Changes don't come easily...

For many years I've stubbornly stuck to my quasi-American accent, for no particular reason other than that it just felt more like me, and it still does. It has definitely gone through different stages, improved and gotten worse throughout the years, but it has never ceased to be more American than anything else. During my time in England, at least when I spent time with real Brits, my accent suddenly turned very Swedish, as I somehow felt the need to hide my American accent, but I also couldn't bring myself to adopt a British one. The American accent had just stuck by me for so long, it had become a part of me.

I first wanted to have an American accent because I was insanely in love with Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys, and since they were all American, I wanted to be too. Why, I will never know. Nonetheless, I still have them to thank for my interest in the English language, and I probably wouldn't be so interested in it now if it hadn't been for those crazy teenybopper years.

Despite everything, I'm now starting to change my mind. If I do ever move back to London, I'm going to do my very best to adopt a British accent, and I'm going to start using British spelling instead of American, even though I think they over-complicate things far too much. Why all these extra u:s?

Although I think I will always identify more with the American society in general, and though I still dream of moving there one day, I do think that I would stand a better chance of integrating into the British society if at least I tried to speak like them, however unsuccessfully.

With that said, I'm now off to start practicing my caaaan'ts, banaaaanas and tomaaatoes!