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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think you don't change your accent...

119 replies

guiltynetter · 09/03/2015 10:29

in 8 months?

partners sister. went to live in Scotland from the north of England 8-9 months ago. saw her this weekend for the second time since she moved. started chatting to discover she now has a full on, strong, Scottish accent. we're not talking a hint of it, we're talking lived-there-all-your-life scot. I couldn't take her seriously! last time we spoke she was full northern.

am I being unreasonable? there's nothing wrong with the accent I just don't get how you can change so quickly! I'll prepare for a flaming...

OP posts:
kim147 · 09/03/2015 10:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PotOfYoghurt · 09/03/2015 10:34

There's a bit of a difference between a twang and a full accent though. I pick up accent quirks very quickly, but never completely lose my ability to say chup for chip.

GlitzAndGigglesx · 09/03/2015 10:34

My mum moved to London from the NE and 15 years later you could still here a a bit of Northern in her accent. I've also had relatives move to NZ and in under 2 years they all had the accent

Pantone363 · 09/03/2015 10:35

No I think there is a name for this.

I did the same thing travelling around Oz for a year. And occasionally just having a convo with someone and I'll mimic their accent totally by accident!

puds11isNAUGHTYnotNAICE · 09/03/2015 10:35

My accent has changed from living down south Sad Although as soon as I go home or am around people from home it changes back Grin

I have been here 4 years though and have only recently noticed the change.

My sister had an aussie twang after about 2 months!

angelos02 · 09/03/2015 10:35

YANBU. Sounds as though she is putting it on. I've lived 200 miles from where I was brought up, 6 years on, my accent remains the same. Surely it takes decades for an accent to genuinely change.

SavoyCabbage · 09/03/2015 10:36

My dd changed her accent completely on her first day of school. I couldn't understand a word she was saying.

puds11isNAUGHTYnotNAICE · 09/03/2015 10:36

I think it also depends on how strong your accent is before you move. Mine wasn't very strong, however people I know who have very strong accents still retain them after 40+ years of living somewhere else.

Seeline · 09/03/2015 10:36

I can pick up an accent just talking to someone with one - not intentionally. It can be quite embarrassing as people sometimes think I am taking the piss. Bizarrely I can't 'put on' an accent. Neither can I easily understand strong accents Confused
My sister lived in Oz for 10 years - she sounded like a native within a couple of months.

ClumsyNinja · 09/03/2015 10:37

Yep, it's quite normal for some people to pick up new accents without being aware of it.

AnotherGirlsParadise · 09/03/2015 10:38

I've completely lost my natural (foreign) accent. It happened within a year of living here. You wouldn't believe that English wasn't my first language - that's not a humblebrag either Grin

I also struggle to speak my first language sometimes - it just doesn't come naturally anymore. It's happened to a few people I know.

SweetValentine · 09/03/2015 10:40

Another one here who mimics accents during conversation, very embarrassing Blush

It's improved as I've got older but I'm still not sure what my true accent is!

kim147 · 09/03/2015 10:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MaudeLebowski · 09/03/2015 10:44

Some people pick them up very easily. I think the situation the OP describes is entirely possible.

Feminine · 09/03/2015 10:46

I am a terrible mimic, l can do most accents very easily.
However, after living in the American mid - West for seven years... I still came home with my original accent.
I think there is more going on when people 'swap' accents so readily.

MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 09/03/2015 10:50

I pick up accents very quickly and sometimes finish conversations talking like the person I've just been speaking to, it comes in very useful as an actor Grin

However, after growing up in Wales, going through school in Wales and living in Wales for all but two years of my life, I still speak both English and Welsh with a vaguely Black Country accent.

Maybe she picks them up really quickly... sounds more like she's having you on though Grin

Pengweng · 09/03/2015 10:57

Depends really. I pick up accents really quickly. I went on a work trip with some people from our Liverpool office once and came home taking like a Scouser. People always assume i am talking the piss but i'm not. In fact if you asked me to do a difference accent i couldn't. So it is possible.

YesIDidMeanToBeSoRudeActually · 09/03/2015 10:58

I had a school friend born and brought up in England, with Scottish parents. Friend had a strong Scottish accent which I assumed was due to parents being first people she had learnt language from, but she kept it all her life.

I think it's interesting how people pick up accents from their parents as well as environment. I have what people call a "posh" voice and DH has a very northern accent. One of our DDs has a really strange mixture of both of our accents, when she was younger she asked for a "glarss of wa'er" which made us smile.

PS my "posh" voice is not a stealth boast, I'm aware that some people find it very irritating and I have had the piss ripped out of me on several occasions. Which I think is a bit mean as I feel it's cruel to make fun of people who talk like DH with regional accents.

alittleegglayonaleaf · 09/03/2015 10:59

My ex boyfriend (Finnish) spoke American English from International school when we met and within one month together he had my accent (British) and you would never believe that he was foreign... My gran called him the musical ear, it was quite amazing

lynniep · 09/03/2015 11:00

YABU its very easy to pick up a new accent. I involuntarily mimic people all the time. I can't help it (didn't happen to me in Scotland though!) When I go back north (brought up in NE) I have a terrible time just trying to speak as anything that comes out of my mouth sounds fake to me.

Bookaholic · 09/03/2015 11:01

My other half completely lost his Welsh accent for a neutral English one in about 3 months when he first went to university. Not a trace of The Valleys in his accent now.

YesIDidMeanToBeSoRudeActually · 09/03/2015 11:01

I have (massive generalisation alert) met a lot of Scandinavian people who I believed to be British as their speech was accentless (is that a word?)

JoanHicksonMIfive · 09/03/2015 11:04

I picky up accents easily.

YesIDidMeanToBeSoRudeActually · 09/03/2015 11:05

It must be slightly embarrassing to mimic people, those that do it, are you aware at the time, and has anyone ever challenged you on it?

I can't mimic accents to save my life, I was the bane of my language teachers' lives. I try and tone down my accent sometimes as it can sound very inappropriate in certain situations but then I worry that people might think I'm "putting on" my posher voice.

It's a minefield I tell you!

squoosh · 09/03/2015 11:05

YANBU.

But I bet she provided some entertainment with her newly found Scottish persona. I've lived in Scotland for yonks and I don't have even the merest shadow of a hint of an accent.