my English is changing!

[gusl]

Whereas I am aware of my grammar & phonetics when I speak Dutch, my English is mostly unconscious. So it surprised me greatly when I heard yesterday from an Irish woman that my accent has a bit of an Irish tinge.

Ralph had told me a few months ago that he heard a sort of English accent, that I actually had a good "mid-Atlantic accent". I've also been noticing people who sound particularly American, so this probably means I don't sound very American anymore.

But who is influencing my English? In my current summer life, I probably speak half English, half Dutch (this sounds impressive about my Dutch, but it's actually because I don't speak very much at all).

I have surprisingly many Irish influences: the Irish jam at Mulligan's and the people with whom I play Gaelic Football (just started last week). Before the summer I was hanging out with an English girl and my housemate is from Australia.

And of course, Dutch influences. While "jammer" can be translated into "bummer", the latter is something I don't use. So I've been finding myself occasionally unable to express myself in English.

I hardly ever speak Portuguese these days, and while this hurts my fluency somewhat, my accent and pronunciation have always been the same native accent.

Comments

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

The club seems to be weak on its legs... rather desperate for members.