Can I actually aquire a British Accent?

Question

I've stayed in Britain for several years, but I've returned to the states since but all my friends say I have a wonky accent...it's not American but it's not fully British...I don't really believe them but I have never really had an urge to listen to myself speak.

But, is that even possible?

Answer 1

sure. I lived in canada had a canadian accent then moved to the good ol' south and have a strong southern accent. you change your speech based on the people you hang out with. but of course there's either extreme too (people who never change and people who adopt their new accents quickly).

Answer 2

yes of course you'll have modified your accent ... whether it's permanent or not depends on you ... I find some accents more "contagious" than others and despite having left my home area 40 years ago, there's still traces of my roots

infuriating thing is that I'm northern English and the first place  I lived when I left home was Edinburgh where I had to modify my accent quite a lot so that the locals could understand me ... this has left an indelible effect on the way I speak which now I gather makes me sound Irish ... I've had 40-odd years of people asking what part of Ireland I'm from (even Irish people themselves)

Answer 3

possibly. i went to england for two weeks over the summer, and i talked all proper and "Britishy" when i came back. It took about 2 months until i talked normally again :) did you see any jankanimals in Britain?

Answer 4

Sure, your accent can change when you are around people speaking a different accent all the time. I've been living in the US for quite a few years now and the family back home say I speak like an american, but the people here tell me how "cute"  my british accent is (if anyone out there is "guilty" of that, please do us a favour and knock it off cos I know thatit is often meant with the best intentions, but it can sometimes be pretty irritating and sound very condescending...). Weird thins is that when I go back home, my accent reverts to original which always prompts my mum to tell me that I sound more american on the phone!