British Accents?

[TheTrequartista 8]

Can someone please tell me why some USA players who go to England continue to talk like an American and others come back with huge English accents?

I mean Tim Howard, Dempsey, Brek Shea, etc etc stil talk like Americans but I heard Brad Friedel talking the other day and he sounded like that English leader Winston Churchill. John Harkes also. he used to play in EPL I think Sheffield? And he still talks like Hugh Grant.

It doesnt bother me I am just wondering why some go there and come back sounding more English then others. I mean I wont lie when I get around people that annoy me I start to talk English too. But just stuff like I am going to go have a pint or going to go lay down and have a bit of a tug, but I just learned these from YouTube. But I barely can even understand Friedle anymore, and I rate him, I think he was a very good USA goaie. I met Harkes in an airport once a few years ago and I went to say hi and told him I enjoyed him as a player and he said he was all like "thanks mate eye gonna go grab a bit of a bite if the queue aint down the fairway so cheers on lad." It caught me off guard and it made A-Style a wee bit nervous. .....Thanks, A-Style (#12)

[Muzchap 8,966]

I guess it all depends on where you stay - there are strong regional accents in the UK and some people pick it up more than others...

It also depends on your wife/girlfriend - I had an English girl with me in Austria - so never picked up the accent, but my mate from same town, hooked up with an Austrian girl - now he sounds like a local

Whatever accent you have - drinking alcohol will reveal the true one

[We Hate Scouse 10,289]

Rated accent

[TheTrequartista 8]

I guess it all depends on where you stay - there are strong regional accents in the UK and some people pick it up more than others...

It also depends on your wife/girlfriend - I had an English girl with me in Austria - so never picked up the accent, but my mate from same town, hooked up with an Austrian girl - now he sounds like a local

Whatever accent you have - drinking alcohol will reveal the true one

That makes sense. Thank you. I wish I had that accent, I pull females already but with a English accent I would kill it here. No target would be un-smashable. Some times I wish I was English. Other times I wish I was Brazilian. But I have never wished I was Australian. Too many sharks I think. A-Style does not go in the water for fear of sharks. I have heard people swim the English Channel but I think I would not. My cardio is top shelf but I think sharks and people do not mix well. I always thought it would be crazy if sharks could leave the water and chase you even after you hit the beach. Vincent Kompany doesn't look like he would change his accent or be afraid of sharks. But he is Belgium so he probablly

[BlueLion. 21,491]

The English accent is so varied. Most people tend to think that all Brits talk like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JNRhQLOKyw

In reality that is a very distinct middle-class minority. Our accents are so broad and diverse that we can go to different parts of the country and not understand a single fucking word people are saying. I work in a major hotel near one of the UK's biggest airports, and we get loads of European guys come over - Germans, French, Portuguese, Italians et al. - it's easier to understand their speaking English than it is to understand a broad Scottish or Liverpudlian accent, for instance.

Here is a whirlwind tour of the accents of the British Isles:

Our accents are so broad that even native Anglos such as myself can find ourselves picking up local dialects to

• A: fit in,
• and B: so people can understand us

It is only natural for Brits to pick up what is called "received pronunciation". Whilst I have my own "mothertongue accent" - which is a West Midlands accent (think of the Birmingham accent - not the Black Country accent, which a lot of ignorant Brits confuse it with), but nowhere near as thick, or as broad - my father is from South Kensington and speaks with a Cockney accent, and yet he has family all over the country. My mother's family is mainly from the West Midlands, so when I am with my father's side of the family, my intonation mimics Cockney, and when I am with the other side of the family my accent becomes a lot more broader than usual. The same applies when I am at work - I work in Derbyshire, which has quite a dull accent with very little intonation, but with a lot of colloquial language instead. I guess my accent just changes to reflect the company I hold.

Judging from that, it's no wonder why foreigners in Britain pick up our accents!

[Spike 12,049]

But I have never wished I was Australian. Too many sharks I think. A-Style does not go in the water for fear of sharks.

You what, mate?

Edited August 14, 2013 by Spike Spiegel

[BluesChick 1,260]

I have moved around the US so much, now I work with people from the All over the British Isles, NZ and Australia that my accent has become so muddled that people often cannot place where I am from. I do not mind that one bit! My speech is littered with wording that is definitely non-American. My kids are even worse than me and can mimic the accents better.

I have to smile when MacKenzie says, "Mum, I need to have my kit for football. Do you know where my shin guards and boots are? Oh, how about my trackies and trainers for PE?"

Instead of: "Momma, where are uniform, my shin pads and cleats for soccer? Oh, I need my sweatpants and tennis shoes for gym!" (Said in her best southern drawl!)

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[OneMoSalah 8,810]

That makes sense. Thank you. I wish I had that accent, I pull females already but with a English accent I would kill it here. No target would be un-smashable. Some times I wish I was English. Other times I wish I was Brazilian. But I have never wished I was Australian. Too many sharks I think. A-Style does not go in the water for fear of sharks. I have heard people swim the English Channel but I think I would not. My cardio is top shelf but I think sharks and people do not mix well. I always thought it would be crazy if sharks could leave the water and chase you even after you hit the beach. Vincent Kompany doesn't look like he would change his accent or be afraid of sharks. But he is Belgium so he probablly

ahahaha dont say that might have to kill you... oh wait hes already seen it.... awkward.

Anyway in response to your question, it could many things. I heard a Joey Barton interview from when he was at Marseille last year and he was speaking with a French twang as such. I suppose its just about where you are, if you were British and lived in America you'd pick up the slang and probably be used to hearing the accent more and after 10 years or so maybe you'd begin to pick it up. My cousin moved down to Glasgow from here years ago and he came back up here 2 or 3 years ago when a relative died and was speaking with a proper Glasgweigan accent, it was unbelievable, his sister though hadn't picked up the accent.

Edited August 14, 2013 by RyanDavidson

[Sidzeret 2,257]

ahahaha dont say that might have to kill you... oh wait hes already seen it.... awkward.

Anyway in response to your question, it could many things. I heard a Joey Barton interview from when he was at Marseille last year and he was speaking with a French twang as such. I suppose its just about where you are, if you were British and lived in America you'd pick up the slang and probably be used to hearing the accent more and after 10 years or so maybe you'd begin to pick it up. My cousin moved down to Glasgow from here years ago and he came back up here 2 or 3 years ago when a relative died and was speaking with a proper Glasgweigan accent, it was unbelievable, his sister though hadn't picked up the accent.

C'mon, you must have gotten that he was mocking Arsene Wanker

[captainjt26 106]

It just depends on the person and there environment when I was living in Toronto I was working in a sales environment so I had to talk alot to customers and sometimes they could not understand my accent so you end up changing the way you speak so folk can understand and then you start picking up the accent.

Ive been back for over a month but people still say when I say numbers it sounds canadian !