Does your accent change when you speak to foreigners?
This desi didn't change her accent in all her years in America and here's how it went...
Do you suffer from the accent morphing syndrome?
My accent never changed when I lived in the US, I clung to my urban-Indian accent throughout. You might hear a sprinkling of a Marathi accent on it; not like "my pen is not wHorkeeeeng" like the Marathis say, but if you listened closely, I'd sound Bombay/Pune.
Have you seen some desis talk to an American?
It's funny. One second they are full desi accent + sentence structure, like "Where to go only, yaar!" and the next second they turn to an American, they layer a twisted accent on top of being desi, like "Suuuureee. I wanna Staaap beckause I kin drive vayrey FAYY-st".
I cringed at Indians who morphed their accent when they spoke to Americans. It sounded terrible to me-like nails on a chalkboard, or worthy of rolling your eyes. I used to think it's because they are insecure- but slowly- my close friends turned out to have the accent-morphing syndrome and they were confident secure people!
Accent morphing doesn't go unnoticed
I had an American roommate once, and she asked me quietly "Why do Indians change their accent when they talk to Americans?". Americans actually appreciate the original accent. And because I used my full-blown Indian "convented" English accent in the US, I'd have colleagues tell me "I LOVE your accent"!
Once I even got a "if I had your accent, I'd be a billionaire".
I wish!
I've taken a 'hypocrites' oath!
Having established I ain't gonna change my accent, I will admit I've taken a hypocrites oath, coz there is one accent I would love to adopt: the British accent.
Even curse words sound royal in British English! If I had a British accent I think I'd make more friends and have a cult following ;). For now, I've changed my iPhone to speak British English to me.
The accent war has a real winner :)
