"She has an accent"

Busybee5

Thu, Jun 15 2023, 11:23 am

SephardiChef wrote:

Everyone has a slight accent. People from New york have an accent , people from Texas have an accent , people from California have an accent.. ect. Its part living in different places.

Yes but it's not 'slight' it's just an accent. It might be slight(difference)from London to Manchester for example but it's not a slight accent if you get my gist. Of course everyone has an accent. I have an English accent, Leah has an American accent, Shani has a French accent etc etc Very Happy

Fox

Thu, Jun 15 2023, 2:19 pm

I'm curious: I deliberately tried to keep my kids from developing a regional accent. There is so much discrimination based on regional accents that I felt it was important to their future opportunities.

So DH and I coached them as much as practical to speak "Upper Midwest" -- the pattern of on-air broadcasters in the U.S. that is close to what you might hear in Upper Minnesota or Michigan.

Since everyone still falls into the patterns of the people around them, we all still catch each other with humor when any of us drifts too far into a Chicago accent.

Am I the only one who did/does this with her kids?

Think good

Thu, Jun 15 2023, 2:42 pm

Fox wrote:

I'm curious if this works long term
I'm sure some words will be pronounced in a specific preferred manner, but aren't there so many sublties that they will grow up with and inevitably adopt?

Java

Thu, Jun 15 2023, 3:23 pm

Fox wrote:

I love the Minnesota accent!
MinnesOHta

Fox

Thu, Jun 15 2023, 3:52 pm

Think good wrote:

I'm curious if this works long term
I'm sure some words will be pronounced in a specific preferred manner, but aren't there so many sublties that they will grow up with and inevitably adopt?

It definitely makes a difference. My kids are frequently asked where they're from because they don't have a specific accent.

But you're 100 percent right! We all slide into the language patterns we're surrounded with. It's more a matter of just being aware and trying to avoid the most egregious ones.

I'm also big on teaching "code switching." In other words, it's fine to use frum syntax when you're among other Jews, but in standard English, you don't "stay by" someone; you "stay at someone's." You don't stand "on line" (which is a NY thing, not just a frum thing), but "in line."

Regional and class accents aren't the big deal in the U.S. that they are in the U.K., but there's still a lot of discrimination against certain accents, and I've seen strong accents really limit people's opportunities.

pizzapie

Thu, Jun 15 2023, 6:36 pm

Fox wrote:

Fascinating! I don't know how I could teach my kids to speak in a neutral American English, if you will, but I've been trying most of my life! I grew up in NY and deliberately have tried to speak without that NY accent since college. I've been living in the midwest for over a decade and while some of the local accent has seeped in I have never been accused of having a NY accent.

Ema of 5

Thu, Jun 15 2023, 6:44 pm

pizzapie wrote:

I grew up in Miami and I’m raiding my kids in NY. I didn’t do it consciously, but they do pronounce things like me, vs. like friends or other relatives.