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How do you feel when old friends comments about your change of accent?

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Author:
connie1

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There’s already an interesting thread about how strangers perceive our cosmopolitan accents. I just wonder how you guys do you feel when old acquaintances, old friends or even your family members comment about your change of accent?

I feel self-conscious and even somewhat sad when my old friends note my change of accent. It seems like I am losing part of myself without even noticing. Also it seems to me that the friendships have changed along with my accent. For example, last time when I visited London my European friends told me how I got this “Canadian” accent, and that made me starkly aware of how our lives had grown apart.


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June 26, 2008 | Filed Under General Forum 

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4 Responses to “How do you feel when old friends comments about your change of accent?”

  1. 1
    catherine
    catherine Says:
    June 27th, 2008 at 10:54 am

    I think you put it best - “your lives had grown apart”. Their commenting on your accent is only one way in which this is manifested. However, friendships are always in flux and a person is really fortunate if he/she can keep one or two friends over many of life’s changes. I once read a book entitled Necessary Losses. It is about how we lose people in our lives as we grow and we grow by losing those people.

    More to your point, my accent changes depending on whom I’m talking to. My husband thinks it’s weird that my accent changes when I talk to my siblings and friends from ‘home’. I just ignore him :-)

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  2. 2
    Unregistered
    MsMerising Says:
    July 4th, 2008 at 10:40 am

    @ CATHERINE

    You and me both. I grew up in Australia where being “Ethnic” (immigrant parents) I developed a hybrid accent on however I was feeling (”British” when attempting to speak “clearly”, a “wog” when I was natural - lol).

    Than I moved to Canada where I was confused for Irish because I developed rrr’s.

    Than I went back to Australia. When people found out I was born there they got an attitude that I sounded “American” (though I lived in Canada lol).

    Now…folks assume Europe, Australia on occasion but mainly NYC (a place I have never been to). I know when I lived in Atlanta no-one understood me so I spoke “hood”. Now, I’m just a damn mess, lol…

    I wonder where my accent will go on my next move, lol…

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  3. 3
    Mayling
    Mayling Says:
    November 17th, 2008 (3 days ago) at 10:27 am

    My sister laughs at me all the time :( LOL

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  4. 4
    Cynthia
    Cynthia Says:
    November 18th, 2008 (2 days ago) at 6:52 am

    Recently I just had another experience of the changing accent. Somehow I caught on and I don’t even know why, people don’t really talk like this from this part of Connecicut that I am currently living!

    I developed an odd Bostonian/Far East coast accent o.O Me and my boyfriend went up to Boston to visit for a weekend and while we were driving, me as a navigator was pointing out directions for him. Well something weird happened. An odd Bostonian accent slipped out of my mouth when I said “north”. Instead of just “north” as you see it, I said it with the long drawl of the “O” and the almost non-existent “R”. And it somehow became difficult to change back LOL I can slowly find myself using that accent with other words.

    My boyfriend was really surprised for a sec and even me! We were like “whoa, where did that come from?”

    I don’t feel self-conscious and find it kind of cool :p I am not sure where it came from since I’ve only been back in the East coast for about 2 months. My last job was in the most Eastern part of CT where it’s borderline Rhode Island and people there have a really strong accent. However, that was..2 years ago! I’d have lost it by now!

    Somehow I picked up an accent and it stuck. My boyfriend’s sister and brother-in-law lived in Boston for 3 years and they didn’t pick up any!!

    Odd…

    Anyways, I think it’s cool that we are able to do that because people can mistaken us as locals which I like but at the same time we get mistaken as foreign which I have learn to love. The reason being that I can always secretly surprise people with my abilities that they do not think I possess because I am supposed to be “foreign”. I love the look on their face XD

    On another note, I recently saw a piece of news where this lady who actually got her head injured during a motor accident ended up waking up one day with an East European accent. She’s born and bred American and never left the continent of USA. It was a bit odd hearing her speak when she showed us her old accent on her recorded voicemailbefore her accident. A lot of people mistaken her for being Russian.

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