Why does my accent keeps changing?

[MetuaVahine]

I am a non native speaker of English. I am fairly fluent but my accent is definitely not native. Whenever I spend a lot of time speaking with native speakers who have different accents to the one I'm used to, I always end up changing the way I speak, sometimes only slightly, sometimes very ostensibly. I don't do it consciously. Have you ever experienced this?

[MetuaVahine]

(Apologies for the mistake in the title: so much for being fluent )

[facedowninthedirt]

I do it - sometimes a bit embarrassing! I’ve moved round the UK a bit and have adjusted my accent accordingly. However, I seem to take on the accent of whoever I’m speaking to. I think it’s to make myself easier to understand. Get some looks sometimes though!

[GiraffeMomma]

Apparently (according to one of my Music tutors at university) its a sign of having a very musical ear, it's like listening to a song and picking up the lyric/melody, you lapse into being in time with that person!

I'm terrible for doing this and that explanation made me feel better haha

[SingingLily]

Subconscious accent changes is a phenomenon that happens to native English speakers too. I'm not entirely sure why - although musical ear sounds good! - but in my experience, they are temporary and you soon go back to your usual way of speaking.

I had a dual upbringing (Canadian and British) and my accent tends to wander all over the place according to where I am at the time but it's not even confined to those. I've been guilty in the past of speaking with an Irish accent and Australian accent even though I don't intend to.

I wouldn't worry about it.

[Watto1]

My slight Welsh accent changes all the time. I can’t help it. I have to consciously stop myself launching into a Valleys accent when talking on the phone to one of my customers as she’s going to think I’m taking the piss.

I also adopt a Yorkshire twang when speaking to FIL. I’m yet to start using a Swedish accent when talking to my sister’s dh but I’m sure that day will come!

[iklboo]

I do it too. And I'm pretty good at mimicking accents (not in a derogatory way I mean). Some psychologists have said it's an empathy reaction.

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

I do this. I suspect it is because I have moved around through my life. All 3 of my children as a result do not have local accents. More a generic northen sort of accent at best.
I also find people seem to like it when you sound and talk similarly to them even down to colloquialisms. It seems to help form relationships (I'm a midwife and have to form relationships in a very short period of time) as people find you affable.
I remember it as far back as being a child though, and it definitely isn't a concious thing. I can't do accents though, which you think I'd be able to 🤣.

[Mayday19]

I do it. It totally sounds like I'm taking the piss, but I'm honestly not! I don't live where I started, I wonder if that first adaptation started it off?

[MetuaVahine]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I'm glad to read I am not alone. And yes, sometimes I wonder if my interlocutors notice. I like the musical ear explanation!

[Zzzexhaustedzzz]

I’m very interested in this. I do it, although I have recently consciously tried not to! I call it Variable Accent Syndrome.

[PaulRobinsonsWoodenLeg]

I read somewhere about convergence and divergence effecting our speech and mannerisms. When we talk to someone we like, we subconsciously mimic their behaviours (convergence) and if it's someone we dislike we do the opposite to distance ourselves (divergence). If you think well of these people maybe this is why you're subconsciously copying their accent?

[ChocAuVin]

I have to try very hard not to drift towards the accent of whoever I’m speaking with. I’ve also heard it’s to do with empathetic response/ being attuned to other people. Seems plausible to me!

[MzHz]

I once had to call my London mates on the drive back from an all day meeting in Birmingham to shift the Brummie accent that had been trying to sneak in all day.


I’m a fluent Portuguese speaker- originally it was a solid São Paulo accent, then when back in London years later I’d made loads of friends who happened to be from the south. I ended up sounding more gaúcha than the gaúchos!

It’s now back to a mish mash of São Paulo with a hint of Portugal... blame business and leisure trips to Lisbon and Porto!

At least they understand me :)

[MzHz]

My yoga teacher is a scouser. I adore her.

The struggle is real

[exexpat]

I do it too - I find some accents very contagious indeed (e.g. Australian), others less so (some English regional accents) and it is sometimes very hard to stop myself echoing the accent of whoever I am speaking to.

I am a native English speaker but have spent a lot of my life living abroad or learning other languages, and am generally very quick to pick up correct pronunciation in new languages, so I guess the two things are related.

It is useful when you are trying to learn a new language, but less so when you are talking to someone with a strong accent and they think you are making fun of them.

[YRGAM]

My wife does ismt and it really embarrasses her, but she can't help it. It's hilarious hearing her slowly morph into Scouse over the course of a conversation

[Bombalinabimba]

A little late to this thread but: www.sbs.com.au/topics/voices/culture/article/2016/11/03/why-youre-nicer-person-if-you-mimic-accents-subconsciously
There's actually a term for this in psychology but can't remember it, empathetic something. It's definitely a thing though. (i do it too)

[thisisnotmyllama]

Were you brought up bilingual or hearing multiple different languages around you OP? Or were you taught a second language before the age of 10? Do you find learning languages very easy? If so, it’s likely that the language centre in your brain has retained a plasticity which normally ends at around age 11 (which is why not starting teaching foreign languages until high school, like we do in the UK, is an exercise in futility - 99% of kids will never learn to fluency this way because it’s just not physically possible).

It’s also been shown in sociolinguistic research that traditionally, women tend to ‘accommodate’ their accent much more than men. This is believed to be a nurture rather than nature thing, resulting from girls being socialised to be ‘nice’ and make the other person feel at ease, and not to dominate the conversation. Whereas boys traditionally weren’t taught such inhibitions and were encouraged to assert themselves. I’m talking about 30-odd years ago though - I’d be interested to read some more up to date research on this linguistic phenomenon to see whether things have changed.

[ChaToilLeam]

I do this, I have a very mobile accent. My parents are from different areas of the UK and I can speak with both of those, plus I tend to pick up what is around me. I also pick up languages very quickly and have a local accent where I now live in Germany.