As strange as it may seem, I hate my accent and want to speak like an American because I think it sounds cooler and more like how I want to sound.
I’ve more or less perfected my version of an American accent on my own, I think.
But whenever I’m with other people who know me, I revert back to my old accent instinctively because that’s how they know me to sound like. I’m unsure about how I can subtly transition without them noticing a sudden change, such as through gradual exposure to my accent changing more each time they hear it. That way I could argue that I don’t know how it happened and it was a slow progression if they eventually realise it’s different, rather than something forced that I started doing one day.
The biggest thing I think is changing the pronunciation of certain words with “a”, such as going from “fahst” to “faast” for the word ‘fast’, or “mahsk” to “maask” for ‘mask’. Because it’s really one or the other, there’s no in-between. I feel like for most other sounds, a gradual transition into more American sounds can be possible, but that one’s like, how can I make the plunge and will people notice it straight away and think it’s weird?
My sibling in Christ, just relax and be yourself. You’ll pick up the accent more and more over time, that’s how it works. Forcing it is disingenuous. Imagine if my goofy midwestern ass moved to the UK and started to try to speak with Brits forcing their accent.
This reminded me of my first year at uni when a guy decided to speak in a fake British accent, I guess to sound cooler. Unfortunately for him, we could all tell it was fake and that made him decidedly uncool (and the butt of a lot of jokes). I think he gave it up after a couple of weeks.
The fact is, the coolest thing you can do is be confident in yourself (including how you sound when speaking naturally).
Mate, I don’t think he’s even moved.
So this is like if you started talking in a British accent in your midwestern location.
How truly fucking bizarre OP is.
OP sounds young. Kids are weird, but this is harmless and they’re clearly embarrassed about it.
I think they just wanna fit in, which is a totally relatable feeling. But I promise, this is not the way you want to fit in.
No, it’s not how to fit in. I don’t think calling them bizarre is going to help the situation though. They’re not bizarre, they’re just looking for approval the wrong way.
I think it’s probably more to stand out in a cool way, but it’s still not going to happen like this. The problem with “cool” is that it’s nebulous and there’s no formula for it. I would not be able to be cool while obviously faking an accent, but someone who’s really cool might still be able to pull it off. Hell, I have a genuine American accent in another country (a pretty light one) and I can’t embrace it enough for it to be cool.
What’s really hard to learn is that OP’s not going to be cool until OP is cool with themselves, and that’s difficult to do when surrounded by people who don’t think you’re cool. That’s why most people get cooler when they leave high school, and that’s also why people tend to get nicer.
Please accept one Reddit silver I have leftover from when I still used Reddit. Very good insights here.
I had some friends in Munich who were brothers, just two or three years apart. They both grew up learning British English, but one eventually participated in an exchange program in Canada while the other participated in one in Australia. When they came back, their English accents were completely different from each other - no matter how hard they tried to sound similar to each other. In the end, everyone though it was unique and kind of fun since one brother would sometimes use slang the other didn’t understand.
Point being, OP, is to do what feels natural. Ultimately, it’s your voice, but you’ll pick up certain things here and there that naturally change your way of speaking over time.
Not forcing things is generally pretty good life advice. It’s like a fart: if you have to force it it’s probably shit.
Actors do this shit all the time. It’s absolutely doable with practice.
Actors usually pay for professional dialect coaching. Before the practice became common place it was amusing to watch British actors play Americans using terrible accents. I know it applies the other way around, but I’d have a harder time noticing it.
Pretend to fall and hit your head some night out with friends. Not enough for them to force you to stay up and get a cat scan, but just enough. Just enough to leave some doubt. Then start talking American the next day
Good idea, that way, if your mates try to get you to go for the scan, you can baffle them by announcing that you “Can’t afford it” 😂
As an American this is GOLD and has me gutturally laughing as I stare at my $2,175/month bottle of pills.
Even better, find someone who talks in an American accent who wants to speak in your old accent.
Agree to bump into each other hard in front of your friends, when you get up, switch accents.
Alternative, celebrate your birthday together and each can wish for the others accent.
This is the way. Keep us updated OP
Life is too short, just do it and when people notice say you’re trying it out for fun for a bit.
This is probably something you’ll think was really silly in a few years but who cares, live a little.
There is not a slow enough change for that to unnoticed. People will notice.
Also … just why? Why American? There are so many nice accents to choose.
You are never going to be able to do it so gradually that no one notices. There will always come a point at which they think “weird, @PlogLod sort of sounds American”.
For that reason I think you may as well just fully commit straight away and get it over with.
Your approach is defeating your purpose. Muricans would be loud and outspoken so everyone around knows
When I was a kid, I had a friend who was trying to do different accents, and he wasn’t joking when he said “it’s not fair that I have to practice all these different accents, but if anyone wanted to copy mine, all they have to do is just talk normal.”
He honestly thought that EVERYONE had a Northwest PA accent by default and that everyone else just chooses to talk in an accent.
So, I guess, just talk normal. 🤷🏻♂️😂
Don’t ease into it at all. Wait for a moment where it would be funny, then go whole hog with it. Treat it like a joke… but then just keep going. Never go back. Don’t even acknowledge there is a back. Pretend this is how you’ve always talked and they’re insane if they think otherwise.
Yes. This is the answer. Gaslighting.
Disconnect yourself from absolutely everyone you know and everywhere you usually go; take a long vacation somewhere relatively close but isolated enough from where you live.
Then, pretend this is actually a trip to America. You can fake photos online, AI makes this very easy for you today. Return to your normal life and carry on with the American accent. Continue taking fake (or if you can, real) holidays to America to justify the accent.
Bonus points if you move to the sewers of your home town and cast your fist menacingly towards the voices coming from above, muttering “I will show you all…!” in a very flawed American accent
As an American myself, I encourage you to keep your natural accent. We’re a nation of immigrants built from people who originated all over the world. So there’s not just one recognizable accent here. Nobody’s accent is superior to others. I’ve known people from other countries who are self conscious about their accents. In response, I tell them honestly that I appreciate the way they sound. Variety is the spice of life, as the saying goes.
OP doesn’t actually live in the US themselves, they just want to sound like an American.
Aza 'Merican maseff,… um, maybe try for mid-Atlantic.
I won’t go into the reasons why you’re doing that. Instead, I’ll just focus on your plans, because I don’t think a gradual change of accent will go unnoticed. Just do it. Embrace the American accent you love so much and live it to the fullest. And if anyone asks you what happened, just say you’re tired of your own accent and are trying something new. Explain it clearly to others and own up to it. This will make you feel good because you’re being honest by telling others why you have decided to change.
However, you should bear in mind that a language is much more than just an accent. It also includes people’s choice of words and idioms and expresses the way they see the world. It would be strange if I decided to speak Brazilian Portuguese with a Portuguese accent (from Portugal). Those who know me would be confused because this “Portuguese character” in me speaks the local language perfectly with the wrong accent. How come?
By “American accent”, do you mean the style of speaking that’s commonly used in American movies and TV? Because that’s an intentional neutral/ambiguous accent, based primarily on the styles used in the Midwest.
It doesn’t actually match any region, and it certainly doesn’t match all regions of the US. The accents in New York, California, Texas, and the Deep South all have stark contrasts to this, and to each other.
Although, thanks to that somewhat bland accent being so prevalent on TV and in movies, regional accents are shifting to sort of match it. Especially in younger generations.
So first of all, which American accent? There’s no single accent.
Secondly, if you try to transition slowly, odds are you’re going to get made fun of a whole lot along the way for nearly every single American pronunciation you make, because each individual change will stick out more in context. so we’re talking about months or years of people thinking you’re weird, stupid, or have some kind of speech impediment instead of getting it all out of the way in one go. I have a fairly strong Philadelphian accent, and even here in my home turf I’ve had the odd person try to make fun of my pronunciation of things like “water” (wooder,) generally it’s pretty good-natured fun, but once in a while you get some asshole with a stick up their ass about proper pronunciation. You’re setting yourself up for a long time of that, and it will only get worse up until you’re actually able to pass as an American.
Third, don’t try to be cool, it never works. The coolest thing out there really is just having the right amount of confidence. Trying to change your accent because it sounds cooler kind reeks of trying too hard, like weebs sprinkling way too much Japanese into their conversations for no good reason, or people using big words to sound smarter, or whatever the fuck Elizabeth Holmes does with her voice. It’s basically the verbal of equivalent of a neckbeard wearing a fedora (is that still a thing or am I dating myself?)
If you’re actually dead-set on changing your accent, the best way is to just live in America and immerse yourself in it and come into it naturally, and you’ll pick it up, and then it gives you a solid reason to say how/why you picked it up. You’re going to need to spend some significant time here though, months at a minimum, probably years, otherwise at best people will just think you’re an obnoxious, maybe naive weirdo who’s huffing their own farts about how well-traveled they are, or at worse think you’re some sort of weeaboo type obsessive nutjob about America (Google “Rawhide Kobayashi” and you’d get a pretty good sense of how people might think of you)
Last thoughts on the matter, if there’s American slang you like, go ahead and use it, but do it naturally, don’t force it. I sprinkle all kinds of weird shit into my speech that I’ve picked up from all over the place, things I’ve read, heard others say, movies, tv, the internet, but it’s never been a conscious choice, it just happens naturally, trying to force it never makes it feel natural. “Stop trying to make fetch happen.”
Now explain “jawn” to him.
Why American though?
Why not South African, or something like this? Then you can sound like a
mercenarysoldier of fortune. 😏You don’t really say why you don’t want your close ones to realize that you’re picking up an American accent. Maybe it’s just fear about being ridiculed?
If you’re looking for justification for changing your accent, there’s definitely arguments that can support you. But the important thing is for you to understand that you can do whatever makes you happy. And if your friends are any good, they’ll understand that.
