How Many Of You Have Developed An "accent" ?

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by anika987, May 15, 2021.

  1. anika987

    anika987 IL Hall of Fame

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    the above is her previous video in India.

    The above is Somya Seth..popular TV actress from NAVYA series.She came to the US in 2017 or 2018 and her accent has dramatically changed.

    The above inspired this thread:)

    I am in America for the past 17 years and I would still say my accent is pretty much Indian.Maybe few words here and there has toned down..My friends back in India feel I have not changed much except for may be few words here and there..which is bound to happen.

    However..I have seen any who are here for just 2 or 3 years and their accent has totally changed.Maybe they do it for their job or to fit in the society but I can clearly see it is neither Indian nor totally American.One can find out.

    Some do it very well.Their accents have polished over the years.On the other hand,it is still a struggle for many who try.

    How about you?Many IL's are here abroad.How is your accent? Did you voluntarily change your accent or still the same or somewhere in the middle?:)
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2021
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  2. Angela123

    Angela123 Gold IL'ite

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    My accent have changed a lot. My vocabulary has increased, my style of talk and sentence construction have changed. Reasons I think this happened because
    - I have only American colleagues, and the thinking and socializing and jokes that Indians get, it is hard for my colleagues to understand. So I try talking in a way that they would understand. my pronunciation is mostly American now. In the process I found out I was saying whole lot of words wrong when I spoke English in India.
    - On my daily job, I interact with regular people, who doesn't know technical knowledge of what i do, so I have to simplify it down in a way that they will understand in order for me to move forward with my work. Again, Indian accent was just not working. For example I used to say "schedule" as shedule , now it is skejule. Older American people found it really difficult to understand me. I learned to speak and think in English so that they would understand better. And It also increased confidence, I can easily entertain a crowd now without being bothered about my accent. In other words, I don't force myself to speak like that, it is natural for me.
     
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  3. MalStrom

    MalStrom IL Hall of Fame

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    I never had a pronounced Indian accent because I spent part of my formative years in Africa, so I sound pretty much the same after almost a quarter century here. But I would say that my style of speaking has become more American. I often have to give presentations to large audiences so I have learned to speak clearly and concisely while using American pronunciation.
     
  4. nuss

    nuss Platinum IL'ite

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    For people who work and spend most of their day speaking English with native speakers, it’s normal to speak like the natives or lose the thick accent.
    I never had a strong Indian accent because I didn’t really speak much English in India (outside the required presentations etc for studies). In normal conversations we always spoke Hindi or my native tongue.

    When my friends/family hear me speak English, they say I sound American and my American friends/students say I have a mild accent which is hard to put finger on . With my unique non-Indian name and pale (for an Indian) skin tone—- people have hard time figuring out where I might be from.
     
  5. anika987

    anika987 IL Hall of Fame

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    I learnt the “schedule” word the American way also:)

    I used to say “celo tape” for clear tape hee hee..
     
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  6. Hopikrishnan

    Hopikrishnan Platinum IL'ite

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    Manuals and dictionaries have two modes for the entries: Descriptive, Prescriptive.
    • In Descriptive, the book will tell us (describe) what is the most common/accepted way of usage.
    • In Prescriptive, the book will tell us (prescribe) the HOW-TO of the item.
    If the majority of the world spoke English like someone in Hyderabad, or Kochin, that would eventually be the "standard" way, and get described in the manual/dictionary. When we say cello-tape, and whoever we said that to is used to the word scotch-tape, one party adjusts and the other party learns. Who adjusts would depend on who needs to adjust.

    The most difficult country to understand spoken English is the UK. Here is an English member of parliament who couldn't understand the Glaswegian (Glasgow, UK) accent during Question time. After a couple of tries, the Speaker of the parliament suggests that the question be presented in writing, so that the member can answer in response. This is way way worse than the difference between Guntur and Hyderabad accents of Telugu.

    People interested in accent trainings may find free youtube help. Here is one.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2021
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  7. Needtobestrong

    Needtobestrong Platinum IL'ite

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    My observation about my relative settled in the US for many years...i.e most of them have developed an accent.. not fully American but half American half Indian..atleast those who spent many years of their life in India..those who were born and brought up in the US, have a full American accent...
    That’s perfectly understandable...
    But, I remember more than a year ago, during the pre Corona time, my cousin’s wedding was fixed, my cousins family had come home to give the invitation for her wedding...her younger sister who was doing MS in the US ( both and brought up in India and did B.tech in India), had also come home.
    She had spent hardly 6 months in the US and already started putting on an accent and full airs, which seemed more forced rather than natural as I felt she wanted to impress everyone on her ability to study abroad..I found it rather amusing..
    On the other hand, my close friend who has spent many years in the US, after her bachelors and went on to do her masters and worked and also pursuing her doctorate, just is the opposite.she had come down to India just a couples of months pre Covid and I met her..she seemed so down to earth, no accent at all while speaking English, spoke to some extent in our mother tongue only. ..I guess each person is different.
     
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  8. Roar

    Roar Gold IL'ite

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    I have been out of India since enough time now. What I make sure is to pronounce names and words correctly and my collegues had no problem in understanding me and they are native english speakers. Pronounciation and neatly speaking withoit being too fast is imp.
    I have an indian accent and I woulnt want to lose it completely but when I speak english in India ( I avoid as much as I miss speaking my local language freely to everyone) I might sound a little different but not very different.

    Not everyone is alike, some just adopt because they have been so long in the country, some for work, some just wannabe's. Different reasons. There are people who got accents from watching HBO, well they are doing what they are happy about isnt it.
    Its an era of validation, people dont leave a single oppurtunity to humble brag. Many are used to it; comes natural. Throwing fake accent sometimes serves this purpose.
     
  9. shravs3

    shravs3 IL Hall of Fame

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    Haha I remember saying Parcel instead of To-go and cover instead of bag in my early days... :tonguewink:
     
  10. Roar

    Roar Gold IL'ite

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    Oh.. once someone beside my desk said
    'I think I messed up'
    and I said 'use a rubber then'

    Only later I knew that I should have said 'eraser'

    The face of the guy haunts me still. :oops:
     

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