ZACHIE: The most annoying one is the folks that acquire a new accent when they join a new church .
Oya kill lome

A-town:

No. You are the wrong one. The Germans and Italians you speak of were immigrants!!!

delors: Siddon there. Look, it's not a matter of fake accent o. As the OP says, our pronunciation and way of drawling when talking is terrible. For instance, a typical Nigerian doesnt know the difference in pronouncing 'cause' and 'course', 'four' and 'for', 'to' and 'two', and annoyingly, 'fate' and 'faith'. Sit down and listen to a Nigerian talking, try to see if u would understand their pronunciation of those last two words. Words like turkey, burn/born, wander/wonder, are very problematic for Nigerians. Even Ethiopians pronounce better than we do.
So, if you are abroad, and because some uninformed persons are saying you r faking your accent, let them talk. the best way to communicate abroad (esp in the states and Canada) is to sound like them. When u are with your people, correct, pidgin dey flow soosay, but looking for a job? mingling with the whites or foreigners? Bros, adjust that your accent otherwise, you'd be an island in that land.
When i first heard my aunt speak a sentence to a white, I mocked saying why the heck was she yarning like ajebo...she nodded and said 'e nu e lo wa yen' (meaning, u'll soon understand). So forget fake accent o, na survival tactics.
Mean while, in some cases, one doesnt deliberately fake it, it comes naturally when u mingle with these foreigners..like mine. But it makes no sense to sound Americana when u arrive in Nigeria na...na quick invitation to armed robbers be that.

apache77: I always hear people say Nigerians who travel abroad always come back with a fake accent, even if its only one month they spend in London or America. Is this true? Do Nigerians try to speak like foreigners?

What i think is that the biggest problem you face the minute you step into obodo oyinbo apart from the cold is your accent. Our accent is so thick foreigners cant make out head or tail what we are trying to say. So from immigration right to your next door neigbour, you struggle to communicate- nobody hears's your type of English. Our slow drawl is a big problem, not just to Americans or british but even to arabs and asians.

The quickest way to be heard is trying to speak like these people (americans or Brits) who cant hear you. Asians and arabs ahve grown up watching american movies and mingling with the Brits, so their ( Brits or American) type of accent is hearable and hence universal-much like the dollar is the globally accepted currency everywhere. So for you to be heard, you a naija boy or girl just stepping into America must speak like them.

Over time, if you stay there long enough, you start speaking like these people and substitute your Naija accent for theirs. Some people manage to retain their naiaja accent and use that when home only to switch to their americana accent when they go back.

Do you agree with me? or there is a more profound reason? Share your thoughts

Lilimax: I detest fake accents. I only speak their accent(American) when I'm in their midst but always speak my Nigerian English(especially pidgin)when I'm in the midst of my Nigerian friends. There is no need of faking it...

Originalsly: Instead of faking an accent it is better you practice speaking correct English and speak clearly.Fake American accent was one of the main reasons that turned people away from Nollywood movies in the US.Fake accents should be kept within Nigeria...it can work here...not abroad. In one sentence you can hear these idiots change from a New York to a Southern to some version of a UK accent....and they think they are doing great!What would you think of a person who begins speaking to you in Igbo accent that changes to Yoruba accent and ends up the sentence with thick Hausa accent?

Sweetlemon: Some people are funny sha o!
Who told you an American will not understand you in your normal Nigerian accent? If you can understand them why can't they understand you? See me see trouble o!
Although I'm more conscious about my grammar when I'm around oyibos, I still speak with my normal accent and they understand me as well as I understand them.
The only time they won't understand you is when you are not speaking correct English or when you add too much 9ja slangs.

Afam4eva:
So were the English. The only people native to America are the Indians.

Afam4eva:
So were the English. The only people native to America are the Indians.

Sweetlemon: Some people are funny sha o!
Who told you an American will not understand you in your normal Nigerian accent? If you can understand them why can't they understand you? See me see trouble o!
Although I'm more conscious about my grammar when I'm around oyibos, I still speak with my normal accent and they understand me as well as I understand them.
The only time they won't understand you is when you are not speaking correct English or when you add too much 9ja slangs.

Anvaller:

Do u think u are actually accurate with ur comments here? Now u are talking of grammar and phonetics? All these people u have mentioned here... let me exclude (Genevive and Omotola) have one time or the other sojourned abroad. And if Omotola and Genevive were not celebrities, they wouldn't speak such improved English they are speaking cos they still make international travels and appearances. And again,it will be very awkward for them to speak a foreign accent when they represent a Nigerian public office... Even Banky W an entertainer speaks Nigerian accent cos he represnts a Nigerian Brand but back in America he speaks American that's just it.. Now the group of people that obey the rules of phonetics the most in Nigeria are some of the News casters and I appreciate them, they are not adopting accent, they are just applying phonetics, even if they still sound Nigerian, they are not misplacing the stress on each words and that is the most important.

But do u want to tell me that is the way u speak? U speak like a news caster with ur friends and families at home huh? and they wont ask u "wetin dey do am wey dey form? abeg open ur mouth well jare, wetin be baenk instead of bahnk (bank)" So that is actually our problem.. Its not about not being proud of who u are, it's about ppl thinking u are forming and the next thing is to tear u down.

PeeDaVinci: i think 2 different issues are being mixed up here - faking an accent and learning a new accent (and maybe, a new diction) to make yourself more understandable to some set of people.
one simple difference between the two is that, the former is based on assumption of the accent of a set of people based on movies you have seen, while the later is acquired by interacting with the set of pple using the accent

ozo_emeka:

Nigerians ALWAYS want to be like someone else BUT themselves.. MALAYSIAN hair (really, Malaysia is like a 7th world country), BRITISH accent etc. MEANWHILE..the nigerian accent is picked as the 5th most sexiest accent in the world....Full of wannabes - tonto dikeh, jim iyke, even the new Olamide song with Dbanj the kid did "FURst" of all..like dude we liked your song before because it sounded razz.

http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/worlds-sexiest-accents-130333

Afam4eva:
It's still called faking and inferiority complex.

A-town:


If you grew up watching MTV, B.E.T, lived in Lagos, Abuja, PH or the more modern naija cities, you probably already adopted a little bit without knowing it.

Ikengawo:

You can't learn a new accent. You can learn how enunciate better so that you're more understood across the board but you can't switch accents

you can either sound like an articulate Nigeria
or an illiterate Nigeria

but you'll never sound like a brit or an american. It's scientifically impossible and unnessecary.

Elmos:
I reside in North East of United State, the accent here is far different from those from the south. I could speak like British but, even with my years of staying here in US i Can not speak with their accent, I have decided to stick to my Nigerian way of speaking, they too should learn how to speak like me. Initially, it was difficult, with my degree from Nigeria some were asking me if I speak English, such questions made me then furious, but with time I understand that they could not understand my accent. Also so many things are not call the same thing, what you call booth of your car here is call something else same apply to many things, I once wrote in my business card, " Adjacent to" I was advised to changed it to "OPPOSITE TO" Tell somebody to Reverse his or her car here, will be wasting your time for they will not understand. If you stay very close to the ORIGINAL black American, particularly the uneducated ones, it would be worse talking to them, they simply don't talk they literally sing, everything to them is slang. One keep saying to me " Hi fuuu" I was agree with him while will he be calling me fool, but later I realized he was actually me " Hi folk"

A-town:


What you do not realize is that your diction and tone may be different. If you grew up watching MTV, B.E.T, lived in Lagos, Abuja, PH or the more modern naija cities, you probably already adopted a little bit without knowing it. On the other hand, there are people who live in the remote areas that have HEAVY accents. Trust me, ERRRBODY complains about that shit. Quit deceiving yourself. No be for this same America. You need to see how they make fun of the heavy accent. Somebody said sexy accent. Ol boy free me oo. The accent Is only as sexy as the person speaking it. If you are Djimon Hounsou, of course your accent will be sexy.

I live in the real world. A world where Nigerians have been denied promotions/public speaking simply because of the thick accents.

Anvaller:


Okay there u said "detect" that means they sound more american now that u only have to "detect" elements of Jamaican or some carribean inflection in the way they speak for u to know tha they don't originally have the american accent.. most of them do not speak english exactly in the accent the folks at home speak..

About the Scottish accent.. Look ppl, why are we over-whipping this issue, What u have said there can not in most cases apply to Scots that have lived most or many years of their lives somewhere else. So that is not a point here. Somebody also referred to Italians.. well, there are many Italians in America that sounds very as american as possible. So what's the point?

Another person said "the white man don't want to speak like us so why do we have to speak like them..." Well this is not a rational reasoning. We Africans, blacks are always in a situation where we are at the mercy of these white folks.. u want to get their job, u want to live in their country, u want to survive within their system so what sense does it make to question why they don't speak like u speak when they come to ur country? Do they have to? When they are not at ur mercy for their survival? In fact that point is immediately defeated when u speak English and not ur local language abroad.

If u do not like or u are not able to adopt an accent,, its okay but stop running those that want to down or criticizing them if they can do it properly..

apache77:
I always hear people say Nigerians who travel abroad always come back with a fake accent, even if its only one month they spend in London or America. Is this true? Do Nigerians try to speak like foreigners?

What i think is that the biggest problem you face the minute you step into obodo oyinbo apart from the cold is your accent. Our accent is so thick foreigners cant make out head or tail what we are trying to say. So from immigration right to your next door neigbour, you struggle to communicate- nobody hears's your type of English. Our slow drawl is a big problem, not just to Americans or british but even to arabs and asians.

The quickest way to be heard is trying to speak like these people (americans or Brits) who cant hear you. Asians and arabs ahve grown up watching american movies and mingling with the Brits, so their ( Brits or American) type of accent is hearable and hence universal-much like the dollar is the globally accepted currency everywhere. So for you to be heard, you a naija boy or girl just stepping into America must speak like them.

Over time, if you stay there long enough, you start speaking like these people and substitute your Naija accent for theirs. Some people manage to retain their naiaja accent and use that when home only to switch to their americana accent when they go back.

Do you agree with me? or there is a more profound reason? Share your thoughts

Afam4eva:

Pls who are these native English speakers. Is it the British, Americans, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders. Why don't Americans, Canadians, Australians speak and pronounce words like the native English speakers? Why must Nigerians now do that?