Twinkle0927

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?

chawkins99

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.

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

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.

spouse of scouse

scrubbedexpat099

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

And clarify Cart if I say Trolley.

They have to learn.

Glasgow Girl

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!

giri26

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.

robin1234

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 -

Pulaski

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

robin1234

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

MidAtlantic

mum 2 3

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.

Steerpike

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'.

Pulaski

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".

robin1234

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 ....

jellybean_17

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) 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