Do you have a strong regional accent?

[Ginger]

Originally Posted by stargazingboi

OK...sooo I've been told I have an accent. I've been told it's abrasive *shrugs* I don't see it...do you?

To say someone's accent is "abrasive" seems oppressive to me. Maybe classist, definitely regionalist. Some accents are "deeper," in my opinion, than others—more thoroughly immersed in the way of speaking in a certain region. Why is that a bad thing? An "abrasive" thing?

My dad had a different accent than I do. He had a masculine, upbeat, Texan twang. He was the only person in my world with that accent. I can still hear it. I channel his encouraging words.

I went to an Ivy League graduate school and there, for the first time in my life, people corrected my pronunciation of certain words (for example, I would say IN-sur-ance, not in-SUR-ance) and grammar. Some constructions, like "lay" and "lie" will never come naturally to me, but I know how to do it right.

When I'm with my sister, I don't bother self-correcting.