Accents

[angelamartins36]

Just out of interest, how long does it / did it take for you children to change their accent?

[HansaPlease]

Depends on how old the children are, but that said, I know South Africans who have been here for 30 plus years and they haven't changed their accents, so it very much depends on the person as well.

[HadEnoughofJuju]

Our daughter was 5 when we arrived and it was about 6 months and she started sounding like an Aussie. It all depends on how old they are. The younger they are the faster it happens.

[Mara]

I think for adults, whose home language is English, it may never happen. They may well pick up some of the local slang, but keep their accent, unless of course the make the decision to change it.

[DXB2OZ]

How long before you learn which words and phrases will be understood and which ones will have people staring at you like you are an alien invader?

[Sunnyskies]

Not too long once in formal employment or surrounded by Aussies. If you have been staying at home you have been protected from the fact that Aussies don't understand South African colloquialism or slang, so get used to not saying:

- ja

- jislaik

- shoooe

- just now (unless you mean you did it a second ago or will do it in a second)

- ok - exchange with no worries, no problem or yes

- be a sweetie - change to please

.

Can't think of them all, but when I talk to family back in the old country it comes flooding back.

[Sibella]

My eldest who was 10 I think when we arrived got an Aussie accent within a few days as she was keen to fit in.

My middle daughter was 5 and she still has a slight pommy accent with an American twang from watching too much tv I'm sure.

My youngest was born here but I don't really notice if she has an accent.

So in our house we have 2 mixed South African accents (displaced adults), two Aussie accents and one English / American accent!!

I've stopped using above South African sayings except for 'shame' as in 'Ag shame' as it just comes out of my mouth, just can't help it.

But I'm getting quite good in Aussie slang, the other day my eldest texted me that she was going to 'Donnie' and I replied that I was 'jelly'. (She was going to Westfield Doncaster and I was jealous! Maybe that's just teenager slang.

[SurferMan]

My kids were 4 and 2 when we got here 4.5 years ago. Youngest born here. Still sound a bit Saffer, but seriously Aussie, with "Meelk" not "milk" and "see ya" etc. I have dected tonal nuances and for sure they speak like Aussies. Homeschooling means it will take longer to penetrate but most people who I know that brought their kids over young all sound Aussie. It's only the oldies like us that won't change. That sad, I use all sorts of local Aussie terms now, and also finish a lot of my sentences with "hey?" LOL

[leeferg1]

My boys were 10 and 7 when we arrived - we've been here for 3.5 years. My youngest sounds like an Aussie (this happened within a few months of arriving) but my eldest still has more of a Saffer accent - although his formation of sentences and slang are very Aussie (if that makes sense?).

Both orginally from Zululand, hubby and I still use the odd Zulu word eg. muti, duma, nyama..... now when the boys say them with aussie accents, it sounds hysterical. Just as funny is them trying to repeat some very gutteral Afrikaans words - it's amazing how quickly they've lost that ability.

Other than the extreme slang my husband has picked up from working on the mines, our accents haven't changed.

[Donovan83]

Children change their accents really quickly. Adults not so much, unless they deliberately try.

I've been here going on 3 years and my accent is pretty much exactly the same. I think we all pick up the local words for things, but I still say ja and sjoe. And if I stub my toe you know damn well I'll be saying EINA!

One of the biggest things I learned was greeting - in SA we say "Hello, how are you?" and the response is "I'mfinethanksandyou" said really fast. In Australia, it starts the same way but you should respond "I'm good thanks, and how are you?" - helps to say it slower than you think you should. Flows much better

My parents said I do speak a bit more sing songy than I used to.

What I don't really get is people who put on a faccent (a fake accent... see what I did there) and try adopt every piece of australian slang that they picked up from watching Kath & Kim. Newsflash - hardly anyone says fair dinkum maaaaaaaaate.

Not sure if anyone has noticed that the different states have slightly different accents and ways of speaking? I like the QLD and WA accents, the NSW accent is a mix between the two. The victorian accent is still australian but people speak with this weird scratchy way of talking called vocal fry. This youtube demonstrates it better than I can explain it -

.

Knowing Melbourne, they're probably trying to sound more cultural or trying to be ironic or something.

My favourite accent by far is the kiwi accent!

Edited May 12, 2015 by Donovan83

[miran]

My 11 year old son picked up "hie" in stead of here, very quickly. The first time he said "yous" and talked about "me game" and not MY game, I freaked! We only speak Afrikaans at home, so I have to expect some Aussie accent and slang from school......

[angelamartins36]

Thanks for all the replies, we have been in Adelaide for 18 months and our now 10 and 7 year old still have a South African accent. But when we hear them talking with their friends they are starting to sound more like Australians. Thought they would have changed sooner but my eldest told me it "Is not on his to do list" great to hear everyone else's stories too.

[Alida]

Yup, our three oldest adopted the Aussie way very quickly. We're six months in and they throw it like it's native to them, hehe. They're playing with the other children of the street every afternoon, so they have lots of exposure. Quite funny sometimes, to hear the little Afrikanertjies do the Aussie so expertly - to my ears, anyway !

[Pell]

Six months in and my daughter's friends in SA swear she sounds more and more Aussie when they Skype. Here and there I pick up an Aussie slang word in her speech as well, and also the intonation of certain words is slightly different, and she is completely horrified because she doesn't want to lose her SA accent.

[HadEnoughofJuju]

We spoke Afrikaans at home in RSA and my daughter went to an Afrikaans school. 2 years in and you would not say so. She is Aussie as and throws the local slang around far more than we do. We are trying very hard to keep her speaking and reading Afrikaans but it's proving to be difficult. She's even starting to speak Afrikaans with and English accent. Horrifying it is.

[SurferMan]

Gave up on the Afrikaans bit, our kids sound ridiculous and we ROFL when they try to copy some of the words. I still speak a bit of Zulu but I am rusting fast...to the point where I can barely cobble a sentence together and I used fluent as in LOCAL man. But that is a trade off and it is spoken in one province in one country on earth so no harm no foul.

Would love to skype back home but my family are so lazy they arent bothered so it's ususally up to me to call their asses but even that has sort of petered off of late. So its quite isolated but we are travelling just fine. For me, the more Aussie they sound, the better their integration into society will be.

[qwerty]

We've been in Aus for just over a year. My daughter (who turned 6 in Feb) picked up an accent in a few months. I'm still trying hard with the Afrikaans, but she's also now speaking it with an English accent (which in my ears sounds horrible!)

[Eva]

my son was 6 when we arrived and still doesn't sound like an Aussie, my Pommie friend reckons he sounds very proper British but I think he is getting more and more of an Aussie twang - 6,5 years in...

having said that, when we moved here he said he didn't want an Aussie accent so I think he chose not to get one, other friends kids sounded like Aussies after 3 months, I think some do choose to sound like the rest of the kids and actively pick up the accent.