Will my children lose their accent

I am Scottish, DH is English, we had two kids born in England and moved to Glasgow when they were 2 and 4. The younger one is 100% Glasgow. The older one has a softer accent and still sounds quite English in some words. He's also neurodiverse which may have something to do with it. So they probably will lose their accent, maybe not.

I also have friends who are both from Belfast, their kids were born and raised in Scotland but can turn on a perfect Belfast accent when required.

My daughter was 10 when we moved back home to Scotland. She had a very SE England accent but lost it within 6 weeks of being in nursery.
My niece moved when she was 10 and has retained her accent. Strangely we have English friends whose children were born and have only lived here but have very English accents.

I moved to the UK from Australia when I was 10 and most British people would think I'm British but wouldn't commit to where I come from. People from my home country detect my accent instantly and if I'm talking to my family or group of countrymen then I also talk more like them subconsciously.

My mum, who is from another (English speaking) country altogether, and hasn't lived there (barely even been there) for over 60 years still has a fairly strong accent. I can also speak with her accent

I had an Australian accent until I was 10. It disappeared very quickly once back in the South East. I now have a bog standard 'London' (not RP) accent.

The op hasn't been on since DECEMBER 2022

Yes, I think so. Although they'll probably slip back into it when talking to someone who has a strong accent from their home region, if they're anything like my (Brummie) husband and Irish friend.

The 4 year old will have a Glaswegian accent, the 8 year olds accent will change, but not as much.

I would expect them to gain a Scottish accent I would also expect your accent to change maybe not as much as theirs. I moved from the north of England to the east in my 20s and I no longer sound like my family.

10 is supposed to be the theoretical cusp moment so it’s borderline between 8-12 according to article I once read.

I think the cut off is around the age of 10. Younger - will likely lose it. Older - will likely retain it.

Same 😂 I have picked up accents from whereever I have moved eg for Uni for work or even friends I hung around with a lot. I picked up accents on holiday in Wales as a child. I think it depends on the child though. My friend moved to the UK from Canada with two young children and they still sounded Canadian four years later. My parents were not from where I grew up so I never had a strong local accent which may have made me more prone to being an accent chameleon.

Being brought up in the military I moved every couple of years, my accent changed - as did certain words and phrases - so I would fit in.

Now in my 60s and having lived in the same area for 40 odd years I have a mild twang of the local accent, but really have a generic accent.

i moved away from home at 18 am
now 40 and still have a black country accent. My girls when speaking english also speak black country but never actually lived there and have grown up in middle east where everyone's english accent is american.

DD was 8 when made the same move, she’s 15 now and still has a Home Counties accent, though she can put on a cracking Welsh accent when she wants to

It depends.
My parents are from midlands. They've lived up North for 50 years. They still don't sound northern.
I decided to change my accent to fit in when I went to secondary. So I gained a northern accent, but my siblings didn't.
I now live down south, and sound mostly southern, but do occasionally get asked where I'm from. When I go back up north, I pick up the accent, as does one of my dc, although we lose it again quickly.
My siblings have stayed up North and still have not a trace of a northern accent. One of them has dc who sound far more southern than my dc, terribly posh at times. The other children have a slight northern accent.

my kids and I moved from the south to Yorkshire (where I’m from) about 8 years ago. They’re now 18 and 13 and STILL have quite southern accents. I was hoping they’d get a bit northern but no! They still sound quite posh and there’s no sign of it changing!

Interesting. We are moving to Wales from Southern England and not sure if the kids will gain a Welsh accent or not. They're 9 and 10.

My son was 7 when we moved, he never lost his cockney/Essex accent. My friend and her daughter moved from the same area to the north, her daughter was 11 or 12 and lost her accent within a year.

Moved from Glasgow to the north west when I was 3 and my sibling was 1. I spoke with a strong Scottish accent until mid primary school and then it sort of phased out. Now have strong local accent, sibling has always had strong local accent.

Parents both have Glaswegian accents, no change.

We moved north from south coast when mine were 6.5 and 8.5 years…..at 32 and 30 both sound like they were born in the northern town we live in ….took about 3 years to completely lose their southern accent

My friend has lived in the US for 20-ish years (were mid-40s). She has a US accent but the odd word still slips out in our regional accent (NW).

Hi ,
My son will turn 5 in October and currently we are posted in Delhi. we might move to Singapore for three - four years. My worry is will he pick up the Singlish accent in coming years. I know people there don't use complete sentences and lot of times not even use TH sound ... although we will be sending him to British /IB school .. but these schools have dual language system and have one mandarin teacher in the class almost whole day. Mandarin is a plus of course. But not sure about my child's accent .. what it's going to be like after 3-4 years

Any similar expat experiences

Please share views.

That being said, I have this “thing” where my accent changes quite a lot depending on where I am and who I’m with. It’s not a conscious thing, it just happens. If I’m with my Dad’s family a few hours I start sounding like I’m from the Irish backwater (like they are) and if I watch a few episodes of Downton I sound extremely posh! My resting accent is generic RP/Home Counties. I did pick up the Stoke twang for a little while but it didn’t last very long.

It usually depends on the age when children move. The younger they are the less they are set in their language.