If you travel to another American city or another English speaking country do you try to adapt your accent to the way locals speak?

Examples.

For example, you're a NYer who came to Texas. Are you going to try to speak the Texas drawl as Slim Pickens did? If you're a Texan visiting NYC are you going to try imitating the NY accent to speak like Al Pacino does?

Do you try and preserve your native accent (proud of it) or try to adjust it to fit in or not stand out?

RobbieFTW wrote:

If you travel to another American city or another English speaking country do you try to adapt your accent to the way locals speak?

Examples.

For example, you're a NYer who came to Texas. Are you going to try to speak the Texas drawl as Slim Pickens did? If you're a Texan visiting NYC are you going to try imitating the NY accent to speak like Al Pacino does?

Do you try and preserve your native accent (proud of it) or try to adjust it to fit in or not stand out?

Neither. I just talk the normal way that I talk. I don't really have much of an accent now (other than general American) so I don't really intentionally modify my way of speech. When I was younger I did tend to pick up accents from the places that I visited. Being from New York originally but frequently staying with friends and family in the Philly area, I would often come back home with what my parents described as a Philly accent and was subsequently scolded until my New York accent came back. I also had family in Georgia but NONE of us were allowed to speak in a southern drawl (even when we were down there) otherwise we'd be scolded more severely, lol.

Basically, if we started sounding "ignorant" my parents or aunts/uncles would correct us immediately. It wasn't as much a problem with the "accent" so much as the dialect. So over the years, I've worked hard on ensuring that I don't have much of a noticeable accent of any kind. I do find that after being someplace for so long I do start to pick up on the local dialect more (unconsciously), but I don't try to exaggerate my own accent or adopt a faux one just to fit in. After living in England for a few years I did start to pick up on a few "Britishisms" and now that I live in California people comment every now and again on my choice of expressions. But my accent is still by and large unnoticeable. I will develop a slight New York accent if I go back home for a couple of weeks, but it usually disappears after a day or so (when people start commenting on it).

I never worry about fitting in. My accent is what it is. I don't try to change it. Although, if I'm somewhat animated one way or the other the drawl can get a little more pronounced.

I don't have an accent...you all do!

I don't change my NY accent for anyone, if they don't like it too bad!!

I don't even know what accent I have, part of it's southern, part's New Jersey, and another part's New York, and I've never been to any of those places.

Supernova wrote:

I don't even know what accent I have, part of it's southern, part's New Jersey, and another part's New York, and I've never been to any of those places.

Wow...you're a real mutt, ain'tcha? Verbally speaking of course!

What accent?

alan smithee wrote:

I don't have an accent...you all do!

Same here. I'm from St. Louis. We don't have accents.

As CB mentioned I too had family in the South (Mississippi) and they would laf at me for saying thing like "cow" when it was supposed to be "cau."

Today there is a commercial on TV where the guy has a Southern accent and I wonder who made that decision to have him sell insurance. He may sell stuff in the rural areas, but any urbane person suspects the intelligence of ppl who speak with a Southern accent. It is a conditioned response from meeting so many backward, narrow-minded folks who speak that way in Dixie.

I'm not "proud" of any accent I have, but if I were to go somewhere I wouldn't try and change the way I talked.

I don't have an accent, do I?

I guess. Why would I try to change the way I talk?