Accents ~

I recently listened to a podcast of This American Life from NPR radio. It was about accents and the guest was an Asian American who came here at age 7. I thought she spoke perfect English but she’s always been aware that she still doesn’t sound American. The entire episode was very interesting and it got me thinking about my own accent. Raised in the Boston area, I have a Bostonian accent.

However, we moved to Ohio when I was 7 years old and lived there for six years before returning to the Boston area. I also moved to Florida almost 38 years ago. And now……at age 77, I still have a very strong Boston accent. So it got me thinking, what, exactly, accounts for this? Why didn’t I, like so many others, move to a different area and lose my original accent? I’m not sure I have an answer for this, but I do have some thoughts.

Back in 1954 schools were different in many different ways and I did attend a Catholic school, so the discipline was strong. Therefore, we had no bullying. At least not on the school grounds. But kids will be kids and shortly after I arrived, in the middle of the second grade, they began to question why I spoke the way I did. I recall the nun explaining to them that I wasn’t born in Ohio like they were. I was from a different part of the country and therefore, the way I spoke was my accent. I guess that was a teaching moment for my second grade.

But I do remember on the playground during recess that a few of them tried to get me to say words the way they did. I said, “saw.” They pronounced it “saul.” I said “oil.” They said something sounding more like “all.” And I also remember my refusal to sound like them. I was perfectly happy with the way I spoke and the way I sounded. It was the way my parents and family back in the Boston area spoke. Unknown to me at the time, in looking back I feel I was proud of where I came from. And the way I spoke and pronounced words sounded correct to me. As an adult, I now feel that my accent is definitely part of who I am.

I think many times a child’s accent changes because of wanting to fit in. To sound and be like others. And looking back, I realize that although yes, I wanted to fit in and be accepted in other ways, changing my accent was never one of them.

As an adult after moving to Florida, I found it humorous. “I” truly do not hear my accent! So to this day, I’m always amazed that after meeting someone new or speaking to a service person or my vet for instance, after I say a couple of sentences, they say, “Oh, you’re from the Boston area.” And after almost 38 years, that hasn’t changed.

How about you? Did you move to a different area? Did your accent change? Do you hear your accent?

As for me, I guess I’ll always pak my ca in the Havad yad…..and I’m okay with that.

See you here next time……………………