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-- Accents
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quote:

Originally posted by bas Like a month or two I'm just saying it has to be a conscious move, it's not something that just goes away on it's own.

i disagree. i think after living in america (and speaking english/american) for 30 years and still having a colombian accent is making a conscious move to KEEP the accent...for whatever reason, which is what i'm trying to find out is (the reason).

wonder what an egyptian accent actually sounds like

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee i disagree. i think after living in america (and speaking english/american) for 30 years and still having a colombian accent is making a conscious move to KEEP the accent...for whatever reason, which is what i'm trying to find out is (the reason).

You can't just LOSE your accent over time lol. You have to learn how to say things completely different. My parents have lived in this country for almost 30 years and they speak fluent English, but my dad has this thick Arab accent that's just not going anywhere.

You never lose your accent. You may speak English better over time, but you never lose your accent.

quote:

Originally posted by bas my dad has this thick Arab accent that's just not going anywhere.

this is usually the case for middleeasterners, but my dad started learning english from scratch when he was 20, now he speaks with slightly neutral-british accent...its an anomaly since i know no one that learnt english this late that has no accent when speaking it.

also, i was watching this australian comedy sketch show, and i couldn't help notice how good aussies are at imitating american accents, and its usually epic fail the other way round.

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee i disagree. i think after living in america (and speaking english/american) for 30 years and still having a colombian accent is making a conscious move to KEEP the accent...for whatever reason, which is what i'm trying to find out is (the reason).

Nah you are so off in this. It has nothing to do with how long you speak the language, as Bas said, it has everything to do with training your vocal cords, the way you think, etc. It is, as he said, a conscious effort that has to be made.

I know a lot of people that speak Russian that came over when they were 15-21 and have no accent and I know a whole shit ton more that have been here for 35 years and have an accent still. And transversely, I know a bunch of them that have been here since 8yrs old and still have a thick accent.

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_Blue wonder what an egyptian accent actually sounds like

my ex is egyptian.. i lovvve her accent

quote:

Originally posted by gehzumteufel Nah you are so off in this. It has nothing to do with how long you speak the language, as Bas said, it has everything to do with training your vocal cords, the way you think, etc. It is, as he said, a conscious effort that has to be made. I know a lot of people that speak Russian that came over when they were 15-21 and have no accent and I know a whole shit ton more that have been here for 35 years and have an accent still. And transversely, I know a bunch of them that have been here since 8yrs old and still have a thick accent.

so how can you be so sure of everyone's motives w/ keeping their accent? maybe the ones who have been here for 35 years have a really strong sense of pride and don't want to sound american so they stay true to their county and still pronounce things w/ an accent?

let's see maybe the same question could be asked if somebody from USA moved to England how long before they develop that British accent or VIceversa.

I think it has a lot to do on the persons will if they really want to loose their accent , some people adapt to it really easy other can't because..... As you grow up speaking a determined language your whole oral structure is basically adjusted to that particular language that is , teeth , bone , tongue , vocal chords etc those people are the ones that need a pronunciation instructor for it if they ever want to change it.

I was born in Peru , lived in the States 3 years when I was a kid then moved back again to the States 4 years ago , and I still have my accent probably not as marked as most latins but is still there.

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee so how can you be so sure of everyone's motives w/ keeping their accent? maybe the ones who have been here for 35 years have a really strong sense of pride and don't want to sound american so they stay true to their county and still pronounce things w/ an accent?

I'm sure that plays a part of it too, like I said someone has to WANT to lose their accent

quote:

Originally posted by djhaziel let's see maybe the same question could be asked if somebody from USA moved to England how long before they develop that British accent or VIceversa.

yea i mentioned this same scenerio. if i moved to england and lived there for at least 5 years, i'd probably totally lose my american accent, and just pick up on the brit lingo/accent.

but i know it's hard to adjust to new languages. to this day, my boyfriend adds an "h" to the beginning of words that don't have an "h" and drops the "h" where it's needed.


like if a bottle of conditioner is on the counter he'll say, "what's that? air stuff?"

and i'm like, "air stuff? you mean HHair stuff?'

quote:

Originally posted by bas I'm sure that plays a part of it too, like I said someone has to WANT to lose their accent

right. so they are totally capable of adapting and sounding "american" (or whatever country they moved to), but they just don't want to.

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee right. so they are totally capable of adapting and sounding "american" (or whatever country they moved to), but they just don't want to.

Yeah of course. I was just saying that it isn't something that happens on it's own

Unless you're an actor. Or just really good at faking accents...like me

I have a fucking awesome Texas accent.

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee but i know it's hard to adjust to new languages. to this day, my boyfriend adds an "h" to the beginning of words that don't have an "h" and drops the "h" where it's needed. like if a bottle of conditioner is on the counter he'll say, "what's that? air stuff?" and i'm like, "air stuff? you mean HHair stuff?'

Something that was recently pointed out to me is that the words that are with "Y" i pronounce them with J for example the word "yellow" like I will say "jellow" instead of saying "Yell-oh" to me in the beginning didn't make much of a difference but after a while I started to notice that yes it does make a difference.

Now i try to pronounce it the correct way but I've noticed I take my time to pronounce it right .

Britney was only in the UK for a week and she picked up a British accent.

I can fade out my accent if needed. However, for the sake of sane pronunciation, I do find it necessary to put extra emphasis on certain words that a native speaker to English wouldn't.

Even in Spanish I adapt different accents just for personal humor. Some people get a kick out of it.

By the way, best accent ever is this one:

TBH, I don't see how you can change your accent by wanting to. You can get formal training for it, but I really don't see any other way. I've tried for years to clean up my accent, but there are still things that just come unconsciously. I'm not saying that I'm trying to sound American, but it would've helped for auditioning when I did theatre (except for West Side Story or Mambo Kings )

What's the need for "sounding american" anyway?

quote:

Originally posted by Chaska TBH, I don't see how you can change your accent by wanting to. You can get formal training for it, but I really don't see any other way. I've tried for years to clean up my accent, but there are still things that just come unconsciously. I'm not saying that I'm trying to sound American, but it would've helped for auditioning when I did theatre (except for West Side Story or Mambo Kings ) What's the need for "sounding american" anyway?

i just used american as an example. i thought i was clear on that because right after i put in parentheses "or whatever country they moved to".

Now maybe getting rid of the accent might be hard , but what I found really difficult is to pull a joke in another language , those first years were so bad

You never really lose it.
Mine faded 2-3 years ago but it shows up here and there.

quote:

Originally posted by Slylee i just used american as an example. i thought i was clear on that because right after i put in parentheses "or whatever country they moved to".

Yeah, I got it

I'm just asking to myself why I would want to sound like everybody else where I live when my very own accent got me laid a lot more because I'm considered "exotic"?

quote:

Originally posted by Chaska Yeah, I got it I'm just asking to myself why I would want to sound like everybody else where I live when my very own accent got me laid a lot more because I'm considered "exotic"?

then you would also be proving my point. that you are purposely keeping your accent for reasons other than the fact that you just can't quite grasp the new language accent. you have a sense of pride in your heritage and you want everyone to know, "hey i'm not originally from here".

GOD IS IT THAT FUCKING HARD TO UNDERSTAND MY POINT PEOPLE?

But you can't purposely keep an accent unless you're fobby and/or refuse to learn the new language and use it fluently. Trust me, no one purposely keeps an accent to sound foolish in a new country/province.

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