Anonymous
03/06/2021 09:24
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
Immediately stop saying y'all, for one.
Anonymous
03/06/2021 08:09
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
Just repeat what you hear on Tv/radio/videos. I’ve studied languages my whole life and the key is practice and repetition. Should be straightforward for you, as you’re not actually learning new words or meanings, but are just adjusting the pronunciation of what uou already hear around you everyday
Anonymous
03/06/2021 08:05
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
Adulthood is probably too late unless you want to sound really inauthentic.
I went from a Southern (NC/SC) accent to a mid-Atlantic accent (except when the bourbon is flowing! Hah). But I switched when I was still a kid. My mom is from South Carolina, Dad is from Northern Virginia with more of a mid-Atlantic accent. I imitated him rather than her.
Most people now think I'm from Maryland or Pennsylvania. I've worked in broadcast news with no issue. But I started early!
I went from a Southern (NC/SC) accent to a mid-Atlantic accent (except when the bourbon is flowing! Hah). But I switched when I was still a kid. My mom is from South Carolina, Dad is from Northern Virginia with more of a mid-Atlantic accent. I imitated him rather than her.
Most people now think I'm from Maryland or Pennsylvania. I've worked in broadcast news with no issue. But I started early!
Anonymous
03/06/2021 00:34
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
My husband and I both grew up rural Kentucky. We have not lived in Kentucky for 10 years and my accent was non existent within 2-3 years and my husbands is still the same as it was 10 years ago. People who don’t know is well will ask me “now where is your husband from?”
I think it’s just easier for some people. I never even paid attention to trying to “get rid” of my accent it just faded over time. My husband's didn’t, but I don’t think it’s ever negatively impacted him, besides people asking where he is from.
I think it’s just easier for some people. I never even paid attention to trying to “get rid” of my accent it just faded over time. My husband's didn’t, but I don’t think it’s ever negatively impacted him, besides people asking where he is from.
Anonymous
03/05/2021 23:25
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
You don’t need to lose it.
Anonymous
03/05/2021 23:23
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
Anonymous wrote:I have no tips, but I wonder what makes some people shed an accent more easily than others? I had a strong Boston accent when I went to college in the DC area and then remained here after college. I did not actively try to lose my accent (in fact, I liked having a recognizable accent), but by my mid 20s it was pretty much gone. It's been literally decades since anyone asked me if I was from Boston.
But it does pop out occasionally--yes a bit if I've been drinking, but also when I'm around a person with a Boston accent, I start to slip back to one, completely without intention. And there are certain words from childhood that I just don't say much in adulthood so they never got rewired, so to speak. E.g., the candy Starburst. Unless I concentrate, I still say it with almost no R at all, lol.
OP, do you hear your own accent? There was a time in college where my ear had become attuned to the mid- Atlantic and gentle Southern scenes all around me and I could actually *hear* how different I sounded. It was very disorienting, and I think it was the beginning of the end of my accent.
My best friend growing up had a mid Atlantic accent until she spent her 10th grade year in England. When she returned to the states at the end of the school year she called me and I had no idea who I was talking to. Pure British accent. She lost that accent by the time school started in the fall. She has lived in Wilmington NC for about 15 years now and has a southern accent. I’m sure there’s a term for people who change accents easily like this, but I don’t know what it is.
Anonymous
03/05/2021 23:15
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
I have no tips, but I wonder what makes some people shed an accent more easily than others? I had a strong Boston accent when I went to college in the DC area and then remained here after college. I did not actively try to lose my accent (in fact, I liked having a recognizable accent), but by my mid 20s it was pretty much gone. It's been literally decades since anyone asked me if I was from Boston.
But it does pop out occasionally--yes a bit if I've been drinking, but also when I'm around a person with a Boston accent, I start to slip back to one, completely without intention. And there are certain words from childhood that I just don't say much in adulthood so they never got rewired, so to speak. E.g., the candy Starburst. Unless I concentrate, I still say it with almost no R at all, lol.
OP, do you hear your own accent? There was a time in college where my ear had become attuned to the mid- Atlantic and gentle Southern scenes all around me and I could actually *hear* how different I sounded. It was very disorienting, and I think it was the beginning of the end of my accent.
But it does pop out occasionally--yes a bit if I've been drinking, but also when I'm around a person with a Boston accent, I start to slip back to one, completely without intention. And there are certain words from childhood that I just don't say much in adulthood so they never got rewired, so to speak. E.g., the candy Starburst. Unless I concentrate, I still say it with almost no R at all, lol.
OP, do you hear your own accent? There was a time in college where my ear had become attuned to the mid- Atlantic and gentle Southern scenes all around me and I could actually *hear* how different I sounded. It was very disorienting, and I think it was the beginning of the end of my accent.
Anonymous
03/05/2021 22:52
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
I have a good friend who succeeded at losing a strong rural Georgia accent. When he went to college he consciously softened the twangier edges by spending a lot of time with non southerners and absorbing how they talked. Continued on that road in law school and started practicing law with an unidentifiable (to me) accent. He doesn’t sound southern at all.
So yes, it can stick, and if you don’t want to take several years to lose it on your own I would also recommend a coach.
So yes, it can stick, and if you don’t want to take several years to lose it on your own I would also recommend a coach.
Anonymous
03/05/2021 22:51
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
Anonymous wrote:Why do you want to get rid of it?
S/he probably doesn’t want his/her accent used against him/her.
Anonymous
03/05/2021 22:25
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
Why do you want to get rid of it?
Anonymous
03/05/2021 22:14
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
Youtube - or tapes and lots of practice
Anonymous
03/05/2021 22:10
Subject: Re:How to lose a regional southern accent?
Get a vocal coach. And practice, practice, practice.
Yes, it sticks unless you get drunk or want to turn it back on (
Yes, it sticks unless you get drunk or want to turn it back on (
Anonymous
03/05/2021 22:01
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
If you are really serious about it, find a voice/acting coach.
Anonymous
03/05/2021 22:01
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
Practice makes perfect. Vowels give you away.
- Former Midwesterner who still can’t pronounce mid-atlantic short o’s* after 15 years.
* I feel like I’m faking a British accent when I try to be neutral with my o’s.
- Former Midwesterner who still can’t pronounce mid-atlantic short o’s* after 15 years.
* I feel like I’m faking a British accent when I try to be neutral with my o’s.
Anonymous
03/05/2021 21:54
Subject: How to lose a regional southern accent?
I’d like to lose my accent and adapt a classic mid-Atlantic accent.
First, how does one go about it?
Second, does the retraining stick?
Thank you.
First, how does one go about it?
Second, does the retraining stick?
Thank you.