Hey everyone and welcome back to the Easy English Podcast.
I hope you are having an amazing day, because today we are going to look at a topic that quite a few people ask me about.
And I've had a discussion about this topic many times.
And that is accents.
So why do people actually have different accents?
Particularly in English, you can hear so many different accents.
So why does someone from London sound completely different from someone in New York or in Sydney in Australia?
And why is it sometimes so hard to change your own accent after it has developed?
Well, that's exactly what we are going to talk about today.
So grab a cup of tea, get yourself comfortable, and let's go into the world of accents.
Okay, so first thing is first.
We've got to actually define and find out what an accent is.
We use this word a lot and it really simply is the way that someone pronounces words.
It's just a part of how we speak and in general, it's really shaped by where we grow up, who we talk to and even what other languages we speak.
In my eyes, I think that accents are always evolving.
They are always changing.
Take me for an example, right?
So I am from Northern Ireland in the UK.
And people from Northern Ireland are often known for having quite strong accents.
And I hope that my accent, my voice, is understandable to you.
And my accent was stronger in the past, but over time I spent more time abroad, so in other countries, communicating with people internationally.
I spent a lot of time studying in Scotland and then living in other countries.
And as a result, my accent changed.
It became more clear and also less strong.
So it just shows you that even if you're a native speaker and you are born in a certain place and you have a certain accent, even your accent changes when you move and you go to different places.
So everyone has an accent.
Yes, even you listening to this, and even in your own language, I guess, too.
I know that in some languages, accents aren't as big a deal.
They're not as noticeable.
But in English, it very much is.
If you speak English you will have some kind of an accent with English.
If you speak Spanish, for example, I'm sure that you will have some kind of a Spanish accent.
And even within each of these countries there are so many different types of accents.
Like just an example, someone in London will sound completely different from me.
And different parts of London sound different from one another too.
Which is quite crazy because it's not like a huge area of distance.
And in the US or America, someone from Texas can sound very different from someone from New York.
But why do we have these accents?
I've talked a little bit about with me how my accent has changed over time.
But how do we get our accents to begin with?
And there's a few reasons as to why they exist.
Like when we're babies, our brains are a little bit like sponges.
They take in all of the information, all of the sound that we hear, and we start to copy them.
But here's the thing.
Every language has different signs, and even the same language can be spoken quite differently in these different places.
So, for example, I say the word water like water, whereas someone from London would say water, water.
More of a soft sound on the end.
I'm not sure if the subtitles will even write that correctly.
But this is because of the way that they learned to speak whenever they were younger.
And once we get used to these certain words, our brains think, okay, this is how speaking works.
And it becomes much more difficult to change these words and pronunciations later in our lives.
That's why learning a new language can be a little bit harder as an adult with pronunciation with accents.
So it, of course, where you grew up is the biggest factor on your accent because of this.
So if you grew up in Australia, you'll probably have an Australian accent.
If you grew up in Ireland, you'll probably sound Irish.
And if you grew up in a certain city, you will probably have that city's accent.
And it also while you're growing up, the people that you spend time with affect your accent.
Have you ever noticed?
You know, if you're spending time or a lot of time with someone else, you start speaking like them.
Not only the accents, but I notice that sometimes we start to copy certain words, certain speaking styles, and we become more like that person in our speech, in our style of speaking.
And if you move to another country, for example, and you start to speak English every day, your accent will adapt and change to that area.
I mean, even if I look at my wife, for example, She is a non-native speaker, but she spends so much time with me and my family in this country that I've noticed her accent starting to become more and more like a local accent every year, or every month at least, without her even trying to sound like a local.
It's happening naturally, which is quite crazy, to be honest, to hear those little changes.
So it's why often, this exact reason is why often, children of immigrants or expats sometimes have different accents from their parents.
Their parents might have a strong accent from their home country, but the children grow up listening to the local accents all around them at school and they have a stronger influence from this input going on around them and they start to sound different from their parents.
So we know where our accents come from, why they happen, and why they are different.
But can you really properly make effort to change your accent?
And the answer is in my opinion, yes, but it's not easy.
It's not something that is going to happen overnight.
Changing your accent is quite like training your muscles.
You have to practice a lot.
And even then some start, some signs might be very difficult for you.
Just for me, for example, When I try to speak well, when I speak Russian or I try to speak Spanish, people roll their Rs.
So they roll their R sound.
For me, it's very hard because I can't roll my Rs in English or I don't.
And it takes a lot of effort to try and do this.
And I've tried to practice it so many times.
But when I go back onto autopilot mode and I'm just speaking I stop rolling my R's again.
So it takes so much time to try and train this pronunciation muscle to sound the way that you want to sound.
But you've just got to practice a lot.
And even then, you should be able to achieve the accent that you want over time.
Actors do this all the time.
Just look at all of those British actors that play American characters, for example.
They work with a voice coach to practice the accent and they end up sounding so natural and so much like an American that many people don't even realize that they are not an American.
So if they can do it, you can too.
But of course, not all of us have the privilege of having an accent coach or a voice coach.
But in my opinion, I think that accents are a part of your identity.
They really do tell a story about where you're from and they make you unique.
So, unless you really need to get rid of your accent, and as long as your speech is clear and understandable, there's no real reason to get rid of it.
Having an accent is actually quite a good thing.
It means that you know more than one way to speak.
And that's pretty amazing, to be honest.
I would say own your accent.
Be proud of it.
Don't be shameful of your accent.
Of course, you can work on your pronunciation, but don't obsess over it.
As long as people understand you and you understand them, That's the most important thing.
So let's have a look at a couple of little accent facts before we finish.
So there is the most neutral English accent.
What do you think it is?
Many people say that the most neutral English accent, the most easiest to understand, is General American.
Oh, excuse me.
And it is the type of American English that you might hear in the news, so on TV or in Hollywood movies.
And that also British accents used to actually sound quite American in the past.
Believe it or not, back in the 1600s, British and American English sounded quite similar.
But over time British English has changed and it's had more formal pronunciation, while American English has stayed closer to that kind of more original, rough sound.
And babies, so this is the last fact that I promised, the last fact for the day.
Babies can recognize accents before they are born.
Studies show that babies inside of the mother can hear sounds and they start recognizing their mother's accent even before birth.
How cool is that?
So remember, don't worry about your accent.
Accents are great, they're important, they're unique, but don't try to change it too much.
Be proud of it.
As always, if you want to support this podcast and you would like additional bonus episodes, special content, click the link in the description below to go to the Patreon and you can choose how much you want to give and how much Easy English is worth to you.
Thank you very much for listening, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day.
Goodbye.
