Copying an Accent.?

Question

Do you find that you accidentally begin to mimic the accent of the person you are talking to? If so, Why? What nationalities come to mind that you mimic?

Answer 1

yes maybe because i am fascinated with her/his accent that's why unconsciously and consciously,i do mimic him,hehehe...English accent because I've got some fun hearing myself speaking like that...

Answer 2

This is my question!  Yes, yes, I do that, not intentionally, but slip into an accent.  My grown daughters would always laugh and call me on the carpet in front of the person I'm mimicking.  I've done Japanese, German and Afro Americans.  I even make the same body gestures.  One time I translated my Japanese friend from English to English.  And the doctor would say, "Ask her if . . "  Then I would ask her in English and tell the doctor what she said in English.  We went back and forth with the exam and I told her the diagnosis in English.  I can't believe the 3 of us carried on like that.  I realized it when we were driving home.

Answer 3

Irish accent to a Scottish person who has had a drink.

big bad wolf.

Answer 4

Not in such a short period of time, no. If I'm surrounded by a particular accent for a while, then yes. I went to British schools for a couple of years growing up and I picked up an English accent. I lost it, though, as soon as I moved away.

Answer 5

What nationality?

Geordie

Answer 6

I live in Hungary and am married to a Hungarian. I don't mimic their accents because it would really sound over the top to start talking like either Zsa Zsa Gabor or Bela Lugousi.

I am sure I have picked up some sort of accent but don't try to.

Answer 7

I will unconsciously mimic accents when I am drunk.  It happens all the time when I am with a friend from South Carolina.

Answer 8

Yes it can happen over time,but not straight away.

Answer 9

I drop back into luzianna-speak even after years of diction if I speak to someone from home.

Answer 10

Ya, this is something i used to mock people over.. its a problem in South Africa, where many of the white folk address black people in  a different tone and start speaking slower using their accent. But as someone who relates quite well to all here and has friends in all cultures with very unique accents, you begin to pick up the lingo or the twang or whatever, i find myself doing it depending on which of my friends i'm actually around. I would say though that it is more of a mechanism we use to connect and even relate to each other better, a way of not seeming so different afterall, although it is sometimes hilariously obvious!!