I have an accent that I have no right to

>>18674490
It happened to me a few times. Why do you find it awkward?
Just tell them "No, I was born in X and raised in Y."
No need to create any sort of awkwardness.

>>18674502

>Why do you find it awkward?

>"Ha ha! So what part of the US are you from?"
>"Ah, heh, I'm not actually from the US -- I just learned English from Americans, and the accent stuck"
>"But you lived there, right?"
>"No, I've only lived here"
>*Slightly puzzled look as they compute possibilities* "Huh. O..K."
>After this, whenever personal histories are alluded to, the above incongruency is highlighted again

The underlying subcommincation is that I had no friends or social links to absorb accent from, and have artificially adopted the accent of a dominant country to appear cool (the first is actually pretty true, hah).
Especially when it comes to girls, this sort of idea is pretty weird, as they are quite tuned to social concepts and their implications. I lose face.

This isn't some mental exercise of what *could* happen, it's a generalization of what's happened many times. I've gotten pretty good at brushing the concept off, but it only goes so far.

>>18674574
It happened to me many times as well and it was never especially awkward for me, this is why I'm saying that I can't relate at all to your "I lose face"

Usually it goes like
>"Are you from the US?"
>"No, I actually was born and raised here"
>"Oh. And how did you get the accent?"
>"I actually have no clue, it was always very natural for me since I learnt english"
Then we move on to some other topic. All comments I ever got were very positive and I never felt awkward because of it.

Probably you feel awkward about it and you make it awkward.

I was born in england and moved to northern ireland at a young and im as northern irish as they come. Its all about the country you were raised in in my opinion. Just tell them your american just not american born. They will understand.

>>18674490
What US accent? Texas, New York, California have pretty well known voices

>>18674490
What other accent would you speak English with? A London accent? Because you don't have any "right" to that either, and yet Indians who learn English in India often have a British accent. American media uses a highly normalized, neutral, and almost 'accent-free' "accent" (IE: you don't sound like a southerner or a New Yorker, which would be weird) so I'm not sure why you'd worry about it. Just speak how you do, it's fine. If anything they should understand that a second language, when properly mastered, SHOULD adopt the accent of the, or one of the native countries where it's spoken. Keeping your native country's accent when speaking another language is a sign of not having mastered the second language.

I'm fluent in Spanish and learned it from a Columbian woman over six years. I now speak Spanish with a Columbian accent, and that's fine. This isn't inherently an awkward thing, no one will think you are putting on the accent to be cool, where else are you going to learn to speak English properly if not from American or British media?

>>18674589
He learned from watching TV and the news, so it's got to be a neutral tone. They specifically use a normal, non-regional tone on television so that it can be played across the country.

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>I learned English and absorbed culture from predominantly US media
Literally just say this

>>18674490
If anyone comments on your accent, say you're Canadian. They will believe it and immediagtely lose interest in the topic

>>18674601
Guys that live around my corner have american accents due to exposure to the disney channel. Its creepy

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>>18674580

>Probably you feel awkward about it and you make it awkward.
I Like to think I'm above this sort of self-sabotage, but I will have to think about this.

>Its all about the country you were raised in in my opinion.
That's the issue - I was *raised* in New Zealand. I *should* have a Kiwi accent.
But I rarely interacted with Kiwi's.. or anyone for that matter. This is what people find strange.

>Just tell them your american just not american born. They will understand.
Not really a fan of lying. That said, I've done it on occasion where I'm sure I'll never see the person again, just for convenience's sake. I can spin a pretty believable yarn about it, too haha

>>18674589
>What US accent?
Neutral, as >>18674600 suggests.
But like, it's pretty strong. There is not even a trace of a kiwi accent in me, and this is what throws people off

>>18674599
>American media uses a highly normalized, neutral, and almost 'accent-free' "accent"
While this is true for media, it's not so much for conversation in the real world, in countries outside of North America. It's not considered neutral there.

>>18674601
>I learned English and absorbed culture from predominantly US media
>Literally just say this
I used to. It generally resulted in more questions.

>>18674605
>If anyone comments on your accent, say you're Canadian.
I once did this and the person then introduced me to an actual Canadian.
I noped the fuck out of there fast

>>18674608
>Guys that live around my corner have american accents due to exposure to the disney channel. Its creepy
Yes, this is the general concept

Create your own accent
I am just like you, moved countries at a young age, failed to form friendships in high school so I spent a lot of time on the internet
I just took the sounds I like the most from every type of English accent, be it British or American, maybe even other accents, like my native Russian, and combined them into a version of a language that unites my image as a person.

Stop saying "like" and "or something" and "you know" and other phrases and keep your language neutral

>>18674691
>Create your own accent

I really like this idea. Perhaps I can endeavour to change my accent - but do it deliberately very slowly/gradually, so it won't be noticed by people around me.