tony126

I done a public announcement this morning in a Church. Afterwards a man came upto me and asked if I was Autralian? Nothing unusaual there you might say. This guy was a Scot.!!!!!!!!!! It was the way I said schedule with a sh instead of sked, he said.

NC Penguin

He's from MA (Boston?)...


NC Penguin

NC Penguin

How about answering, "My name is Elizabeth but I prefer Liz"?


NC Penguin

Ray

Or Hi ... they call me ..big tits ...

bugman

The best is travelling anywhere through a really small town, say under 5000 people, a quick stop at a cafe for a coffee and you'd think i'd walked into 'the slaughtered lamb' of 'American werewolf in London' fame, as soon as i speak you see heads turning and a quick glance over just to see what type of person that odd language eminated from.

Ive also been asked was I irish, Scottish, australian, Kiwi oh and english from time to time, as it stands i was born in Wales. you should have seen the county clerks face when i showed her my birth certificate in order to get married!! Its half in Welsh and half English, for a while she refused to believe it was even real, I think she thought i was having a joke with her, she got her supervisor over who luckily gave it the OK! Funny though. And understandable as bak in the UK in May I was on the train to manchester and a local guy asked his wife was that 'french' as he pointed to the welsh language signs in the train!! He was being serious too, must have thought we were on the chunnel train.

bugman.

Paul S

has my wife been posting on here

Ray

Noit that I know off ... But it could be she should ....

Partystar

Like Tony Sinclair?!?!

Rodney you plonker

My wife is from there...... I am glad she doesn't talk like him, he sounded like a right poof.

paddingtongreen

I'm not trying to get up anyones nose, here, but the question seems odd. At home, my mother made us "speak properly", but I went to school in West London, West Kensington in fact, and so had to have a West London accent as well. We spent summers with my grandparents in Taunton, and they had broad Somerset accents, so that was another one we needed; you need to know what "Will 'ee urn erran vrai?" means when Grandma asks.

When I started work, I worked with Geordies and Glaswegians amongst others, neither of rhem, could I have understood, if they had not developed second or third accents for work.

Coming to the States, I had to add another modified accent, since I needed to communicate with American fellow workers.

What is the difference in developing additional accents to get by in the UK, and doing the same in the USA? because I doubt that many people haven't had to adapt at some time before coming.

I think it is a bit much to expect the host country to adapt to the newcomer, rether than vice versa. In the UK, did you think that you should have adapted to visitors? or did you think they should have learned "English" English?

bugman

if you are querying my original question what i was asking was simply 'how has the way you speak changed?'

I know for a fact that the way i speak here in Illinois is different than back in UK, the same thing happened to a lesser degree in NZ, i have not developed an American accent, but i have slowed down and made my words clearer and will use duifferent words. I know most people locally havent heard a lancs accent. I am in effect making an effort to make myself understood by others. This is often most useful when i speak to primarily spanish speakers.

The first week i ever visited the USA i went to a real ma and pa burrito bar, the guy in there simply could not understand me when i asked for a pork burrito, I eventually just had to point. he could understand English well enough but my accent threw him totally. I quickly learned what was easily understood and not. Believe you me i am not the kind of guy who goes to Spain demanding 'warburtons' bread and throws on a thick accent at the locals!! Thats just plain rude.



bugman.

Celtic_Angel

oh yeah , repeating myself soon got very old.....I'm from Wales so I know what you mean about feeling like you have to turn on a posher accent to be understood *lol* , that was years ago though, dunno what my accent's morphed into now but my American friends assure me I still sound very British

Scouse Express

Errrrrr! Yer Wha Lad?????????


Jim.

Jerseygirl

I don't have an accent...I'm from Yorkshire.

Irn-bru

I say it with a sked!!
I'm not losing my accent for anybody. I hate these brits that have horrible fake american accents!