When people expect you to have an accent?

[gemeyemar]

Is anyone else in a similar situation?

My name gives away my origins immediately. I have a very welsh first name and surname. This means that when people meet me, they expect me to have a very Welsh accent.

I was born and raised in Swansea, and speak Welsh. Both my parents were teachers but only my mum really had what you would call a welsh accent. My dad was educated in England, but even his (welsh) parents don’t have a welsh accent.

I moved to southern England for university and got a job here. People assume I’m from London. Just the other night, someone asked “what part of London are you from?” (!) I’ve never lived in London in my life.

People almost seem disappointed that I don’t sound welsh. Some treat me with suspicion. Some even try and get me to admit that I’ve altered my accent!

It can be infuriating. I'm Welsh, I was born in Wales, I don't speak Welsh (I do try) but for reasons unknown I don't sound like every one that I know, I've been accused of lying about being Welsh when I'm actually Scottish, Irish, English, Canadian and American. I became so fed up that I now put on a Welsh accent and even though I sound ridiculous people buy it! Go figure.

Why would we lie about where we're from? I'm certainly not that interesting, boyo.

@KatherineJaneway it’s important to point out - far too many people say they don’t have an accent, when what they mean is “I don’t have a strong regional accent”

KatherineJaneway

How rude.

Do you get a badge for being the thread monitor?

I could not sound any more Australian. When I am overseas - Europe, England, America - everyone thinks I'm English. English accents sound very different to me.

Wow, you have time on your hands Not really. Although at one point I did spend 5 years studying linguistics and phonetics.

OP I could have written this. I’m Welsh too and live in England. When people find out where I’m from they think I must be either very posh Welsh or am trying to hide my accent. I do say the odd word or phrase that is Welsh to their ears but it’s just my accent I haven’t changed a thing. Yes I moved away at 18 to attend Uni in England and have lived here ever since but even my parents have always had a soft lilt as do my siblings and friends from that area.

I just think people assume everyone from South Wales sounds like characters from Gavin & Stacey and don’t realise there’s lots of different accents.

I have a good friend from North Wales and people can’t believe she’s Welsh either because they don’t realise it’s a completely different accent.

I was in Swansea last week, taking DD back to uni. I didn't go at all last year so it was a first for me.

My interaction with Welsh people was in a restaurant in Mumbles, and in the downtown Tesco.

I remarked to DD that the accent was very mild.

Yep. People always assume I will be Irish because of my name, when they hear my Essex accent they are most confused.

@Bloodypunkrockers

KatherineJaneway

How rude.

Do you get a badge for being the thread monitor?

Not rude at all. It was clear what I meant. Someone then nitpicked. You have a go at me, there's a chance I'll have a go right back.

[quote NotReallyAPrincess]@KatherineJaneway it’s important to point out - far too many people say they don’t have an accent, when what they mean is “I don’t have a strong regional accent”[/quote]
The thing is I never said I don't have an accent, I was pointing out I lived in Wales for many years and do not have a Welsh accent.

This is the bane of my life! I find it pretty rude when people keep pressing you for more information about your background to try to figure out why you don’t have the accent they expect you to. Often becomes an issue when meeting new people, which is something I otherwise enjoy. Astonishing how people are so slow to pick up on the fact that someone is uncomfortable with their questioning!

I was told (by a north Walian who didn't have a Welsh accent) that it's really only the Southern half that have the strong accent. She didn't even have a lilt.

[quote NotReallyAPrincess]@KatherineJaneway it’s important to point out - far too many people say they don’t have an accent, when what they mean is “I don’t have a strong regional accent”[/quote]
Or that they don’t perceive themselves as having a strong regional accent — people who’ve spent very little time away from their immediate locale often have a skewed perception of this.

@derxa

Wow, you have time on your hands Not really. Although at one point I did spend 5 years studying linguistics and phonetics.

Ha!

@KatherineJaneway

I find it really interesting that you grew up in Swansea but don't have the accent.

I grew up in Wales and don't have an accent.

I'm Scottish with an unusually mild Scottish accent but a definite twang and I do find it interesting how many Welsh people don't sound even a bit Welsh. People in Scotland sound Scottish! My accent was a constant source of offense when I lived there because I apparently sounded too English to Scottish ears (despite never having lived in England at the time). Why is that so many people in Wales don't sound Welsh? Genuine question!

All my relatives are from the Swansea area..all farmers and have very strong Welsh accent. My darling Mother moved away from South Wales when she was in her 20s and I never really noticed a Welsh Accent unless she was talking to her relatives on the phone or visiting Wales .

@derxa

You do have an accent but it's not a Welsh one.

I think the point is that the OP is Welsh and has a Welsh accent. Just not the stereotypical "Welsh person in English media" accent some people expect.

I think South Walians who don't sound like Stacey from Gavin and Stacey get this a lot - usually from people who are not from the area and are not familiar with with subtle local differences. That's certainly the case for DH's family who are from Cardiff and Swansea.

I’m also in Swansea. The Swansea accent varies considerably across each part of the city. I’ve lived here most of my life and can pinpoint exactly which part people are from just by talking to them for a couple of minutes. It used to spook people that I could do this.

It’s different now, my children spend so much time online interacting with people from other countries and parts of the U.K. that they don’t have a recognisable Swansea accent at all.

@stillcrazyafterall

I was told (by a north Walian who didn't have a Welsh accent) that it's really only the Southern half that have the strong accent. She didn't even have a lilt.

Some Welsh-speaking North Walians learn English from English-first-language people and speak it with English-first-language people only. Therefore they never get the chance to pick an accent. In their community they speak Welsh only so there is no local English accent. The density of Welsh speakers in the South East of Wales doesn't allow for that.

The problem with these threads is that people make value judgements about other people based on their accents. It would appear that on MN a non regional accent is the most desirable. In Scotland authority figures and media broadcasters have Scottish accents and so we have it a bit easier. On national TV it is very rare to hear English regional accents on the broadcast media.

Some pople in the US expect me to speak like a cartoon leprechaun. I've been asked if I'm Australian.

I’m Pakistani, so people can sometimes tell I’m asian (my particular ethnic group aren’t that brown and don’t have ‘typical’ Pakistani features, green eyes, pale hair etc is common), so people generally expect a south asian accent or a south Mediterrannean accent. I have a mix of south Nottinghamshire and north London.

@stillcrazyafterall

I was told (by a north Walian who didn't have a Welsh accent) that it's really only the Southern half that have the strong accent. She didn't even have a lilt.

The ‘strong accent’ meaning the accent people know as Welsh though. A lot of North Walians have a strong accent, it’s just not what people think of as Welsh.

My accent was once described pretty well as "anywhere within 50 miles of the M25". It is generically southern. I haven't lived in the south since early childhood well over 30 years ago and while it was enough to fade out the more localised elements, I didn't pick up the very distinctive accent where I moved to, nor where I've moved on to for the past 20 years. I wasn't originally from the south either, so "where are you from?" Always has a convoluted answer

I was born and grew up in Somerset and my siblings and I have never had Somerset accents.

I have always assumed it was because neither of my parents did (they moved there as adults).