I left Canada for my gap year a week after graduating high school. Four decades and a week later the gap year ended when we moved to Canada.
For the first two decades of the gap, I lived in Norway. I lived in a rural area and the Norwegian I learned was the dialect spoken there. Locals were proud of me, but inside, I felt I wanted to learn "real Norwegian" because the spoken language I was learning was nothing like the written language I was trying to learn. A few years later I was living in student housing, sharing a kitchen with three guys from Oslo. I started changing my dialect so it resembled "real Norwegian". After university, I moved to Oslo and learned that I was much more adept at understanding people with different dialects than many people in the capital who had never learned a dialect that didn't resemble the written language. I spoke Norwegian with no discernable accent, and, as a foreigner, I felt that was a huge benefit.
Halfway through my "gap life", I moved to Denmark. I was worried I wouldn't understand Danes. Even though their written language was very similar to Norwegian, their pronunciation is markedly different. I managed, but I wasn't prepared for the fact that they didn't understand me! I learned to speak Danish, although with a markedly Norwegian accent that often had people complaining that they couldn't understand me before I was halfway finished with my first sentence... I married a Dane and we still speak Danish at home today.
After a decade in Denmark, we moved to Belgium. I picked up some French and Flemish, but can't converse in either. Working in a global company with English as our corporate language most of my days were spent speaking English to people that didn't have it as a first language. I tried to adapt my language to make it understandable to those I was speaking with.
Over time, my English changed. Now, when I'm introducing myself to students or workshop participants, I always ask if anyone can guess where I'm from or where my accent is from. Many Europeans guess that I'm Irish. Here in Canada, it's a bit of a mixed bag but there's usually surprise when I disclose that I grew up in the city in which we now live!
I lived in Australia for 6 months as a teenager and returned with a cute Aussie accent just to lose it again after a few months.
When I have meetings with my American colleagues now I can’t not start speaking in a US accent.
In the UK people thought I was South African although I had never been there.
I sound like the Queen for the non British English speakers and now that I’m back in Germany I seem to have adopted a completely new accent. 😂 who knows why.
My theory though is that you need to have some level of language talent to be a chameleon otherwise you just sound the same forever, accent wise of course, and I also know some people like that.
I've lived in Spain for over thirty years. My first lasting memory of being asked where I am from, however, dates from a couple of years after settling in there. I was traveling through Prague on holiday, and was hanging out with a group of tourists from all over the world.
Of course, my answer, "I'm from Scotland," was met with the inevitable, "Scottish! Whiskey!" Then big grins and arms raised high for hugs.
Peeved, I rolled my eyes and turned to a couple of guys who I had already heard speaking Spanish. "I always get this response," I said to them.
"You're lucky," one of them replied. "When it's my turn, they always answer, 'Columbian! Oh, drugs...'"
Intra-language accents can also confirm prejudices! For example, a Southerner in the United States vs. someone from Chicago.
Incredible you speak so many languages, I can barely think in one, let alone many!
Great post! Accents and dialects are fun.
I left Canada for my gap year a week after graduating high school. Four decades and a week later the gap year ended when we moved to Canada.
For the first two decades of the gap, I lived in Norway. I lived in a rural area and the Norwegian I learned was the dialect spoken there. Locals were proud of me, but inside, I felt I wanted to learn "real Norwegian" because the spoken language I was learning was nothing like the written language I was trying to learn. A few years later I was living in student housing, sharing a kitchen with three guys from Oslo. I started changing my dialect so it resembled "real Norwegian". After university, I moved to Oslo and learned that I was much more adept at understanding people with different dialects than many people in the capital who had never learned a dialect that didn't resemble the written language. I spoke Norwegian with no discernable accent, and, as a foreigner, I felt that was a huge benefit.
Halfway through my "gap life", I moved to Denmark. I was worried I wouldn't understand Danes. Even though their written language was very similar to Norwegian, their pronunciation is markedly different. I managed, but I wasn't prepared for the fact that they didn't understand me! I learned to speak Danish, although with a markedly Norwegian accent that often had people complaining that they couldn't understand me before I was halfway finished with my first sentence... I married a Dane and we still speak Danish at home today.
After a decade in Denmark, we moved to Belgium. I picked up some French and Flemish, but can't converse in either. Working in a global company with English as our corporate language most of my days were spent speaking English to people that didn't have it as a first language. I tried to adapt my language to make it understandable to those I was speaking with.
Over time, my English changed. Now, when I'm introducing myself to students or workshop participants, I always ask if anyone can guess where I'm from or where my accent is from. Many Europeans guess that I'm Irish. Here in Canada, it's a bit of a mixed bag but there's usually surprise when I disclose that I grew up in the city in which we now live!
Oh gosh so truuuueeee.
I lived in Australia for 6 months as a teenager and returned with a cute Aussie accent just to lose it again after a few months.
When I have meetings with my American colleagues now I can’t not start speaking in a US accent.
In the UK people thought I was South African although I had never been there.
I sound like the Queen for the non British English speakers and now that I’m back in Germany I seem to have adopted a completely new accent. 😂 who knows why.
My theory though is that you need to have some level of language talent to be a chameleon otherwise you just sound the same forever, accent wise of course, and I also know some people like that.
Beautiful image, but it left out the Anatolian languages.
I've lived in Spain for over thirty years. My first lasting memory of being asked where I am from, however, dates from a couple of years after settling in there. I was traveling through Prague on holiday, and was hanging out with a group of tourists from all over the world.
Of course, my answer, "I'm from Scotland," was met with the inevitable, "Scottish! Whiskey!" Then big grins and arms raised high for hugs.
Peeved, I rolled my eyes and turned to a couple of guys who I had already heard speaking Spanish. "I always get this response," I said to them.
"You're lucky," one of them replied. "When it's my turn, they always answer, 'Columbian! Oh, drugs...'"