picking up accents

[sparkle_1979]

does it annoy you when people move to an area and suddenly start talking with an accent.

To be honest I think it is put on as I've lived in Scotland 7 yrs and dont have a hint of scottish plus my Dad was scottish but Istill talk with the accent from where Im from.

Just asking because today I spoke to a friend who moved to oz 3 yrs ago and she has really picked up the accent. I know it is likely you will pick up words ect but really do you think you can completly change an accent without wanting to?

 

[oOKayOo]

Yes you can , im an Aussie and moved to the Uk and i have a very british Accent now, My brother also has a very stong British accent , moved back out to Aus and then 2 years later he has the strongest Australian Accent.

 

[Panda_Ally]

Aussie accent imo is soo easy to pick up! I lived with some aussies for 2 months ish about 3 years ago, still today people ask me where in australia i'm from. It's not like im putting an accent on or anything!!! I've lived in nottingham 2 and a bit years and i dont think I've picked up the accent AT ALL. Thats with consiously not tho, i really don't like it as i think it sounds common. (i realise thats really snobby)

 

[AppleBlossom]

I watched a programme the other week and a family had moved to Florida. The parents and son were still very British but the daughter had a strong American accent :/

 

[Lara310809]

Haha, I moved to Gibraltar 6 months ago, and when I speak to locals, I end up speaking a little like they do. I'ts not a conscious decision, and when I speak to someone back in the UK I speak with my normal English accent. I don't know why I do it; must be in-built. I used to criticise people for doing it, because I thought they were doing it by choice, but now I realise it's automatic for some people.

You mention the Aussie accent; my mum was born in the Congo, so she picked up the local accent, but then moved to Belgium when she was little. If you hear her now, she could be confused with a South African, because she has the Belgian accent, but with a twang. When I was little, I copied the way she said a few words, and people have confused me for Aussie/NZ. I actually had an argument with one guy because he was so sure I was from either Oz or NZ, he was like "say Tesco", so I said it, and he replied saying "you're from Oz; if you were from NZ you would have said tisco" I'm English!

Also I know a family whose mother is Canadian. She's lived in the UK for years, so has a Mid-Atlantic accent. As her sons have grown up, a few of them have gone over to Canada to work for a year, and they all come back with really strong Canadian accents, despite having grown up with a mother with the same accent, and not having picked it up from her! They now say "you want some budder?" and we have to say "it's buTTer!"

 

[suzib76]

no it doesnt annoy me at all,

from age 0 up until 15 i lived both england and scotland, back to england, back to scotland - you get the picture moved a lot lol

i became very adept with changing accents to help me fit in as a child, and even now when i am in england for longer than a week or so it comes back

just to add its not a put on thing, for me my accent has been and i guess always will be changeable - some people are just like that

 

[lozzy21]

Some people just pick it up easier. OH is originaly from lancashire but moved to teesside when he was 11. When at home or speeking to me he still has a twang but nothing prominant but when he talkes to his dad he has the broadest lancahire accent.

 

[xJG30]

I think you can if you've been there long enough. I've knocked about with people with strong accents for years and always seem to pick them up.. not deliberately.

 

[pinkish_angel]

I moved to lincolnshire when I was 21 and although I didnt pick up an accent (there isnt really a strong accent there), I did lose my own (Im from wolverhampton lol). My daughters dad is from yorkshire and after 5 years with him I picked up certain words (not so much the accent). I moved back to wolverhampton a few years ago and my accent has gone back to being very broad again x

 

[Essie]

I'm a sponge for accents! It's not deliberate but if i spend a lot of time with people who have a strong accent I start to pick it up. I've always wondered if it's a psychological bonding thing or something?

 

[lulu61388]

i have a friend that moved to america when we were both 8 years old from south africa and she speaks like a red blooded american now lol.

 

[malia]

I pick up accents wherever I go, there's no hint of my original one left, I have a weird one that's like a mix of 3 different accents

 

[bump_wanted]

i could go on holiday for 2 weeks and come back with an accent lol xx

 

[Eala]

I'm a sponge for accents! It's not deliberate but if i spend a lot of time with people who have a strong accent I start to pick it up. I've always wondered if it's a psychological bonding thing or something?

This is absolutely true of me. I always describe myself as an accent chameleon!

It's not "put on", it's not deliberate, it's not even conscious. My accent changes depending on who I'm with/talking to.

I'm Scottish, but my husband is English, so I generally default to an English accent in the house. But if one of my (Glaswegian) friends phones, I'll go right back to broad Scottish. Similarly, if my friend from Northern Ireland phones, I'll pick up an Irish twang.

It's just the way I've always been If I try and consciously "hold on" to my accent, then I think I sound weird!

 

[sequeena]

I can't lose my accent no matter what I do I don't care how other people speak either

 

[Missy86]

I pick up accents really easily, I used to work on the wirral but lived in North Wales I used to go home sounding like a scouser haha

I have lived in that many places my accent is a complete jumble

 

[Nathyrra]

I lived in Northern Ireland for 3 years, and left approx. 6 years ago. Apparently I have a NI accent according to my English family! Though I don't think I do.

Funnily enough, an American came up to my German husband the other month and told him he has an Irish accent. So I guess he must have got that from being around me. Weird though!

 

[jenny_wren]

i pick up accents really easilly
if im on holiday or around people with accents
i literally change over night ​

 

[Sanctuary]

Definitely, I have picked up a mix of a lot of different British accents I sound stupid

 

[binxyboo]

I have what I call 'Wandering Accent Syndrome'. I cannot help picking up accents wherever I go.
I am born and bred in the South of England (Hampshire) and hubby is a Yorkshire Lad. I have picked up bits of the north, and he actually talks like a true southerner!
However, I hate it when he goes back to his parents for the weekend, because I then need a translator to understand him!!