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If you travel to another American city or another English-speaking country do you try to adapt your accent to the way locals speak?
Examples.
For example, you're a NYer who came to Texas. Are you going to try to speak the Texas drawl as Slim Pickens did?
If you're a Texan visiting NYC are you going to try imitating the NY non-rhotic accent to speak like Al Pacino does?
Sure, you can't change your accent in a shot time (sometimes you can't even change it at all) yet at least you can do your best to be as much similar in sounding as you can.
So, do you whether try to show your native accent (as you're proud of it) or you prefer to adjust it in order not to be a white crow?
I really don't think about it and certainly not going to make a fool of myself by say adopting a Jersey accent with a texas twang.In time its easy to see thsoe who have mvoe and been in Texas for a length of time as their speech slows and their use of words change.
No - I think that would send the wrong messages. People might perceive it as being ashamed of my accent, which I am not. Or people may mistakenly think I'm mocking them. Or they might think I'm insulting their intelligence by assuming they wouldn't be able to understand a different accent.
Granted, if you have a very heavy, thick accent of any kind you might want to consider speaking clearly as you can - but to try to adopt another specific accent I think would just come across as fake.
No - I think that would send the wrong messages. People might perceive it as being ashamed of my accent, which I am not. Or people may mistakenly think I'm mocking them. Or they might think I'm insulting their intelligence by assuming they wouldn't be able to understand a different accent.
Nobody says you are going to sound exactly as a native but some words can be pronounced in a different way quite easily. Take for example words like "can't", "got", "squirrel". Would you stick to your English way of pronunciation of such words visiting the States?
I have a regionally unidentifiable accent and do not even try to change it when I am in a location where there are distinct regional accents. Couldn't even if I wanted to.
Accents are part of world culture, it would be awful boring if we all spoke the same.
BTW, I love the English accent and their use the proper english language.
And golly gee whiz I love the Southerners accent too, real homey folk.
Mine is a combination western PA rural and Southern MD. Yinz need to to knaw it was a right fair day but I didn't hit a lick today.
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