British Accent

All of my friends are telling me that I will end up with a british accent if i stay in england for 5 or more years. is this true? i have a strong southern drawl....lol.  any truth to this?

Aside from the whole "there's no such thing as a British accent" thing, your way of speaking may change over time but I find (after 5 years 2 months) mine is more a mish-mash than sounding like I always lived here or anything.

When I visited the US last year my family remarked that I have a bit of an English accent but only on certian words and my husband agreed. I've only been here just over 3 years. But I seriously doubt you'll pick up a full accent (English, Scottish or Welsh with regional variants of those dependent on where you actually live) especially with one so strong as a southern drawl already in place.

We had a LONG discussion on UKY about this either early this year or late last year, I'll see if I can dig it up for you.

Thanks guys...my wife-to-be says that she doesnt want me to lose my southern accent. she said she was very keen on it. but i do find myself trying to mimick the english accent alot. she says that my accent is good on some words and rubbish on others...lol.

Thanks guys...my wife-to-be says that she doesnt want me to lose my southern accent. she said she was very keen on it. but i do find myself trying to mimick the english accent alot. she says that my accent is good on some words and rubbish on others...lol.

Whatever you do don't fake it. Natives will spot you a mile away and will probably think you're taking the piss. I found the thread and it was on accents and faking them: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=60089.0

Oh no, I would never speak that way out in public. I bet most of the people where we are at would think I was taking the piss. Most people love my accent in Chessington. My southern accent that is. Alot of people come up and ask me to talk...lol. I am not use to that.

You won't necessarily pick up an accent. But, then again, you might. Some people are very susceptible to the accents around them, and change quite quickly. Other people can live here for over 20 years and, aside from the odd vocabulary word, sound just as they did when they first came. Then there's that awful third category of people who fake it. Don't be one of those, and you'll be fine. 

I have met a few people over here 1 from chicago and 1 from California who have lived here in the UK for over 20years and they hadn't lost an ounce of their accent. I have only been here over a year and haven't lost my American accent and honestly don't think I am going to...I think if I was talking to you for awhile dirkpitt I would pick up your southern drawl..it is the only accent I have ever picked up from being around some people hehe...so you might lose it or you might not...good luck

I have been here 6 years now, and haven't picked up an accent at all, nor do I want to. My hubby says I still have my little bit of twangy, southern sort of drawl, which he loves. I do have a friend from Ohio who has been here for 9 years and she sounds more Irish then American. She actually didn't even realise that her accent didn't sound American anymore. I think it's different for everyone.  While I haven't picked up an accent, I have picked up the lingo.  

hm yeah, very easy to pick up the lingo, not so easy to pick up the accent.  It does happen, of course.  I know I've picked up bits from my husband (who is German!  So it's not an English accent, just oddly 'European' as my friends call it) and bits from the locals.  However, as soon as I'm back in the US again, it all comes back to me and I am speaking proper American within days.    (cue my husband taking the piss on all the hard A sounds etc that he doesn't normally hear from me!)

I do have a friend from Ohio who has been here for 9 years and she sounds more Irish then American. She actually didn't even realise that her accent didn't sound American anymore.

Funny, I'm from Ohio and have been asked a few times if I'm Irish! I just have a rather neutralised accent now, it seems (and the Northern Irish boyfriend must have rubbed off on me a bit!). Most people in the UK can still tell I'm American, although it takes some people a while to realise.

I will admit to making myself sound more English the last time I was in the states since I was stranded in an airport and was asking people if I could borrow their phones for a quick call (since my UK mobile wasn't working). It managed to get some sympathy.

Funny, I'm from Ohio and have been asked a few times if I'm Irish! I just have a rather neutralised accent now, it seems (and the Northern Irish boyfriend must have rubbed off on me a bit!). Most people in the UK can still tell I'm American, although it takes some people a while to realise.

I will admit to making myself sound more English the last time I was in the states since I was stranded in an airport and was asking people if I could borrow their phones for a quick call (since my UK mobile wasn't working). It managed to get some sympathy.

I'm originally from Ohio, too, but I moved to NYC when I was 20 and spent 12 years there - and picked up a bit of a NY accent. I stayed a couple of years back in Cleveland before moving to Switzerland (and, now, to the UK). Swiss and German people often thought I was Irish, sometimes they'd think I was lying to them when I said I was American. People here can't quite place where I'm from, the most frequent comment I get is "that's not a local accent, where are you from?" with a quizzical look on their face as they can't quite place the accent.

I've found the London accent brings out my NYC bits, but other than enunciating much more than I would speaking American English, I don't think I've picked up much of an accent per se. I have picked up a bit on the melody of Manchesterspeak, and of course vocabulary.

Wow...this is really interesting and encouraging. I do not want to pick up the accent. Although, I think a english female accent is very lovely. I have heard different accents from all over the area. Like a Londoner accent, and someone from the eastend like say from Leytonstone or Hackney. Also, it may be just me but do most **(word removed by moderator until poster has a chance to edit) have their own accent. Not trying to take the mick, and I hope I am not offending anyone, but it seems that sometimes I cannot understand what they are saying. Then there is Wales and Yorkshire.....so I guess as far as accents the US and England isnt that different after all.

I've been in Scotland since 1999. I was born,grew up and was living in Massachusetts until i moved here.
I've been told that i have a scots accent but not quite enough that one can tell where i am from.. Most folks say they can tell im not from here.. but not where i am from. I've gotten everything from Ireland,scottish islands..
I have picked up some of the accent.. least my mum and relatives and best friend (who has known me some 28 years) in Mass tell me..
I think a lot of it depends on where you come from in the US.. What your job is here in Scotland/England/Wales/N Ireland.
I am a nurse and therefore i had no choice to pick up the lingo to be understood.. Now the words and how they are said are differant indeed.
For me it just seemed to have happened. I neither tried to keep my merrican accent or tried to have a scots one.. Its usually a hodge podge of both at times

I was in a psychology study a while back at my uni, which was specifically for native English speakers who weren't born in the UK. I quite happily signed up (£20 voucher!), only to be told after an hour of reading off of flashcards that they couldn't use my results.

Apparently, while many people retain their non-British pronunciation of words, after a certain amount of time (varying between people), almost everyone unconsciously adopts the rhythm and stresses of speaking common in their environment. It's why people in the UK think that you sound American, and you think that you've kept your accent, but when you go back to the US people say that you sound different. So what we end up with is some sort of mutant accent with American pronunciation and British rhythm.

One prominent example is how pitch differs at the end of a question - with a native US accent the pitch goes up quite a lot, while in a British accent it's usually either monotone or only a very slight rise (and sometimes even goes down slightly).

Of course slang is another, more obvious thing. It's no good to speak with an American accent if you're unintentionally using words and phrases that no one back home understands.