"If you want an American lifestyle, how about getting an American accent?"

[hobish]

Hey, if people understand you and it helps in your job now you are obviously doing something right.

A neat thing about accents - if you like a place you are more likely to pick up the accent there. Likewise, if you already have an accent and move somewhere you don't like it will take longer to lose your original accent than if you had moved somewhere you want to be.

[ChristiKayAnn]

I also want to point out that having a purple accent does not mean that you are not a native born American. About 1/2 the purple children in my afterschool program have purple accents and they are all native born or moved here as infants. They picked up the accent from their families.  The ones who do not have Purple accents are the ones who don't speak purple at home.

[Shores]

I also want to point out that having a purple accent does not mean that you are not a native born American. About 1/2 the purple children in my afterschool program have purple accents and they are all native born or moved here as infants. They picked up the accent from their families.  The ones who do not have Purple accents are the ones who don't speak purple at home.

Unfortunately, it DOES mean that a great deal of ignorant people will treat you as though you are not and never will be American. Those who do so don't usually care about details, such as, oh actually being born there.

[auntmeegs]

I happen to think different accents are interesting and beautiful.  My mom has lived here in the US 3 times as long as she lived in her birth country and her beautiful accent has never lessened - may you never lose yours because it is part of what makes you YOU. 
I think that was a pretty cruddy thing of your friend to say. 

[Amalthea]

That's a ridiculous thing for your friend to say.  I think I would cry if any of my non-American friends moved here and deliberately tried to lose their accents.  Accents are one of those little things that make life more interesting. 

[whiterose]

I also want to point out that having a purple accent does not mean that you are not a native born American. About 1/2 the purple children in my afterschool program have purple accents and they are all native born or moved here as infants. They picked up the accent from their families.  The ones who do not have Purple accents are the ones who don't speak purple at home.

Totally agree. And that goes for the various varieties of Purple as well. Somehow I ended up picking up my father's Grape accent, while my brother and my mother speak with the Lavender accent we were surrounded with.

may you never lose yours because it is part of what makes you YOU. 
I think that was a pretty cruddy thing of your friend to say.

Too bad it was not just her. Too bad it was also that lab boss holding the "cultural expectations" against me and saying that if I did not fit in, I better go back to Lavenderland. And guys who assume that Purple = hot temper. And customers saying "find me an American/someone who speaks English". It is a part of me- but not the only part of me. It does peeve me when people find out what is behind the accent and forget about anything and everything else about me other than my being Lavender/Purple.

[Reika]

Working as a customer service rep in a call center, I'd much rather speak with someone who has a cool accent and can speak english intelligently. Sadly I get way too many people who clearly never bothered to learn to work on their communication skills. Think of some of the worst ignorance you hear in tv/movies and triple it.

*hugs Whiterose* All I can say is some people just don't think.


And while I haven't said it, is it okay to tell someone they have a wonderful accent? Because I've had the rare caller who had an accent I couldn't place, but their accent just make their speech incredibly beautiful.

[ShieldMaiden]

I happen to think different accents are interesting and beautiful.  My mom has lived here in the US 3 times as long as she lived in her birth country and her beautiful accent has never lessened - may you never lose yours because it is part of what makes you YOU. 
I think that was a pretty cruddy thing of your friend to say. 

POD!

Please don't try to lesson or lose your accent!  Accents are absolutely beautiful and make living in America more interesting.  After all, what is America but a giant melting pot of different people, different cultures, different traditions, different religions, and different accents?  Tell your friend that having a different accent is American 

<---absolutely biased.  I completely love DH's accent and never want it to go away.  I wish that accents were genetic so our children would inherit it.  *sigh*

[NOVA Lady]

Just curious as to why the accent is a "purple" accent to protect the identity of the nationality but the "American" lifestyle and accent are named right out?

[whiterose]

Because I live in the USA and the situation happened in the USA.

[NOVA Lady]

Because I live in the USA and the situation happened in the USA.

Why the need to protect the identity of the country you are from/the accent is from, that is my question.

Also, Americans do not just have 1 life style, we are varied here like in most other countries

[Lisbeth]

I'm an American and don't have an accent.

My parents are from New York, I learned to speak in the Midwest as a toddler, and grew up in Texas barely able to understand (let alone spell) words spoken in local accents like "oilskin" (I got docked on a spelling test in 4th grade for spelling it "allskin" - which was the way my still Midwestern ears heard my very thick Texas-accented teacher say it!)  A cousin of mine who lives in New York and has a New York accent so thick you could cut it with a knife used to tease me about the way I pronounce the word "ball."  I do not say it like "bawl" the way she does.  It just doesn't come naturally.  (Then again, saying "y'all" comes naturally when I'm back in Texas but since moving to NYC, it doesn't come naturally when I'm at home.)

[wordgirl]

whiterose, that really bugs me that you heard that in Florida, of all places. We're one of the most culturally diverse states in the nation, and I for one love listening to all the different accents and trying to guess (to myself) where each person is from.

I don't know where you were originally from, but I'm sure your accent is beautiful. (I'm sitting here listening to my boss's North Carolina drawl against my British-educated Lebanese colleague, and they both sound great. I am generally told I don't have an accent - many native Floridians are every bit as generic as Midwesterners - but I have a little Alabama on tap if I need it.)

[Michelle Ravel]

American accent? Which one?

"American lifestyle"? What on earth does that mean?

[whiterose]

This was 10 years ago, but what I meant is that I felt more comfortable living in the USA than in Lavenderland and felt that I clicked more and had more opportunities. That is what I meant by American lifestyle. I do realize now that there is not one American lifestyle, since we are such a large and diverse nation.

Which leads me to believe that if the USA is so diverse in so many ways, there is no reason for people to think that I stick out like a sore thumb- whether due to my accent or whatever.

I taught a computer class in Purple today. There were several nationalities and several accents.

We had been friends for 4 years. I wonder why it came up all of a sudden.