to be ashamed of my American accent?

[DameYankee]

It's not so bad living here in Scotland, but when I go down to the inlaw's in Manchester, I feel acutely aware of my horrible American accent. The Scots don't seem to mind so much (I think they assume I'm Canadian?) but the English do. I used to live in Gloucester, and it was pretty apparent that having an American accent really annoys a lot of people because we're so loud. Also, when people hear my accent, they pretty much assume that whatever I'm saying must be ignorant.

I don't blame people for thinking this of Americans, which is why I'm ashamed of it.

I was reminded of this when I just now registered a nickname to post. For some reason, I picked "DameYankee" and then, after it was too late, I thought of why that may have been a mistake. "You had the chance, so long as you remembered to spell words correctly, to not come across as an American, and instead you went and announced yourself as one!"

I've also thought of trying to change my accent. I have a stubborn midwest/Southern accent, and haven't picked up anything of the Scottish accent after years of living here. I don't know if one goes to an acting coach for that sort of thing, or what.

Anyway, am I being unreasonable, or do you think there could be wisdom in trying to blend in a bit better?

I am Australian and when I first arrived in England at the tender age of 22 I tried to blend in by speaking like the Queen! I was a bit embarrassed by being Australian to be honest and all the negative connotations associated with it - loud, beer drinking, ignorant, yobbo... Ended up being laughed at by Antipodean friends who said I was sounding "lah-di-dah" whilst English friends always said they liked my Aussie accent!

Anyway, am now 37 yrs old and still here in London. Now have a hybrid Aussie/English accent which I love and I am now very proud of my joint influences of Australian and British culture.

So embrace your uniqueness and what you have to offer. All nations have positive and negative traits. I personally feel that Americans [and Australians!] are dynamic and positive and not mired in pre-conceptions about class as the British are. Even though we may be a little too loud for British tastes!

Oh and I agree with nickelbabe about American phrases and customs used by Brits. It's not that they're intrinsically bad, they just sounds pretentious coming from a British person. Just as it would probably sound pretentious for an American person living in the US to go around saying things they'd picked up from English films and TV, except it probably never happens that way around because we are exposed to so much more American media than vice versa. It does really grate when I hear American expressions picked up because they've blatantly just got it off the TV so it just sounds a bit shallow or what have you, and it's also annoying because we have our own expressions and culture which we should be proud of. Same re: baby showers, Halloween etc. which have just come from TV and have no real meaning or history in our culture, and get commercialised as the latest 'must-have' or 'must-do'.

Wondered why the British don't celebrate Thanksgiving, and then remembered a bit of history

I've lived in the UK for four years now, and I've acquired the most bizarre accent. I certainly didn't try to change my accent, but I did try to make myself more understandable to young English children, and I think that helped it along quite a lot!

Still, most people can tell I'm American and that's OK. :)

OP... Keep the accent. People here in UK are full of prejudice. They think a Scouse accent means you're dumb football hooligan and must live with your gran, a Devon accent means you know nowt but tractor and cow facts, and that an American accent immediately exposes you as an ignoramus with no thirst for knowledge.

Who gives a shit what people think of you? They obviously haven't been to the States. The last time I went there I met dozens of interesting, intelligent, well travelled, polite (much more polite than in the UK) people, and I ate a lot of good food. Including very good cheese! Many people know the USA isn't just cheerleaders, racism, the moral majority, guns and morbidly obese people breaking the axles off ambulances. They conveniently forget Ivy League universities, the vineyards of California, cosmopolitan New York, Chicago and LA, the astounding musical legacy, the invention of the telephone, personal computer, internet, aircraft, etc... They just want the whole country to be Jerry Springer Land.

It's so easy to judge a nation's people based on rumour and legend. Use your accent to discover who the bigots are, and then choose not to talk to them. It's an advantage that keeps idiots away from you.

I didn't understand at all why the British didn't celebrate St. Patrick's day when I first moved here; it's a very big deal holiday in the USA, here it's nothing, which is bizarre given how many Irish-origin folk live here.

ragged-where are you?

People with Irish family celebrate it, though I've never seen anyone really push the boat out - more like just go out to the pub and drink that special edition Guiness which comes out. I don't celebrate it, or even remember when it is most years, because I have no ties to Ireland (unless you want to go back many generations) and nor do most people I know. Same as I don't celebrate St. David's Day, or even St. George's day actually, to be fair.

lol, ragged, the US, particularly the East Coast is built on the backs of Irish, German, and Italian immigrants. Of Americans who identify with an "ethinc" ancestry the largest number are German (15.2%) with the second largest as Irish (10.8%). It's no surprise it's a big holiday there. The West Coast is built on the backs of Mexican immigrants so they favor Cinco de Mayo - more than native Mexicans eve

Not to mention Americans like to have a holiday every month of the year

To pull up something from pages ago, "learn about other cultures (it was not a forte of your education)". Actually I think this is one of those myths about America and Americans that even the Americans buy into. My education was by no means sub-standard and my family was dirt-poor and I went to a public (state-funded) school in a very working-class area. The state curriculum included one year of study in British Literature and the next year in World Literature. University entry in our area required at least two years of a foreign language (usually Spanish, French, or German - although my school also offered Latin, Japanese and Russian). The trick of the US state school system is that students only get out of it what they put in. I studied university level biology, chemistry, and Latin, while DH studied art. I used to carpool with a British born-and-raised fellow who didn't know what the Magna Carta was.

The area where I believe the American educational system lags behind the world is not in cultural studies but in math and [increasingly] science. I find that most places I go where people believe they know something about American culture, it is what they have learned from television/movies/MTV rather than something they were taught in school.

There are failures in every educational system. Everyone, including Americans, just seems quite happy to focus on the failures instead of the successes - especially when they have blonde hair and are on television

That is so true about the British thinking that they know all about American culture / geography / quality of life, when actually they don't know jack (sigh).

I have lived in Norfolk and Leicestershire, Diddl.... 19 years in the UK.

Do any other Yank ex-pats feel bad that their DC know so little about American history? DC haven't a clue what the pivotal events are in US / New World history.

I have a Southern US accent, because I am a Southerner.

I haven't tried to change it and, 9.5 years on, it probably won't change.

Never had a problem with it, either here or in England, but a lot of people here like Southern accents.

My kids are Scots and sound as such.

Don't you feel a bit funny trying to change who you are?

I have British nationality, too.

Ashamed of your accent???? No way! Please don't be. My husband's a yankee boy and everyone loves to hear him speak, especially me. My main problem with it now is that he's lost so much of it after all these years and when we go over there everyone thinks he's British. Such a shame.
Be proud of who you are and how you talk. For the record, I remember an American girl visiting our school for a week and she was an instant hit. Kids love Americans on the whole and I very much doubt your kids will be bullied over it. It'll probably earn them "cool" points. It certainly earns my husband "cool teacher points" at the school he works in.
All that said, I can sympathise with how you feel. When I'm in the States, everytime I open my mouth and hear my British accent, I feel conspicuous and out of place. I end up using a lot of American grammar and vocab to make sure people understand what I'm saying, which is just polite I think, as what's the point of referring to the pavement when you know it's called a sidewalk etc? I do cringe at myself for sounding a bit phoney and the thought has crossed my mind that if my fellow Brits could hear me, they'd think I was tragic for "trying" to be American (which I'm not - I'm just trying to be understood). I couldn't go so far as to put on an American accent though as it'd feel fraudulent.
Welcome to the UK by the way.

I used to be in the Midlands & don´t remember celebrating St Patricks Day tbh.

I do remember St Georges Day parades though.

I'm from northern Minnesota (or the way I say it, Minnesooooootah :o)and my accent sounds like the Fargo accent and the non-French Canadian accent had a drunken one night stand and produced a little love child accent. :) And I love the way that I speak because I love where I'm from.

And the whole American thing: No, I'm not stupid. Yes, I can actually find other countries on a map. No, I'm not extraordinarily loud except when pissed after a night out. No, I don't own a gun. No, I'm not insanely religious. No, I did not vote for Bush-either time. No, my child does not have a surname for a first name.

Any other questions? :o

I'm from the south and when at University in Manchester I was always a bit embarassed when talking to the locals because I thought they might think I was a bit posh and snooty.

Btw no-one ever gave me this impression - was just my paranoia.

Now I am living back in the South I worry that I drop my t's and h's too much especially if I am talking fast and worry I will be judged on this too.

If people do make judgements then they usually revise them once they get to know people, and fwiw and going by what I would have thought as a child, I think children would view an American accent as exciting and interesting rather than as a reason to ridicule someone.

It can be a bit tricky to determine if someone from a state like MN is American or Canadian.

I haven't lost any accent, but a Californian friend of mine whose been in Scotland for nearly 30 years gets a lot of 'Are you Irish?'

I do use British grammar and terms because I worked as a legal secretary here for a while.

Also, my children are Scottish.

I love most American and Canadian accents - especially the deep South and mid-Western. So relaxed, warm and velvety. Whenever I hear one, I'm prejudiced in favour of that person. Love Reginald D. Hunter, for instance.

The kind of American tourist who makes daft remarks is funny, but they are hardly representative of all Americans. Couldn't help smiling at the man I overheard complaining that the stairs in our local bell tower were too small and there was no lift - his poor son was v. embarrased at having to point out it's 600 years old and that's kind of why it's interesting for tourists..

There was an American family at ds's school - one of the girls was teased and because she was being teased the nasty girls in her year had a go at her for being American. But her four siblings in other years were fine. I think the bullies just picked on American in order to be nasty, rather than were being nasty because she was American, IYSWIM. Same way bullies will pick on height/glasses/freckles/red hair - if they want to bully someone, they will always find SOME excuse.

(ds was devastated when the girl in his year went back to the US, as it happens, we had lots of tears about it.)

Well, my children have a foreign mother and it's never been a problem. They're not foreign, I am.

I was at playgroup the other day and we were talking about old rental houses and how crap some of them can be. One lady had a bad cooker.

I said, 'Oh, we did, too! I wanted to kill that ol' piece of shit!'

And they all started laughing, said no one can see 'piece of shit' the way a Southern American can.

:o

Amen to that, expat!! Another American here, proud of having a different accent...love that if I am a little bit uncomfortable in a new, social situation, a nice 'where are you from?' can be a great ice breaker. The students at the school where I teach think it's 'well cool' that I'm American, and my English family and friends get a laugh taking the mick out of some of my phrases. My children have only lived here, and have full English accents, which I don't mind.

If someone thinks I'm ignorant just because of where I'm from, then it's their loss, in my opinion. I love being American, and I love England just as much, so anyone who wants to judge me isn't worth a second glance!

Be proud of being American...I like to think that I can change people's minds about what Americans are really(stereotypically) like.

I can't change where I'm from, where I was born and such and don't see teh point in trying to hide it at all. It would be a bit pointless for me, too, because my accent is markedly Southern and I can't do other accents to save myself.

DH has a very broad Scottish accent and one time whilst drunk he tried to do an American one.

It was hysterical.

Lots of quintessentially English famous people are half-American. Actress Sienna Miller and TV journalist Louis Theroux are two.

Winston Churchill, too.

expat
to "It can be a bit tricky to determine if someone from a state like MN is American or Canadian."
Most Brits (especially me!) are confused when it comes to the abbreviations you give your states!
I initially read that as a state called MumsNet!

what is it? Minesota?

blardy 'ell - i even tpyed "Minnesota" then changed it cos it looked wrong!

Yeah, when you mail stuff in the US you use a state abbreviation. You put the name, street address, city, state abbreviation and zip code, and a return address in the upper left corner of the envelope or on the flap in the back.

MN is the one for Minnesota.

here