The English Accent

Posted by Happy Homemaker UK

(Image: Pinterest)

So I must confess that I was very excited about the idea of my little Americans wearing an English school uniform and adopting the English accent.

I'll also confess to trying to sound all English too. Why? Well, it would be nice to walk into a restaurant and ask for a table without turning heads. It actually serves a purpose when not trying to call attention to yourself ('Oh, clumsy AND American').

So I've been working on it. I'm getting my 'lessons' by regularly listening to my fav DJs on the radio and repeating after them. I am able to end the last word of a sentence with an accent, but I cannot hold the accent for an entire sentence. 

There are so many many accents in this small country, the trick is to hold the same English accent through a conversation and not sound like one is flying all over the country when giving it a go.

The 'Queen' of The Accent
(Image: Pinterest)

I've noticed the last sound fades into the distance when ending in 'ear' (like dear). 'T's are pronounced properly as a 't', not as a 'd' as we do in America - i.e. settle (vs 'seddle'), matter (vs 'madder').  And in fact, 'water' is a really 'advanced' word that I think I can say right 80% of the time now.

And if you're really good, 'sure' and 'shore' should sound the same. (Did I just hear you giving it a try?)

I've met expat Americans that have lived here over 10 years completely surrounded by English-English; they still have their American accent 99.9% of the time. Just an occasional change in inflection and vocabulary. So depressing, I know!

But not to worry, if we meet, I won't be entering 'Dorkville' with my new accent. I'll stick with the American one - I'm still trying to tackle the English language in any accent :)

Link: Serenity Now