My Russian friends and other Russians whom I am introduced to have all noticed that, in the past year or so, I've started speaking with a Moscow accent. Now, my gf is from Moscow, and although she hasn't noticed a change in my intonation, HER friends and other people are now telling her that she's losing the slight NY accent she has when she speaks English. This evening, as we were leaving a party in Manhattan (pronounced mn-HAT-n if you live in the area), she said she's now started speaking English with "an Iowa accent" ...

So...here are some questions:

1. What accent do you speak in when you speak your native language? Don't tell me you don't have one, because everyone has an accent, even if it's the "standard" accent for the language in question. I have an english accent that I hide around people and use at home, I used to get made fun of for it so I stopped using it at schools and other public places, but indeed I do have one

2. Do you mispronounce words because of your accent? I'm not talking about simple variant pronunciation. I'm talking about the way people in Boston say the word "career" like "Korea" and "Korea" like "career" (or, for example, the way Billy Joel sings about "Brender & Eddie" in "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" ). humm I can't say worm well It sounds more like warm only with an english accent behind it

3. Do you speak any other languages fluently enough to have a distinctive local accent in that language? For example, my Moscow accent, my friend's Parisian accent when he speaks French, etc. I speak spanish well my moms cuban but of course theres a brit speaking in spanish it sounds weird

4. Are any of your accents "looked down" upon? (For example, Cockney or similar accents in England, Algerian accents in French, Caucasus accents in Russian, Long Island accents in American English, etc., etc., etc. ) yeah like I said people used to make fun of mine, now they love it when I'm just around friends and all I speak in it sometimes

5. As long as we're speaking about accents, are there any foreign accents which, when you hear your native language spoken in, turn you on/sound pretty ? french accents are so hot

6. Are there any foreign accents which make your language sound awful? I can't say some words properly and make a mess of some words at times, but maybe thats just me

Okay, that's it. 'Twas a short survey. yay I liked it


The Pink Panther

"I may disapprove of what you say, But I defend to the death your right to say it" -- Voltaire

The Crow
Peter Pan is my hero