I’m not sure if this is going to sound strange, but I’m so accustomed to the voices of different kinds of people that my mind at this point just registers the many different accents as different voices within one accent (as in my mind doesn’t say “oh that’s another accent” anymore, it doesn’t register it) and I actually miss being able to appreciate peoples’ accents as accents, which sucks when for example you’re attracted to them.

  • Acamon@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The things that we call accents are just collections and patterns of speech variation, usually regional or class-based. Each individual has their own minor variations, depending on their speech communities and life experience. So, you’re kinda right to hear them as a bunch of individual voices.

    But if you’re interested in tuning back into accents, you can start learning / spotting the features that mark the difference. Do they pronounce an ‘R’ at the end of a word? Or just use a long vowel? Would they pronounce cot and caught the same?

    Once you start noticing, its less about matching an accent to a stereotype, and more about understanding all the interesting ways that speech variation occurs.