As I was perusing the delicacies at the British Emporium (ginger nut biscuits and Jaffa Cakes - YUM!) my ears caught the accent of my homeland. A young mum (a regular, as the shop assistant knew her by name) was popping her favourites into a shopping trolley and chatting away to her little girl in a southern (probably London/Surrey) accent. Her child answered in a thick Texan voice and I thought 'that could be me in a few years, training my American child to crave Branston pickle and a decent pouring teapot' (which are hard to come by, believe me). But then it got weird. The young mum switched into an American accent and, to my untrained ears, sounded so local I would never have guessed her origins. She continued to switch back and forth between England and America so that I found myself signalling to my mother-in-law to listen in. There was no smooth transition, no English words mixed in with American. It was either one accent or the other. It makes me wonder what I'll sound like in the future.
According to the shop assistant (who is also British and has been living in Texas since the early seventies) I'll need to work at keeping my accent. I have to make a conscience decision to maintain it. I can completely understand that. Already I find myself drifting into American intonations or phrases. Don't get me wrong, I love the Texas accent! It's so friendly and makes me smile. But I would like to keep my own as much as possible. Or even make it posher! I might start playing Downton Abbey while I sleep and discover my inner Mary.
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