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Accent on Survival
Childhood traumas caused Liz Lewis to change her accent.
When Liz Lewis was a child, her father's job in the army meant that the family were regularly on the move. At a five years old, Liz lived in Newcastle where she found it easy to pick up a Geordie accent.
At seven years old, however, the family moved on to a very small village in Scotland. It was a close community, where the English had not always been popular. Liz's Geordie accent meant 'English' to the other kids - although she insisted that she was Scottish - after all, her Dad was! Unconvinced by her protestations, the teasing started. Liz recalls "I do remember being ostracised in the Brownies. I remember sitting in a corner tying to tie a reef knot on my own. It might not have been due just to the accent - I may have been a completely odious child!"
A few years later, another move took the family to the large town of Dumfries. The young Liz had learned from painful experience "I'm not going through all that again and I did acquire very quickly a broad Dumfries accent." This time, she was accepted by her schoolmates far more quickly.
Liz left Scotland 30 years ago, but her acquired accent hasn't faded.
She explains "It is part of me now. I always did feel that I was Scottish - emotionally."
Have you tried to change your accent?
Why did you do it?
How successful was it?
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