picking up accents

[cleckner04]

I agree it can just be picked up. If I'm down south I accidentally add a twang to some of my words. I feel like a crazy person when I catch myself doing it though.

I have a teacher that was originally from a southern state and moved up north 20 years previously and she still had the southern accent. I often wondered if it was just a show because I couldn't understand how she'd still have an accent after all those years.

 

[Eala]

My husband is the complete opposite of me though! The more different the accents of people around him, the more he holds onto his One of my other friends is like that too. She's lived all over the place, but still has a very strong Scottish accent.

There's probably a research study in this somewhere

 

[x-amy-x]

It tends to be easier to communicate with people when you pick up an accent. Given that your around the people with that accent of course. Yeah, it can be put on, but makes understanding eachother loads easier lol. My accent stays the same where ever... scruffy as LOL

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

It makes me cringe now but when I was a child and in my early teens I deliberately tried to to speak with a more local 'estaury' accent because people laughed at me for being 'posh' - the way I speak naturally is RP I guess. I can understand the desire to fit in, although I also find it a little bit annoying.

My OH is a scouser and it is already interesting to see how Ruby is talking, she seems to use OH's vowel pronounciations so far!

 

[MissMummyMoo]

Scruffy as

It doesn't annoy me but I know it is pretty easy to pick up accents. I met some lovely ladies from here and when I was talking to OH about them I was talking in their accent and OH found it so funny So I don't think its something that can be put on. If your around the accent a lot your bound to pick it up x

 

[sparkle_1979]

Thanks for all the replies seems just me who finds it annoying lol....
xxxxxx

 

[v2007]

I lived in Leeds for 17 years and i have lived in Lancashire for 11 years and mu Yorkshire accent is still very twangy.

How do we accents anyway?

V xxx

 

[SKATERBUN]

I suppose it cant be helped really especially if you are a very social person and talk to a lot of the natives.

 

[Beadette]

See if someone asked me to imitate an accent I couldn't do it at all but I've been accused of changing my accent. I can tell you that its not conscious and not wanted either. lol

I have always had a broad Lancashire accent and love it. It's me. I met my partner who is from a mining town in the East Midlands 6 years ago and moved here. Everyone here still thinks I have a very strong Lancs accent but when I go home my friends have noticed I say certain words differently.

I suppose as part of my job involves a lot of speaking in front of groups, it hasn't helped. There's only so many times you can say something and people say "what? eh?" before you change the way you say that word.

Round here they also have different words for things so if I don't use their words no one understands me and i have to send 10 mins explaining what I mean.

Hubby reckons as soon as I'm back with my friends from Lancs I go straight back though.

I don't want to lose my accent.

 

[jenny82]

My sister moved to Nottingham for uni last year and aaaaargh I can't talk to her without cringing anymore! Shes gone from a posh N. Ireland accent to a posh england one! Its awful - not the accent, just the change!!!

Me and my brother and mum tried to joke about it a couple of times, in case she didn't realise she was doing it. But she took the hump!