Accent from a year?

Question

I am going to be an exchange student in Australia for a year, if theres a possibility I pick up an accent. Is it possible to have an Australian accent for a few years?

Answer 1

No, you have to grow up here.  I don't know where you are from, but when I was at Uni, we had a few exchange students from China, Japan, USA etc.  They sounded the same when they left, from when they arrived.

You may take some local terms with you, but that's about it.

Enjoy your stay here

Answer 2

Yes and No.

Do you speak your first/home language as much as English? If so, it may not happen at all.

An accent is basically when you try to speak a new language but it gets mixed with the sounds you normally make from your home language.

If you stopped speaking your home language, then yes it may be possible after a while but I don't see the need to forget your heritage. Australia is very multicultural. You don't need to be like us to blend in! Just do what you normally do =)

I wish you the very best of luck in Australia! From your Aussie mate, Dan.

Answer 3

Best mate is from Italy and been here since he was 6 years old (he is now 58).. you can still hear his Italian but he has a bit of Aussie accent, another friend from Czech has been here 30 years and doesn't have an accent, another from Canada has been here 14 years and doesn't have an accent, another came from England when he was 7 and sounds like an aussie with pom dialects (HA it is funny)... you can pick up some of the slang, but still won't sound Aussie.

Answer 4

It is more likely you will go home with a couple of Australian expressions that you will hear a lot of here:-

No worries!

Fair dinkum!

G'day!

Crikey!

Answer 5

If you live with an Australian host family and go to school with mainly English-speakers I htink you will probably pick up some accent. It depends to some extent on howmuch of an ear for language you have. You will certainly notice a huge increase in your fluency in English, if that isn't your home language. Have a great stay!

Answer 6

If you pick up the accent up that quickly (unlikely but possible) you will lose it even faster when you return home.

Answer 7

Well, I moved from California (bay area) to Louisiana (new orleans area) 4 years ago and within in the first year my family members use to say I sound country.  So I would say it is possible to pick up Austrailian dialect.