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Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
I've heard that as a Westerner, living in Japan can be hard because you always feel you stand out so much (sometimes literally, due to height). Your aunt and her family must have had many interesting experiences there.
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This is true, Erica. Although my aunt has described her experiences of “standing out” in Japan as being positive; she is blonde and fairly tall and the Japanese women she works with make sweet comments on her appearance. It is done in a very nice way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
I assume that after all these years Japan feels like home to your aunt and she is fluent in Japanese. Has her English pronunciation altered at all? I suspect that learning German and living in Germany caused me to value speaking very clearly and distinctly. I don't know enough about Japanese to predict how it might affect one's English.
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Yes, Japan feels very much like home to my aunt after all these years. I doubt she and her husband will ever leave (even though all of their grown children have moved out of the country now). She is fluent in Japanese; her English pronunciation has altered only slightly – it’s difficult to describe, but she seems to pronounce her “t”s in a more exacting way and she speaks a little more rapidly at times and her enunciation is very precise in general. But her speech has altered only slightly in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
This reminds me: I couldn't hear that your voice has a Louisiana flavor to it. I am not familiar enough with a Louisiana accent to recognize it as anything other than "Southern."
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That’s because I’m a native New Yorker. But as I mentioned, my mother is originally from Louisiana and her drawl (which she has retained over decades in New York) has perhaps had an effect on my speech a bit. Same for my sisters – I can sometimes hear the influence in their speech as well (moreso than in mine, actually).
Quote:
Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
You don't talk about alligators much, do you? 
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No, but I remember some of my senior relatives talking about them a lot when I was a youngster! Such as my great-Uncle Mooney (and yes, we actually
had an Uncle Mooney.
)
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Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA
Oh! Below is a very educational video about New Orleans accents, which apparently can differ by ward!
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Thanks for posting this, Erica -- New Orleans accents
are extremely diverse. My Mom is not from New Orleans, but her family emanated from the Irish Channel way back when.