Find solution
How do accents develop?

Do people always retain the "accents" they were born with? How long does it take to develop an accent opposed to imitating it?

  • I've lived in the south for three years now and while I use southern terms such as 'cold drink' as well as many others, and some words I say do come out in a southern accent other things I say still sound northern, I've been told by the native southerns they like my accent; honestly I hate it. I've always loved southern culture since I was a little girl and I'm not exactly from the north, I'm from the west where there is a lack of accent. I know some people never lose their accent my grandmother was a French war bride and always had a heavy French accent, yet a neighbor I knew growing up always had her heavy Irish accent until 9/11 and then she sounded western. Will I ever get the southern accent I want?

  • Answer:

    I've been in Texas for 30 years after living in Michigan for 22 and people still tell me that I have a slight Yankee accent. My Yankee friends and family however, joke about my southern accent. I think my language is ruined for fitting in ANYWHERE completely anymore, but it's never an issue anyway. Just let it happen naturally. A forced accent is usually obvious and may be insulting to some. It's much better to just be yourself.

Funkycherry at Answerbag.com Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

I was able to lose my accent but I've always used my voice for my work. Receptionist, singer, sales person. I tend to take on the accent of the person I'm with if its more than an hour or so. Kinda like a newsperson, I dont have much of any accent at all anymore.

lisa31362

language is learned during infancy, and how you pronounce various words, or your "accent", depends on how you heard those words pronounced as you grew up ... if you move to a different region as an adult, those original word patterns are stuck in your brain, but you can make yourself imitate words and phrases that you hear others around you using ... for example, you can easily start using "ya'll" in the south ... and some people just have an ear for accents and can pick it up easily ... (Madonna, for example, speaks like she was born in Britain) ... so you can work to change it with some success, but the basic accent will always be there, permanently etched in your brain

Tom Slick

No. I know of several people who changed their accents at University, because at the time a regional accent was regarded as marking you as stupid. Mostly actors and media folk, who may be more motivated than many. There are records of people losing their whole mother tongue: after WW2, the liberating troops met some old soldiers who had stayed in France after WW1 and had completely switched languages, losing their English for French.

Im Alec has abandoned this account

Depends on the individual. After 40 years, I still have an accent.

HoboJoe

Myfather is from Germany, his accent is muchless than my Aunts and Uncles from Germany as my father married anAmerican girl and my Aunts and Uncles were married to germans when they came over.

Atom Ant

I guess it depends on the person. I have picked up a different accent because I have attempted to learn a few languages and the sounds from them sometimes seep into English. Accents are also affected if you live in a different place of course, though that takes longer time to change anything.

randomguy

I remember seeing Tom Jones on TV about 10 years ago and he still had a Welsh accent. How long ago is it since he last lived in Wales?

PinkyKingerweiser

I know a lady who has lived in Canada since she was a teenage girl. She came from Scotland. She still has quite an accent. I think it's neat.

Lisa_K9838

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.