in a couple of weeks and this is worrying me! Hubby thinks if we went on a long holiday l would pick up the accent but in truth a long weekend would probably do it!! Haha! Everyone says our 5 yr old will pick up the accent in no time but suspect it will be me first! My dad who spends a lot of time in the states says just speak American with a British accent but think that is easier said then done!!

Re: Accent changes
 

My accent has not changed. Our daughter was 11 and her accent did not change. Shortly after moving to the US someone mentioned that if you move before the age of 11 you will adopt that country's accent...after 11 it is less likely. I found this to be true.

Re: Accent changes
 

My scouse husband lived in Australia between the ages of 40 - 65 - he didn't lose his scouse accent and I still occasionally have trouble understanding him :lol:

Re: Accent changes
 

I have been in South Africa 8 years. Children were 7 and 3 when we came here. We all still sound very English. I am still very South-East London but the children have I think more of a neutral English accent. Someone once described their accents as 'International'.

It will be interesting to see what happens to our accents when we move to Texas!

Re: Accent changes
 

We moved from Glasgow to Toronto when I was 6 and my brother was almost 9. I lost my accent within about 2 years (3 years for my brother). I don't know about him, but I consciously tried to sound "local" so others wouldn't notice.

When I moved to the US, I did the same thing. I deliberately tried to sound "local" so others wouldn't notice. Now, after 19+ years, my southern twang has become my "natural" speech. As Pulaski notes, I find "y'all" to be invaluable. Also "bless your heart" and "yes sir/ma'am" to almost everyone regardless of their age.

Ian

Re: Accent changes
 

My wife and I have been married for over forty years. I find that if I raise my voice and speak slowly, she will often understand me.

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That happens in reverse at our house. But I think that is caused by selective hearing, not my Essex/Texas accent;):lol:

Re: Accent changes
 

Hmm. Both my kids were born in SA. They're 35 and 32 now, and have never lived anywhere else. My son has a noticeably SA accent, but my daughter does sound more 'international' as you put it, with a lot of SA vocabulary.

Re: Accent changes
 

The most prominent change for me is using the American version of "tomato" as I don't go for them much and find myself asking restaurant servers to keep them off my food. :lol:

Re: Accent changes
 

I've more-or-less kept my mostly-neutral-English-with-a-slight-Scottish-twang accent but I found myself having to say certain words the American way - as I work with telephony, I usually have to use "rowting' instead of 'rooting' when talking about call or network routing. Other than that I still use the UK English for water or tomato. Thankfully I haven't had to ask for aubergines or courgettes yet..

Re: Accent changes
 

If I work on a project with a group of Indians, after a few weeks I feel like I'm speaking with an Indian intonation! And when I go back to the UK, I tend to 'revert' back to a British sound, for a short period.

I find, more generally, that I adapt to whoever I'm surrounded by without thinking, so I've naturally adopted an American accent. Others I know remain as "British sounding" as the day they arrived.

I do view it as an advantage to have a British accent, over here, so I'm certainly not trying to lose mine ... but it's almost gone.

Certain words just sound 'wrong' now, when spoken in their British form - 'Schedule' being the most noticeable (I say 'skedule').

Re: Accent changes
 

I was shuttlecocked back and forth between England and Germany as a child whilst my warring parents tried to decide who would be able to best care for us....

Anyway, I was always told that I sounded like a foreigner when I first arrived back in England after a few years or months in Germany. I'm bilingual and have been my whole life but it's more than just words and accent. It's mannerisms as well. I have a German name and speak the language perfectly but Germans will often say there is something about my mannerisms that makes me "un-German".

I have only been living in the USA since December so my accent hasn't changed at all yet. I have toyed with changing pronunciations of things for the benefit of the locals (in particular "route" - a word us airline employees use a lot!) and whether I should say "gas" instead of "petrol". I have come to the conclusion that where we use a completely different word (courgettes, bonnet, boot, etc) I will use the American word but I'm not going down the "tomaytuh" route (or rowt!) because I have no problem understanding their accent so they should have no trouble understanding mine. It's just lazy if they say they can't. My husband has always been able to understand me from day one. And he's never set foot inside the U.K.

Those whose accents have changed - have your mannerisms changed also?

Re: Accent changes
 

We came to the US in 2003 when our daughter was 11. She hated being the centre of attention at school and so made a conscious effort to drop the English accent. Nowadays, most of her friends/colleagues are completely unaware that she is English. That is until they hear her talking to Mom & Dad at which point she (apparently) reverts to her English accent.

I still have my Brummie accent although tend to Americanize some words like Tomayto, warder, trunk, hood, etc. just to avoid having to repeat myself. I will also use zee rather than zed and have caught myself doing that in my head as well.:unsure:

I rarely use y'all but find 'fixin' to be such a useful word.:nod:

I don't think I have ever been accused of sounding American on trips back to Blighty.

My wife is a Yorkshire lass who stubbornly refuses to assimilate.:p

Re: Accent changes
 

:thumbsup:

Re: Accent changes
 

I will say Football Soccer rather than just Football, sometimes.

And clarify Cart if I say Trolley.

They have to learn.

Re: Accent changes
 

I am from Glasgow, lived in Texas and St Louis since 1996. Over here everyone says my Scottish accent is very, strong, my (American) husband says its incomprehensible at times. When I go home to Scotland, they all say I sound totally American with no Scottish left!

Re: Accent changes
 

I am an Indian and lived in the US for 14 years. My accent did not change and was easily understood by everyone there. I did have to pronounce things differently, like rolling the "R's" and as @Steerpike mentioned "Skedule" for Schedule. Also pronouncing Z as "Zee" in stead of "Zed". I found it difficult to change that after moving to Australia.

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I just say "Association Football," "Rugby Football," "Australian Rules Football," "Gridiron Football," etc. as appropriate. Drum it into them long enough, and they'll learn -

Re: Accent changes
 

How has this been going so far? I am guessing this is still a work-in-progress. :unsure:

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Never say die. I'm taking the long view.

Re: Accent changes
 

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Re: Accent changes
 

Been here 5 years. Twins were 5 when we moved. One sounds like a native (has an ear for accents so I think he made a choice to blend) and the other sounds like a Brit although he automatically uses US words (he seems to like the attention). 7 year old (now 12) sounds like a Brit but think he would love to blend in as he doesn't like the attention.

Re: Accent changes
 

The Indians I've worked with over here (and that's a LOT, at this point, in 34 years in IT!) not only have an accent, but have a whole other dynamic going on ... a 'rhythm' of sorts ... typically speak very fast, in an almost monotonic manner, but with short modulations ... hard to describe. Also, just out of interest, I've noticed many Indians will move their head in sync with the 'modulations' I'm referring to, and will also shake their heads (in the manner used to indicate 'no' to Brits) to indicate yes ... all good fun! One of my favorite recent Indian expressions learned from my tech guys is 'Please do the meaningful'.

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I have spoken with a lot of Indians over the years, and recognize what you're describing. I can tune-in to Indians on the phone fairly well in most cases, but I can understand why most Americans struggle with calls to Indian call centers .... And the phrase that has stuck in my mind is "do the needful" meaning "I would like you to do whatever is necessary".

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Talking about Indians and their accents, I think most NPR listeners will be familiar with the newsreader Lakshmi Singh. She started on NPR fifteen or twenty years ago and had a pretty strong Indian accent. Now you wouldn't know she wasn't a native born American. I don't detect an accent when she speaks now, but maybe Americans can ....

Re: Accent changes
 

Haha I think there is a Yorkshire trend here! Although we have only been here a very short time I also refuse to change my accent or pronunciation (fellow Yorkshire lass) :p I'm not typical Yorkshire sounding but the stubbornness is there lol!

My daughter is 8 and changed her accent the minute she heard the other kids :rofl:

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She appears to have intended to "go native" here in the US as her last name isn't "Kaur". ;)

Re: Accent changes
 

I had to look that up, very interesting.

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There is a Mrs Singh in my office, or at least there was, but she is of British or European ancestry, so doesn't really count.

Re: Accent changes
 

Head bobbing is the way we get away with most of the questions. People don't know whether we are saying yes or no LOL. In all seriousness, I haven't lived in India for about 15 years now, so I have lost most of my habits from India. I did not take the effort to bring in the American accent while I was there as I felt it wasn't needed. No matter how American I sound, people will still know I am an Indian and for some reason it sounds fake. I have seen some Indians try to speak with an American accent and I can find out in a second that they are from India. I just spoke slowly and clearly and that was enough for me over the last 14 years in the US and the few months I have been in Australia. Did not feel the need to put on an accent till now.