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

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...

Is it faking it? Or not mastering it well enough? An English man could just as easily say he hates Nigerians or all others who fake his language because they dont speak it well enough or dont use the normal nuances of speech or right cadence. Dont you think?

IMHO.. Your accent doesn't matter.. as long as you COMMUNICATE effectively. If you like, speak through your nostrils

If u stay abroad for some time, u'll start pronouncing some words differently without knowing same thing with accent

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?

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?

hahahahahaa true comment

Yall have said it!
Speak well and clearly!

Lol.. very funny indeed when i saw a naija man trying to use oyinbo asent for an egptian guy i knw fee laugh alone and even the man look him somehow.. when you met with chinese,indains etc they speak there own asent even when they are trying to speak English.. and even me sef if i met with them i blow grammer well including speaking pidgin,yoruba words and be ma self not pretending to have oyinbos ascents.

Not everyone deliberately fakes an accent. If you school and reside outside Nigeria for a while, your accent modifies over time. You don't know when your diction changes too. How many Nigerians in the US ask questions in full like "How are you doing?" Lolz, seriously!

Anyways, clear communication skills is essential. It would hurt if anyone doubts your intelligence because you speak like you just hopped off Kenya Airways.

Even Americans too has accent ....when somebody subtitutes water for warer what was that

Nothing wrong with it as long as you don't do the same when around your fellow nigerians. It is not a nigerian issue. All immigrants from all over do the exact same thing.

Mamacita007: If u stay abroad for some time, u'll start pronouncing some words differently without knowing same thing with accent

Sure
You are right.

A-town:
Nothing wrong with it as long as you don't do the same when around your fellow nigerians. It is not a nigerian issue. All immigrants from all over do the exact same thing.

Agreed!

I dont know but those faking accent are actually funny

The bestu acenti you can get anywiere nwanne m is the Ibo accent
Notu justi Ibo, the thicky one nu ooo

Babies and oyoyo m na adabekes all feeli lovudu by me and ha ncha orluways wanna geti down withi me

No need to fake it just be yourself and if you stay long enough the accent should come to you.....Trust me.

Space booked.
Contact me if interested.

aniffy4eva: IMHO.. Your accent doesn't matter.. as long as you COMMUNICATE effectively.

TheBeat FM doesn't seem to get this. They have a penchant for OAP's that sound a certain way. One or two people with an accent is okay but when much of your line-up sounds a certain way, it's clear there is an editorial policy that says foreign-sounding = better. It's a revolting, post-colonial policy.

That (rant) being said, living abroad can change the way you speak, and then people misjudge it as a fake accent. It must be frustrating to speak in your Naija accent and have to always repeat yourself because people don't understand.

Jobless pple

bis7: Lol.. very funny indeed when i saw a naija man trying to use oyinbo asent for an egptian guy[b] i knw fee[/b] laugh alone and even the man look him somehow.. when you met with chinese,indains etc they speak there own asent even when they are trying to speak English.. [b]and even me sef if i met [/b]with them i blow grammer well including speaking pidgin,[b]yoruba words and be ma self [/b]not pretending to have oyinbos ascents.

my dear if you can carefully read dis your english you are writing here you go know sey you grow for village.

Iv bn in d uk for sometime now,and anytime im discussing wit someone i still maintain my naija accent o! Its nt as if iv nt tried d oyibo accent stuff,but sometimes wen i try to speak like dem,e dey do me like say i dey fool myself. Lol.
Well, as long as pple undastand me wen i talk,im ok.make i no bite tongue because i wan twist am

I ve a close friend who travelled down to Ghana for only few years....she came back only for her to start speaking phonetics!

How on earth is that possible? I thought she was faking it....bt sometimes i dont think she is.

Afta mikel leave Nigeria 2 London u wan try d fake accent

If u dy find fake accent go listen 2 any footballer wey dy play 4 Europe

Yvete: Not everyone deliberately fakes an accent. If you school and reside outside Nigeria for a while, your accent modifies a lot. You don't know when your diction changes too. How many Nigerians in the US ask questions in full like "How are you doing?" Lolz, seriously! Anyways, clear communication skills is essential. It would hurt if anyone doubts your intelligence because you speak like you just hopped out of Kenyan Airways.

Faking and acquiring an accent are not the same. Like you said...if someone lives in the US for a while...especially kids...they will acquire an American accent and don't even know. But that is if they mingle with Americans. Some people work and live among their own so they speak eat and breathe same way as if they never traveled. The people who fake for sure are the ones that travel to countries like Dubai, Malaysia,China and even Ghana....and return with American accent. Should I talk about the ones that never traveled and have American accent?

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.

Just speak slowly and clearly in your thick Naija accent people will definitely understand you.

I try my best to avoid this irrespective of my listeners.

For me, I think your accent is clearly dependent on where you grew up in your early years, a nigerian who has spent his first twenty years in Nigeria is always going to have that nigerian accent no matter what, if he stays abroad for a year and starts to speak a foreign accent, he's definitely faking it. No matter how well an African speaks the English language, he can never sound like a foreigner, except of course if he grew up/studied abroad. For foreigners, its natural, they don't strain when speaking it.

In fact, foreigners love it when an African speak the English language WELL with the African accent.