Tags
accent, Countries, expatriates, foreign, international, problems, TCK, Third Culture Kids, travel
One of the most annoying aspects about being a Third Culture Kid is trying to explain your accent to other people. There are so many extremes with regard to this, that talking about the problem with accents is just inevitable. In fact, eventually almost Third Culture Kids start wondering about their accents at some point or another.
When someone asks me “what kind of accent do you have”, I’m flabbergasted. The truth is I don’t know. It’s a mix of the places I’ve lived in – yet my accent keeps changing too. People have said that my accent sounds British, American, Asian, African (I’m sure there are other nationalities and continents that can be included into this list as well). It’s quite amusing to be honest.
As if Third Culture Kids weren’t already confused, the problem of accents just adds another confusion to their already long list of confusions. Most Third Culture Kids discover that their accents change according to the situation, and according to the person they are talking to. Sounds a bit strange, but that’s what happens to me as well.
I realised (after more than 2 decades of being a Third Culture Kid) that I try to speak like the person who is speaking to me, without even being aware of it. Well whoever said that TCKs have a chameleon-like ability to adapt into environments, must surely not have thought about this particular superhuman ability. Whereas this ability may have positive effects (such as the person understanding what you are saying), it also might result in many negative effects.
Many people in my passport country have thought that I put on an accent. In fact they were certain of it some time later when they heard my accent change (after I would return from holidays abroad etc). But putting on an accent is not exactly what a TCK does. Putting on an accent means you are doing it consciously. For a TCK, it happens unknowingly.
I never know how to explain why my accent is the way it is. I can start speaking in a completely different accent conversationally, and then put on another accent when I speak officially. Most people who think you’re putting on an accent find you pretentious and snobbish, attention-seeking, and a host of other negative things. Then when and if they get to know you better, your international experiences don’t seem to fully explain why your accent cannot really be placed, and why you change your accent so many times. You also fail to describe the phenomenon properly because you don’t know honestly.
The funniest thing is when people tell you their opinions about your accent. When I was in college, someone told me my accent had become ‘Indianised’ after living in India for a few years. Then someone else later told me that my accent sounded like the accents in my Indian state (though I know there is absolutely no resemblance). Then a stranger told me that my accent had very strong Caribbean traces (how can that happen when I’ve never been to that part of the world). Whatever it is, people’s opinions of your accent really make up some great stories. They also make you wonder a bit more seriously about this accent you have.
Whatever your accent might be, it’s a given that you will never be fully able to describe why it is the way it is. Experiences are just too complex to define how the way you speak has finally become the way it is.
But I’ve come to a conclusion now. If now someone asks me what kind of accent I have, I’m just going to say ‘international’, and leave it at that.
Shivani said:
‘International’ is a great reply to that question. My son is just 4 years old, and I have seen him do the same thing that you mentioned in your post. When he is home, he speaks in an accent similar to my husband’s and mine, even when speaking English. At school and with his friends though, his accent changes completely and is similar to the ‘American accent’. He is not ‘putting it on’ by any means – but he does realize that he interacts with people who speak in different accents and changes his to adapt to them. And he has been doing it since he was 2!
Anarya Andir said:
I guess it pretty much happens with all TCKs – because they’re bombarded with so many different cultures – and they’re trying to fit in everywhere. That’s interesting that your son has been doing it from such a young age though! It just goes to show that the whole thing is completely unintentional. It just happens as a natural response.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences about your son :). Now I know that this accent problem actually starts at such a young age! 😀
Clanmother said:
Hello, I have just nominated your blog for the Beautiful Blogger Award:
Please accept my kind regards without any obligation. This is my thanks for being an inspiration to me on my blogging journey.
Rebecca aka Clanmother
Anarya Andir said:
Thanks a lot, yet again :D. I’m very happy :). Congratulations for getting the awards! Well deserved 🙂
aFrankAngle said:
First-time visitor via Clanmother …. and I appreciate your perspective!
Anarya Andir said:
Thanks a lot! Much appreciated 🙂
qiquan said:
Well, don’t worry about that, they are kiwi accent, Australian accent, scottish, singlish (singapore way of speaking English), I love all of them, I love indian speaking English, they have so many varieties depending on which region they come from, I have my own accent too, even when I am speaking mandarin, my mother tongue, people are telling me I have an accent, but I love that, its just wonderful =).
Anarya Andir said:
Hehe…worst part is I don’t know what kind of accent I have. That’s what causes all this confusion eventually.
Yes indeed. All accents have their own charm. That’s true 😀
Tamar Najarian said:
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Anarya Andir said:
Wow, thanks a lot Tamar! I’m very very honoured you chose to nominate me :D.
Congratulations on getting the award because you deserve it fully :)!!!
Carl Spanoghe said:
Thanks for that. I am a third culture kid and have have the same “chamelion” experience, and I’ve often found that my accent changes depending on who I am speaking to. I once even had a date with a Midwesterner go bad because she thought I was mocking her–before I was even aware that there existed a “midwestern accent”! These days I try to mostly sound like a Bay Area native, but if I go overseas for any amount of time, it really throws me for a loop 🙂
Anarya Andir said:
Haha that’s interesting that she thought you were mocking her. Thankfully that’s never happened to me. Just goes to show all the strange things people think when you do this natural accent changing thing.
Let me know how the trying to sound like a Bay Area native is working for you, because I’ve noticed that once we TCKs end up in any other country, we try to fit in with the local accent stuff. But once we’re outta there we’re doing the very same thing again in a different situation (and accent). Crazy is what it is :D.
Thanks so much for the comment. I appreciate it very much! 😀
everyvariety said:
The same thing happened to me about 12 years ago when I was talking with a girl that was visiting from England. When my accent started sounding British she told me to stop making fun of her accent…I had to apologize quickly and explain that my accent always changes and I didn’t know why. Good to know it happens to other people as well.
Anarya Andir said:
Yikes! It’s the worst thing when someone thinks you’re mocking them :/. I hope the situation became better once you told her that it was unintentional.
everyvariety said:
Yes, it seemed she was fine after that.
Anarya Andir said:
At least 🙂
Stephen G. Hipperson said:
in my experience, accents are infectious. I suspect there is a mechanism in our minds which prompt us to adopt, or least modify our own accents, to blend more into the community that we are in currently.
My children tend to have a non-accent (in terms of UK English) but when they went to school they adopted a Yorkshire accent (regional UK) and now my daughter has gone to Uni in Newcastle and she likely to acquire skill with a Geordie accent.
The shame is people are judged by the accents.
Carl Spanoghe said:
When I was about 7, we moved from Toronto to London. My sister, over the course of about 3 months, went from speaking like a Canadian to having an incredibly thick Wandsworth accent. It is amazing how quick kids can adapt to a new accent that is completely different.
Anarya Andir said:
Children do it the best, and do it without being aware of it at all!
Anarya Andir said:
That’s quite true. It’s more out of a desire to ‘fit in’ wherever you are. I guess children pick up accents even faster – especially if they’ve been moving around quite a lot. And eventually I think that leads them to have a ‘confused’ accent during adulthood – because it turns out they’re probably using all the accents they picked up in childhood!