[GrumpyGoat]

Our youngest is 4 1/2 and, after a year here, she already sounds like a kiwi. :clap
It's so darn cute.
Particularly noticeable on "no" and "yes" and "don't"

Our oldest is 6 and he has adopted many of the kiwi pronunciations and vocabulary choices--but still sounds like an american.
He constantly corrects me--"It's not a rock, Mom. It's a stone." "It's not garbage --it's rubbish" and so on.
He has been telling me that I "say things wrong"--words like "missile" and "garage"
It's kind of cute. (minus the correcting tone ;))


I was just wondering how long it takes for the accent to really take hold??

[hosebergine]

Good question!

We've only been here three months and have had great fun trying to teach our 4 1/2 yr old to say "fush n chups" She's stopped chastising us now and joins in the fun. She's also saying "imagine that" as per the Flight of the Conchords after she heard us saying it all the time in jest - I think she's a bit young to watch it still :laugh

She announced the other day that my attempt to recreate Kedgeree with smoked Hoki was "awesome". Oh and I'm getting used to her being called "Imurly" rather than Emily

I should think we have a while before "Ey" creeps onto the end of every sentence.

[Sam B]

2 and 3/4 years in and my kids still sound 100% British, although they call sweets 'lollies', but they change back to 'sweets' when they are talking to me. I'm beginning to think their accents will never change now.

[petri]

Lovely! We have a "plan" that when we eventually arrive to NZ, we wouldn't consider leaving the country before our accents turn into kiwi.

[Jon-and-Lou]

1 year in, and our 5 year old is starting to sound kiwi. In fact, within about a few weeks of being here he was coming our with "awesome dude"!

3 year old daughter still sounds british though ... think school is where the accent is really picked up!

Don't think I'll be losing my accent though - too long in the tooth

[GrumpyGoat]

Yes, definitely school is where they pick it up.
It was on the playground that I first started to notice DD's accent was changing. I could hear all the kids saying "no" at the same time and the lilt upwards at the end. :laugh

I don't think I will lose this southern drawl EVER. :laugh

But funny enough, I have been told by many ChCh natives that I sound like an Otago speaker. Apparently, in Otago, they "roll their r's"
To me, that meant like a Spanish "rolling r" as in "arriba" but that isn't what they mean in NZ by "rolling r"
They really mean what we call "drawl" in the US.
Thursday becomes Thuuuurrrrsday, First becomes Fiiirrrrst

So, I don't drawl, I roll!!:laugh

[elleann]

One of the very, very few things I don't like about NZ is the really flat version of the Kiwi accent. I'm not able to distinguish regions yet, but I hear this flatness in words like 'next' when it is pronouned 'neeeh-kst'.

The only thing both my daughter and I have really caught is the Welly 'yep!' and 'yep yep!', as well as that damned, upward lilt at the end of any sentence, be it a question or not! I can understand it, but I don't like it!!!:D

[Scorpio]

In Linguistics, children are believed to pick up their accent before they're 11 years old. I'm quite tickled by GrumpyGoat's kids' antics in Semantics! :D It IS cute! Children pick up such differences so quickly.

I was at a resort last month and couldn't quite understand why the host kept saying he needed the place "cleaned up for a 'weeding'". :confused: Finally he understood my puzzled expression and said, "We have a WEDDING." :laugh

His wife however, wasn't keen on their daughter saying "eh?" after a sentence. I wonder why?

[dharder]

as well as that damned, upward lilt at the end of any sentence, be it a question or not! I can understand it, but I don't like it!!!:D

I hate that question intonation. I do actually ask the kids if there is a question in there somewhere when they overdo it. That, and the ‘as’, something is as ‘cool as’, ‘fast as’, whatever as, always makes me want to scream ‘as WHAT?’

My kids have lost some of their London habits quite quickly ( innit?), but I couldn’t tell if they sound like Nzers or not, probably some odd mix. They have one 9 year old friend how moved here 5 years ago from England, and he still has a very distinct English accent, no Kiwi there, whereas his younger brother (1 year younger) speaks as if he never lived anywhere else than NZ.

I have not picked up the accent, and don’t think I will, and haven’t picked up many local words (I still say ‘wellies’ and ‘weetabix’) either. Which is interesting, as I normally adapt to what I hear around me quite quickly, without thinking about it and often even though I don’t particularly want to, to the point of mimicking the person I happen to talk to. One of my linguistics teachers in college said it’s often psychological rather than anything linguistic or physiological whether you pick up accents or not, and I think that may hold true for me.

Daniela

[seattle]

I hate that question intonation. I do actually ask the kids if there is a question in there somewhere when they overdo it. That, and the ‘as’, something is as ‘cool as’, ‘fast as’, whatever as, always makes me want to scream ‘as WHAT?’

Daniela

It took us 4 months to figure out that people weren't saying "sweet ass", they were saying "sweet as" We saw it on a t-shirt in a touristy shop before we got it :laugh

[GrumpyGoat]

It took us 4 months to figure out that people weren't saying "sweet ass", they were saying "sweet as" We saw it on a t-shirt in a touristy shop before we got it :laugh

:laugh:laugh

Me, too!!

[Fern01]

Reading the posts I'm left thinking those of us on the East coast must have a different way of pronounciation. Never feesh'n'cheeps, thats Aussie talk for fish 'n' chips. 'Weeding' for wedding, leaves me scratching my head.
Saying eh after every sentence went out with the ark, so I thought.
Kids of to-day have a bad habit of using the word 'like' in the middle of a sentence, not once but 2 or 3 times, it really doesn't fit in at all with what they are saying, that really gets on my wick.
Seems some Aussie 'twang' has crept into the Kiwi way of pronounciation.

[pamg9]

My favourite was when my daughter's friend said that she looked like a "fierce beer" in her new winter coat.

We have another version of English to learn. When we came over to UK from South Africa, we had to train ourselves to "text on your mobile" rather than "SMS on your cell". Not to mention confusing things like "stop at the robot" - guaranteed to draw some blank faces. And "braai" on the weekend - what??

It is all good fun, and part of experiencing different cultures.

[GrumpyGoat]

My favourite was when my daughter's friend said that she looked like a "fierce beer" in her new winter coat.

We have another version of English to learn. When we came over to UK from South Africa, we had to train ourselves to "text on your mobile" rather than "SMS on your cell". Not to mention confusing things like "stop at the robot" - guaranteed to draw some blank faces. And "braai" on the weekend - what??

It is all good fun, and part of experiencing different cultures.

Please translate these

???

[benandclare]

Reading the posts I'm left thinking those of us on the East coast must have a different way of pronounciation. Never feesh'n'cheeps, thats Aussie talk for fish 'n' chips. 'Weeding' for wedding, leaves me scratching my head.
Saying eh after every sentence went out with the ark, so I thought.
Kids of to-day have a bad habit of using the word 'like' in the middle of a sentence, not once but 2 or 3 times, it really doesn't fit in at all with what they are saying, that really gets on my wick.
Seems some Aussie 'twang' has crept into the Kiwi way of pronounciation.

Strange cos it rings true down here in Canterbury, well does to my ear anyways :laugh

[Flutterby]

well the grandmother informs me that LO is already picking up some accent, but personally i think its her hearing thats off.
On the other hand after nearly 8 years in the UK DP is getting quite a bit of stick for the english accent he has picked up, that coupled with me taking the micky of his kiwi-isms, the poor guy can't win:D

[JandM]

My immediate NZ family - son: UK born and raised, still with a very English accent though lots of Kiwi expressions; d-i-l: NZ born and raised but spent several years living in the UK, gentle Kiwi accent sometimes using a few English expressions, and lots of Kiwis take her for English; the grandchildren, 5 and 3, Kiwi born and raised: when very small sounded English almost all the time, but after the elder one started kindy, he took on a Kiwi flavour for some of the time, and the smaller one caught that from him - they can both flip in and out of the accents even within one sentence. What a mixture!

[seattle]

Reading the posts I'm left thinking those of us on the East coast must have a different way of pronounciation. Never feesh'n'cheeps, thats Aussie talk for fish 'n' chips. 'Weeding' for wedding, leaves me scratching my head.
Saying eh after every sentence went out with the ark, so I thought.
Kids of to-day have a bad habit of using the word 'like' in the middle of a sentence, not once but 2 or 3 times, it really doesn't fit in at all with what they are saying, that really gets on my wick.
Seems some Aussie 'twang' has crept into the Kiwi way of pronounciation.

Saying 'like" a lot is very common in the U.S. as well (some people say its a filler word that's similar saying "um"). I've heard it started in southern California back in the eighties but who knows? (whole Valley thing). We are trying to discourage our kids from saying it. A friend of mine was conducting a job interview and didn't ask one of the candidates back since they said "like" so much that it was distracting.

[pamg9]

Please translate these

???

Fierce beer was fierce bear
Braai is Barbeque
Robot is traffic light

Any other translations needed?

[girlwithanewf]

The things I have learnt on this forum!
Back here in Scotland my 8 year old daughter (with English mum, German dad) can switch the Scottish accent on and off depending on the social situation, so I am very interested in finding out what happens to her accent in NZ.

[Scorpio]

LOL seattle! :laugh I thought the same initially too! :rolleyes:

According to http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10602759, "the kiwi accent has been rated the most attractive and prestigious form of English outside the UK in a BBC survey."

But having been in ChCh for almost 2 months, I haven't actually heard anyone say 'fush & chups'! Is this unique to particular regions? :cheers

It took us 4 months to figure out that people weren't saying "sweet ass", they were saying "sweet as" We saw it on a t-shirt in a touristy shop before we got it :laugh

[lindreth]

It took us 4 months to figure out that people weren't saying "sweet ass", they were saying "sweet as"

hahaha :laugh
that's precious!

[JandM]

Heard 'fush and chups' around Auckland. My d-i-l is from there, and we always cherish the memory of her comment on seeing Chicken Run - 'chuckuns wuth teeth'.:D

[akp713b]

I teach at a high school that has about one third of the student body foreign-born. I find that most have a mixture of Kiwi and native accents if they've been here for a few years. Friends of mine who moved here from South Africa and England when they were 8 or 9 have mostly Kiwi accents with some clear pronunciations left over from their native lands.

After being here for a couple years my accent has become something of a mixture. Most Kiwis can tell I'm American if they talk to me for more than a minute or two but most Americans I meet think I'm Kiwi until I correct them. Being from Boston it was only natural to drop my R's and broaden my A. I find that I have softened my I's into their unemphasised shwa sound that Kiwis use and many mistake for a U sound. I was a 20 year old at university when I arrived, hanging out with 18 year old Kiwis, so I picked up a lot of the slang very quickly. I add 'eh' at the end of sentences a lot as well as using 'as' for a modifier regularly.

I think the biggest test for an American in Auckland is your pronunciation of our city's name. I've now gotten used to swallowing the first syllable the Kiwi way so it sounds like Awklund.

I find Kiwi kids have a mixture of British and American terminology. I've heard both the terms lift and elevator, lollies and candy, cell and mobile, and so on. Certainly American TV has its effect.

[mylesdw]

I don't mind the sound of the upward lilt at the end of each sentence but I don't like the effect it has: that of making the speaker sound unsure of themselves or seeking others' approval for everything.

Over using 'like' is infuriating. I would definitely not employ anyone who used 'like' too much at interview; they would just be too annoying to work with.

I've never heard fush 'n' chups. I had assumed it was a deep south thing where the Scottish connection is closer.

[JandM]

I'm afraid 'like' and the rising inflection are pretty universal among the school-age population in the UK now. It's ousting ordinary verbs such as 'said', 'asked', etc.. 'So, I was like, hey, it's good? And he was like, yeah, but like, I'm still hungry? And I was like, you can have mine?'

[dharder]

I'm afraid 'like' and the rising inflection are pretty universal among the school-age population in the UK now. It's ousting ordinary verbs such as 'said', 'asked', etc.. 'So, I was like, hey, it's good? And he was like, yeah, but like, I'm still hungry? And I was like, you can have mine?'


I sat in front of a group of girls on the bus in London once, and they talked like Lauren from the Catherine Tate show ('Am I bovvered?'). I almost turned around to ask if they were for real, but decided to listen instead. It was as if they were speaking a different language, one that doesn't contain sentences, only fragments repeated ad infinitum that were all questions. But they all seemed to understand each other. Fascinating...

Daniela

[Scorpio]

Ahh, teens- in terms of language, they are in a league of their own! ;) What you said is very interesting. When I was teaching them, I had to learn their lingo too, which seemed to be a different language, as you said. They do it to show solidarity and sometimes to exclude adults. :rolleyes: And yes, they all seemed to understand one another!

I sat in front of a group of girls on the bus in London once, and they talked like Lauren from the Catherine Tate show ('Am I bovvered?'). I almost turned around to ask if they were for real, but decided to listen instead. It was as if they were speaking a different language, one that doesn't contain sentences, only fragments repeated ad infinitum that were all questions. But they all seemed to understand each other. Fascinating...

Daniela

[YouMeAndThree]

Don't hear so much fush being said, but I do pick up on the chups - there is a radio ad at the moment which is for windscreen chups.

My bug bear, that the children are saying, is "foo-ah"....... "IT's FOUR, there is no 'a' on the end!" grrrrr. And they are starting to sit on a 'cheer' :roll

DD1 has a noted difference in her pronunciation for around the first half hour of coming home from school.

I do notice a lot of words with 'en' attached to the end too eg. mowen, sowen, growen

[Georgebulldog]

Don't hear so much fush being said, but I do pick up on the chups - there is a radio ad at the moment which is for windscreen chups.

My bug bear, that the children are saying, is "foo-ah"....... "IT's FOUR, there is no 'a' on the end!" grrrrr. And they are starting to sit on a 'cheer' :roll

DD1 has a noted difference in her pronunciation for around the first half hour of coming home from school.

I do notice a lot of words with 'en' attached to the end too eg. mowen, sowen, growen

:yes I just asked DD1 how old she was & guess what she is foo-ah:) Her ac cent hasn't changed much but I know once she gets to school then it will kick in, I'm waiting to see how her friend changes as her parents have a strong Manchester accent & both kids were born here but have strong accents too, who will drop their accents first mine or hers