Can you grow an accent?

I was wondering for any HK born or Tawian born people
who might have immigrated away maybe after they were 10 years old, or maybe left for college

when they returned to HK/Tawain

did they ever have an accent in their chinese that they might have picked up when they were over seas

 

No accent as long as you keep on speaking chinese and going back to HK every few years.

 

of course its possible, it totally depends how much of one language you use

I moved to UK when i was 4, so Ive been using English as a primary language since then. So I do have an accent, not too much (i hope) since I still always speak canto to my parents and some friends

 

I think I have an accent when speaking english though which sucks since most of my education is in vancouver.

 

anyone whos anyone has accents these days, means your multi-lingual

 

i picked up a chinese accent b/c of the hk ppl i met and the series and music i watch and listen..damn..im turnin into a hk fob

 

well if you live in a certain country for a certain amount of time you probably would

 

resistance is futile, you will grow an accent wherever you stay

 

It depends on the age. If you stay in a place for a few years at a young age, then your accent will change. But if you are already completely used to a language and continually speaking it, your accent won't change no matter how many years you stay in another country.

 

my HK gone to UK uni friends all have an english accent. im american, so i can easily tell of course im hk-nese by ethnicity.

 

You can definitely adapt to one accent depending on how long you have stayed in an area and have spoken the language for. I am not a BBC but i came to the UK from Holland when I was 7. I have picked up a southern English accent.

 

I like this

 

yes i think you can definitely grow an accent.. when i immigrated to canada from HK at the age of 4.. my cantonese wasnt great.. but i could already speak very fluent int he language.. as it grew older.. my use of the mother tongue was lessened because of the environment which i lived in.. only speaking at home.. most of my friends were multicultural.. and my chinese friends were cbcs.. so it somewhat deteriorated my canto xD.. i even realize that i have a little accent now when i speak it.. but its gotten better.. since i made some new honger friends =D and started to speak canto a bit more often now

 

Exactly the same thing here too. I am also living in Canada, but since I have made some new friends from HK, I find that my Cantonese is re-improving again, as I have more opportunity to speak it.

Also, as a side fact, some research shows that at age 13, the window for language development starts closing in. So everything, including "accents", will stay put with you...

But I don't believe in that, because I for sure know that I sound way different speaking Cantonese, then I did a few years ago.

 

wow really pulling a old thread here now

 

Anyone can grow accents if they're going to different places or countries. it's always easy to pick it up. I've been staying in different parts of UK all my life, and my accents all mixed up that some people even think i'm American!! even though I haven't been to the USA almost 20 years now

 

you will. i was only in the US for 2 years, but till now i still speak with an american accent. and it's really weird cuz straight after that i went to singapore and now when i speak english i can automatically switch on the singlish or american accents. it's a pain in the ass sometimes. LOL