Tuesday 20 May 2014

What happened to my accent?

I've never been to Canada or Australia, but I've been asked on many occasions when travelling if I'm from either of those 2 countries.

I live in South Africa and in my 4th year here. Despite coming from the UK where you can travel 20 miles and hear different accents, I've never really picked one up. I have a fairly neutral accent with hints of my roots, South Wales, The Midlands, Yorkshire and the South West.

I do have a tendency to slip into a Welsh accent when I've had a few too many drinks and I use many Welsh words such as 'like' 'tidy' and 'O'

Living in South Africa there aren't many British voices around here, in fact I only know a handful of British people here.

At least once a week and sometimes more often, I'm asked where I'm from. I reply England. It's met with 'I love your accent, say something to me' On one occasion when Hubby said he was from England a woman in the shop asked him to talk like Jamie Oliver and say 'pukka, pukka' We gave up explaining that hubby was from Manchester and not the London.

On a recent trip to the UK, travelling on buses, coaches, trains and on foot, with a suit case and handbag, fellow travellers asked me if I was off somewhere nice, when I said I was visiting the UK they responded with 'are you Canadian/Australian?'

I guess the lack of regional British accents has neutralised me even more.

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