British Accent

I sound like Reba McEntire that has lived in the UK to long! 

I sound like Reba McEntire that has lived in the UK to long!  

MeShell we must have similar accents

Thanks guys ...Im glad to know that I am not the only country person in the UK. These posts have been extremely helpful! Thank you all!!!!!!

I grew up in Ohio, but always had a neutral accent. Now after 7 years in Scotland (with a very Scottish accented fiancé who has influenced my way of speaking), I often get asked by Brits if I'm from Northern Ireland, probably about 60-40 to those who guess US or Canada. I'm currently in the US for a conference and a visit to my mum, and pretty much every day I've been here someone has commented on my 'strong Scottish accent'! I don't think I'll ever get a full Scottish accent, much as I'd love one, but I'll settle for nobody ever guessing my accent is North American!

Dirkpitt, you may not lose your accent, but you'll probably pick up the local way of saying certain words or phrases in order to be better understood.  You may do this with a local drawl or you may say it in your normal "accent."  But your speech pattern shouldn't change too dramatically.

Your friends and family back home may comment on an accent, which may be so, but like I mentioned before may just be your changing to local words and phrases.  I can already see that in the way you're phrasing some of your writing, but it may not be noticable in the inflection in your words.

(I'm sorry if that was a jumbled mess and only made half-sense.)   

Personally, I'm originally from Ohio, and moved here in my early 20s.  I speak Yankshire for lack of a better way to describe it.  I can say certain words and phrases in Yorkshire, but essentially I speak American English - just a softer, less harsh-sounding version.

Your friends and family back home may comment on an accent, which may be so, but like I mentioned before may just be your changing to local words and phrases.  I can already see that in the way you're phrasing some of your writing, but it may not be noticable in the inflection in your words.

I looked up your four Facebook photos for the UKY meetup. Who are the people in the photos? Since they are sitting at tables with a number on them, it should be easy.

Thanks for all the help!!!! You guys are GREAT!

I agree with PP that you probably won't gain a British accent, but yours may "neutralize" a bit and you will pick up British words...making you sound more British even though your accent might not be the same.

After living in the UK for only a year, I've started using words that I never thought I would say...mostly out of habit, from hearing them so much, or because I was tired of getting funny looks.  At first, I made a point to use the British words (i.e. toilet instead of bathroom) but after awhile it just became habit and I now use British words and sayings without thinking about it (like saying 'loads' instead of 'a lot' or 'a bunch'.

I also have some video that was recorded the first few days we arrived in the UK...and I can tell my Southern drawl has turned into a more Mid Western sounding voice.  I haven't done this on purpose but I found the same thing happened when I was in the military living away from home.

I've only been in the UK for 6 months, but when I speak to my friends back home they all comment on how my accent has changed.. Which my hubby denies- he still makes fun of the way I talk.  My son however, is a chameleon! When he speaks to me- American,  To my husband- Scouse, To kids at school or his other family here- Some weird hybrid Londoner accent that I'm not sure where he got!
   The real experiment I'm waiting for is my 2 month old.  He spends all day with me talking to him like a California girl- but everyone else speaks English, the TV will be English.. I wonder what will have more impact on him as he learns to speak?

The real experiment I'm waiting for is my 2 month old. He spends all day with me talking to him like a California girl- but everyone else speaks English, the TV will be English.. I wonder what will have more impact on him as he learns to speak?

My 2 1/2 year old daughter has a mix, some of the words she says come out flat California accent that I have but mostly it's an English accent. She's not picked up the Derbyshire/Midlands accent because her Daddy doesn't speak with one even though he's Born in Nottingham & raised in Derbyshire, because he had elocution lessons (his mother thought her boys should speak 'proper' because she used to work for some posh families) for a long time as a child.

A lot of people I meet here think I have a southern US accent & I'm not even from the south!  I'm from Kansas, but there we have a weird combination of Midwestern & sorta southern accents as you head geographically down towards Oklahoma, so...  (I was born & raised in south central Kansas.)  Also, I spent a lot of time traveling in the south, and ended up living in south Florida - which really isn't necessarily 'the south', more a colony of old people from New England...although I digress.

But nope - no English accent here, after 6 1/2 years living here.  Of course, I use British words and probably some vocal inflections - I think that's unavoidable the longer you live here & also necessary in order to be understood.  So when I go back to the US to visit, I've had the odd person or two tell me I have an English accent, at which DH (who is English) just... and  .

In fact my accent is so not English, that I still have British people here tell me how much they love my American accent & not to ever change it.  And I always thought I sounded like a big dork!

he's Born in Nottingham & raised in Derbyshire, because he had elocution lessons (his mother thought her boys should speak 'proper' because she used to work for some posh families) for a long time as a child.

Partner's father was born in Castle Donington in 1920 and was subjected to a similar indoctrination. he went to Loughborough Grammar School & has lived in London since 1945, but it's still there... more so if he returns to the E Midlands...

I agree with what dboone said about having an American accent with British rhythms.

Another thing is that if you have  a regional American accent, you may find it growing stronger because there is no pressure to use a "mainstream midwestern American broadcaster accent".

For example, as a New Yorker, in the US I would make it a point to stress "r"s in my words so that I sounded more Middle American. Now there is no reason to, so my American accent is a little closer to the accent that I spoke when I was a little girl, before I was "educated."

I know that I definitely do not have an English accent, but when I hear American tourists their accents sound much harsher to me than my own accent.

My 2 1/2 year old daughter has a mix, some of the words she says come out flat California accent that I have but mostly it's an English accent. She's not picked up the Derbyshire/Midlands accent because her Daddy doesn't speak with one even though he's Born in Nottingham & raised in Derbyshire, because he had elocution lessons (his mother thought her boys should speak 'proper' because she used to work for some posh families) for a long time as a child.

When both my son and daughter started school here they both had a very distinct American accent due to being around me all day and now it has developed into a British-American hybrid as they sound mainly British but there are certain words or phrases where they sound exactly like me. We also have noticed our 6 yr old when she plays by herself with her dolls in her room she speaks in a very loud American accent.    If anything the kids are correctly me on how to say things properly...

The real experiment I'm waiting for is my 2 month old.  He spends all day with me talking to him like a California girl- but everyone else speaks English, the TV will be English.. I wonder what will have more impact on him as he learns to speak?

I wondered the same thing about my oldest, who is 5 now.  She spent all day with me (as I am a sahm) speaking with my twangy WV accent, so I felt certain she would pick up some of my accent, but oddly enough, she never did...not one single bit.  From the time she began talking she has always sounded English, so I guess it just depends upon the child as well.