ha ha good one! I also said I needed a "weighing machine" and the guys in target were shocked! Apparently am supposed to say "weighing scale" lol. Another one is I get confused for "rug " vs "carpet" hee hee. One more is ..I used to say Bill instead of cheque..
this is hilarious! OMG! I can imagine the guy's face ha ha.. I used to say rubber and my husband thankfully corrected me early days! and being in America..I used to say "am living amongst so many foreigners " when I am actually the 'foreigner" here! hee hee
Ofcourse am sure many started with "Jaalapeno" (stressing the J) when it is jalapeño I did! I also admit I used to eat ketchup with pizza lol..and my hubby used to look at me weirdly when we went out for pizzas during our engagement days when in India..
Nice thread, anika. I remember how it was considered "showing off" when our friends spoke with a "convent school" accent. : ) Somya Seth's videos show a marked difference! The change in accent can be viewed as "dropping" one's accent, changing it or developing a new one. There are some really effective accent training courses available. For some people, these become a necessity to do well at work on in social life. My accent is still easy to identify as "from India." There are a lot of other changes though. The choice of words, speaking slower, less apologetic, more direct and so on.
.. well that was my lil time in America..that I had my 'fame' I have spent more time in the UK where the english is closer to our english ( we got it from them isnt it)... so the mum's here still ask kids to take their pencil and rubber to art class. I think its sweet to have to listen to accented english... a little scent of our roots ...indian english, arab english, german (ya, ya) english, Irish singing english, ameriacn rolling english, Scottish hard english...and stiff lip British one... Its a good thread.. have fun
I have an accent. Midwestern USA, north of the Mason-Dixon line, has the most neutral accent in American English speech. Coastal states have a lot of immigrants, and it is hard to point to some specific connecticut accent. Poor states in USA seem to have better preserved local accents than wealthy states. Take Tennessee, for example, and listen to Trae Crowder. Older southerners take their time to spew out syllables, like Sen Kennedy of Louisiana. Desi children born in poor states would end up with a distinct local accent; something one cannot take to India and show off to desi relatives. The midwesterners speak slower, but without the sliding and drawl of the south. Much better elocution. We also talk less. I recommend Lesson 3, The Power of the Negative to @Vedhavalli It comes up on the video at 7:26
I was going to say that Midwestern neutral accent is the preferred way by news outlets/ journalists. After living with my Midwestern husband for over 12 years now I can easily identify the Southern drawl or the Yankee accent of New England. I of course have my own accent but it’s a mix of many places I have lived in the USA and a bit from India maybe.
My son & my office colleague’s daughter Ammu as toddlers were class mates & play mates. After three years or so, my friend was posted in london - embassy of India office. When Ammu left, my son was seemed bit upset. Two years latter when he returned, Ammu was speaking only in English she forgot her little Hindi totally and her mother tongue too. Their parents not acquired any British accent and spoke their normal Malayalee accented English with which we are familiar. When Ammu came to see us and my boy at our home, we were aghast as it was bit difficult to follow her speech and my boy simply left the scene. Their friendship could not continue for long and that Ammu after several years met us as a gynaecologist. She spoke Indian English but yet my son did not like to even say hello to her. When a British upon transfer to India found it difficult to instruct in Hindi the orderly of his huge office. His woman Friday made it easy for him. She suggested to him to say There was a brown crow - whenever the doors are to be closed & There was a cold day - whenever the doors are to be kept open. The orderly now heard the boss speaking perfect Hindi without any accent. British English sounded to him perfect Hindi. Three weeks I stayed with a palakad Keralite Tamilian family. For vacation I returned to chennai. As I spoke palkadtamil like a Malayali, my brother’s spouse said to my mom that they shouldsearch for a palakad girl to match with my accented Tamil. One remembers Kamal Hasan - the king of dialects - who spoke Sri Lankan Tamil In a movie Thenali .