Foreign Mind

Do you ever speak in a foreign accent when you're alone? I hope someone out there (besides me) does! Ever since I was seven years old I have been obsessed with British accents. It's not that I find them particularly attractive, I much prefer a sexy french accent (who could resist!) or even a deep Irish accent. My fascination with the British accent is actually the fault of Lindsay Lohan. As an impressionable young girl I watched Parent Trap over and over and over and over again. I played hundreds of imaginary games with myself and friends and always insisted on being the British twin. I dreamed of my mother looking like the sweet Natasha Richardson and designing wedding dresses for blushing British brides. It was my favorite movie, and since my parents were not divorced and it was unlikely that I had a long lost twin (I came to this conclusion only after lots of research) I figured the closest I would get to being Annie James was to adopt her voice.

After my parents realized I was serious about becoming British, they bought me a few books on British words and translations. I no longer wore my boots on rainy days, I wore my galoshes. My new personal favorite term was "arse". As in "Get you're arse out of the way!" Every night I slowly practiced my pronunciation out loud. I read books to my cockatiel Fred in my new accent. I impressed my parents with such extreme dedication and amused family and friends. I even promised myself that when I entered middle school at Robert E Bell, I would use my new accent and become a British person. (I hadn't thought of the fact that I would be going to middle school with the same kids that heard me speak in an American accent for the past eight years, so that plan backfired.)

Now, over ten years later, the accent has lost it's perfection but it still tends to pop up when I'm alone. I wonder if I practiced so often and so hard that I had actually tricked a small part of my brain into thinking I was in fact British. When I walk my dogs in the woods I find myself narrating our walks in a British accent, like Victoria Stilwell the Animal Planet dog trainer. When I cook I find myself putting on a fake show with my accent. Sometimes I even think in a British accent. It makes me wonder what else I'm capable of tricking my mind to do!