(Over)Exposure to English as an International Language

[americano_sulla_nave]

Today, I gave a brief schpiel at the end of year ALT meeting for my prefecture. It went well, but I was asked by a fellow American ALT "why I talk kinda funny?" She is an awesome ALT and a friend, and I responded something like...well...I worked at sea aboard no less than 7 cruise ships for 3 years and traveled for around 2 years. All in all, I have been abroad for a little over 10 years. A friend of mine, smart guy, told me that I might have adapted my language to my environment over the years losing my Northeastern Ohio Drew Carey-esque accent. Now, I want my old standard American accent back. However, some might argue that this "kinda funny talk" is my unique blend of English and should not be altered. However, I am now self-conscious about my non-native American English and wonder if I ought to immerse myself in American culture and try to get back my ability to speak "AMERICAN"[sic]. Strange Brew or Middle-America. I would like your thoughts forum folk. Also, IF I pursue a route of Americanization of my current Blendy English what is your advice for achieving a pleasent sounding voice register for a dude? A few rules, I don't smoke and won't smoke, and I would want my re-Americanization to be fun. Seriously guys, I am WASPy, but I got stopped at U.S. Immigration in Detroit questioned and even brought to a backroom for more questioning. They asked me about DEVO and the Pretenders to authenticate my being an American or not.

[Cliodhna]

I think your situation is similar to that of anyone with any regional accent trying to eliminate it for professional purposes. My father, for instance, worked long and hard on trying to eliminate his native New York accent for the reason that he didn't want to be considered less viable and/or intelligent on the basis of his accent, especially upon moving to the south (he frightened the heck out of people, apparently), so his main focus of alteration was in his pronunciation of vowels and sentence intonation. He'd listen to things like national news or documentaries with very flat american accents, listen to how they'd say their vowels, and mimic it. He then spent a really long time being extremely conscious of every syllable he said and how he said it, and over time, he didn't have to think about it anymore, it just came naturally. Of course, he does slip every now and then, but he doesn't scare people in the south anymore, hahaha. Another good way that this could be enforced is simply hanging around mainland americans more often (compared to people always at sea ), as it will make it easier to slip back into how things are pronounced.

Hope that helps and can give you some ideas.

[Moosashi]

Dunno if his is fun, but you could do this in reverse:
http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-a-Britis ... e-American

[americano_sulla_nave]

Thank you for the advice. It looks like regaining my standard American accent will be fun. Can I tell my schools I am watching Jon Stewart's Daily Show and the Colbert Report to improve my American English? Just kidding.

[word]

I dunno; I think there's an opportunity here.

I constantly push the idea in my classes that accents are of secondary importance. English is, for better or worse, the "lingua franca" of our time, but dialects tend to vary wildly. I often attempt to use various accents in class (dialects were a part of my post-secondary education) and, when I have a chance, I play videos of interactions or interviews with individuals who do not necessarily speak with an "American Standard" accent. For example, I was recently in Cambodia with MG, and while we were there, we video-recorded an English interview with a Cambodian JHS student in order to expose our students to outside dialects. It was one of many English-language interactions we recorded; we showed them market negotiations, conversations with hotel clerks and waiters, etc.

It's important for us to reinforce the idea that accents and dialects are okay and relatively inconsequential in the big picture. Japanese people who speak English speak with a certain accent and style and are sometimes quite conscientious of their manner of speaking in this regard. MG and I often seek to encourage the idea that accurate, meaningful communication is important, while perfectly correct pronunciation and grammar are secondary. Obviously, if we were post-secondary or even high-school teachers, our attitude might be different, but as JHS teachers, we want our students to overcome the all-too-common fear of attempting to use English.

Don't worry so much about your accent. If it's something that YOU want to work on, that's fine, but don't feel obligated to do so just on account of your students. Your students will probably benefit from exposure to an unusual dialect.

[hatefulsandwich]

I personally find that my accent changes according to the company I keep. Where I'm from, the North is considered higher-class and more posh while the South is thought to be uncouth and rough. I'm from the South, but went to high school in the North and my accent changes automatically depending on who I'm with. I have a friend who has a very chilled, pot-head kind of accent and vocabulary that is unique to him alone amongst all my friends - I immediately change my manner of talking when I'm with him. I've never purposefully tried to change the way I talk, it just seems to be some kind of natural mimicry. I've even noticed it in other people, actually.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure that watching tv is very useful. I certainly don't have an American accent for all the television I've watched - I can't even really attempt to put on an accent. Maybe if you sit and repeat everything that's being said you'll be able to re-acquire the accent.

Okay, that's a bit of a TL;DR. So really, the easiest thing is to just hang out with people who have the accent you want to adopt.

I don't understand the importance of accents unless they're hindering communication. A lot of Americans find it very difficult to understand South Africans and I'm not entirely sure why. I just figure it has to do with lack of exposure.

[word]

A lot of Americans find it very difficult to understand South Africans and I'm not entirely sure why. I just figure it has to do with lack of exposure.

Possibly. I actually think it's because of something else. Americans can understand South Africans just fine, but sometimes, we just don't want to.

[hatefulsandwich]

A lot of Americans find it very difficult to understand South Africans and I'm not entirely sure why. I just figure it has to do with lack of exposure.

Possibly. I actually think it's because of something else. Americans can understand South Africans just fine, but sometimes, we just don't want to.

And why would that be?

[Cliodhna]

Personally I've never had a problem understanding the few south africans I've met. The accent sounds, to me, a lot like the australian accent with a twist, which is kinda cool. I don't know where that falls within the wide range of accents that probably exist in south africa, but it's seemed consistent enough.

[word]

And why would that be?

I imagine I'd end up getting this thread locked if I were to discuss it honestly. Let's just go with "some aspects of the cultural behavior of certain South African citizens have the potential to make some Americans uncomfortable." Certainly not all; I don't mean to generalize, and I imagine that the opposite can sometimes be true, too.

[Patryn]

awwwwwwwwwww... and here I was hoping for a funny joke! xD

Also, depends on your personality and what you want to do. I know my accent changes because I enjoy learning accents and am so used to trying to match my accent with who I am talking with, that it sometimes changes from my normal accent (light australian) to american or to irish or british. My American accent is pretty passable (though it's not particularly easy to place), but my irish and british leave a lot to be desired, but it's still fun to try!
It gets to the point where I sometimes have to really think about how I would say something in my "normal" accent. Now I'm somewhere in between, but I think it's mainly coz I speak English with people from the USA. So yeah, I'd say just moving back to the USA would be the easiest way to go. Not sure why you'd want to change your accent, but it's up to you!

[AichiPA_Kevin]

Thank you for the advice. It looks like regaining my standard American accent will be fun. Can I tell my schools I am watching Jon Stewart's Daily Show and the Colbert Report to improve my American English? Just kidding.

You could, actually. Stephen Colbert is from South Carolina, and (I read in an interview) consciously eliminated his accent while he was young by listening closely to and imitating national newscasters. As other posters have mentioned, you probably won't get a major change in your accent just by watching; you'll have to work on repeating and imitating the target pronunciation.

[hatefulsandwich]

And why would that be?

I imagine I'd end up getting this thread locked if I were to discuss it honestly. Let's just go with "some aspects of the cultural behavior of certain South African citizens have the potential to make some Americans uncomfortable." Certainly not all; I don't mean to generalize, and I imagine that the opposite can sometimes be true, too.

I kind of figured it would be something like that. I was annoyed for the whole night knowing that there are people who are going to think certain things about me because I'm South African. It's a pity that there are tensions between nationalities like that. But hey, you've been - I don't know how else to say it - politically correct with your response, so I can't fault you.

[hatefulsandwich]

Personally I've never had a problem understanding the few south africans I've met. The accent sounds, to me, a lot like the australian accent with a twist, which is kinda cool. I don't know where that falls within the wide range of accents that probably exist in south africa, but it's seemed consistent enough.

I can understand where people pick up a slight sense of the Australian accent with us, but I really think it's quite different . I dunno, I've just noticed a lot of people saying they can't understand South African accents. I host medical students from all around the world and they sometimes battle a bit. To be honest, there have been times where I couldn't understand certain Americans because the pronunciation of whatever word they said is so far removed from the way I would say it, or just because it's not the word we'd use. Then again, we've also adopted the American way of saying certain things like "yoghurt" or "garage" because there was a time when the only television we got was American.

I mean, we've got this embarrassing phenomenon of referring to traffic lights as "robots" and people from other countries don't know what the hell we're talking about. Then when they find out, they're all "LOOOOL, you people are so technologically ignorant that you think a traffic light is as complex as a robot. Ha ha ha!"

So... yes. I don't know what kind of point I'm trying to make with this. Just some random knowledgey stuff, I guess .

[word]

I kind of figured it would be something like that. I was annoyed for the whole night knowing that there are people who are going to think certain things about me because I'm South African. It's a pity that there are tensions between nationalities like that. But hey, you've been - I don't know how else to say it - politically correct with your response, so I can't fault you.

Rest assured, I won't think anything about anyone because of their nationality. I very much prefer to refrain from formulating opinions about individuals until they've opened their mouth and said something that prompts me to do so.

Likewise, I'm hopeful that you won't think I'm suffering from a "lack of exposure" on account of the fact that I'm American.

But hey, you've been - I don't know how else to say it - politically correct with your response, so I can't fault you.

I've been forced (the hard way) to learn that "political correctness" is what this forum is all about.