Pemanent and non subconscious? I don’t know .. most Indians who have been
stateside pick up at least some bits and pieces of an American accent. Me, I
find myself lapsing into a malay accent (complete with -lah ending every other
sentence) in malaysia, American stateside, broad telugu accented english when
speaking to someone with a similar accent (and god how that particular accent
grates on me, especially when combined with an American accent after a few
months in new jersey..)
srs
-----Original Message-----
From: silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus....@lists.hserus.net
[mailto:silklist-bounces+suresh=hserus....@lists.hserus.net] On Behalf Of
Pranesh Prakash
Sent: Monday, 8 June 2009 20:27
To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
Subject: Re: [silk] Indian techies - eat yer heart out!
On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 20:03, ss <cybers...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.pseb.org.pk/bulletin/spet2006/bulletin_details.htm
>> Pakistan's official language is English. Only Kolkata (formerly Calcutta)
>> and the Punjabi areas of India can come close to competing with accents in
>> Pakistan, where many families speak English at home and where accent
>> neutralization for non-native speakers of English is substantially easier
>> than in India. Language skills and accents provide Pakistan with a major
>> advantage over all other Asian outsourcing destinations.
The once I had been to Lahore, I was quite surprised to hear many
home-bred Lahoris school-children speak in impeccable received
pronunciation. Apparently, some of the (boarding?) schools there have
that effect on kids. (Would anyone have any clue what school(s) I'm
talking about? I saw these kids in a debate competition I was
adjudicating, and can't recall for the life of me which school(s) they
were from.)
Not that my anecdote is meant to be understood in relation to the talk
about "competing with accents" and "accent neutralization" -- just
that I happened to recall it.
Also, does anyone know if an accent can be _consciously_ gained/lost?
I don't mean losing one's regular accent while playing a role in an
Oscar-winning film. That would only be putting on a different accent
for a while. Is a permanent and non-subconscious change possible?
