Why are Indian kids speaking in American accent and using British spelling?

[Sarath]

An occasional trip to the Mall or movies has had me come accross many people who are talking to their kids in English while the kids react in a completely (distinct) American accent.

Ironically our spelling is still British and will for long be so since there is little reason to change, unless we hijack the language entirely since we have more speakers than either US or UK combined

Why do you think this is happening?

AND

What of the future, if the present is like this?

[Anorion]

I donno lol, maybe monkey see monkey do?

[Faun]

hollywood bro.

[ico]

Simple way of fixing this - a proper Indian keyboard layout. Where's the Rupee sign? We all use EN (US) don't we? Plus, the same thing in OS too.

The hilarious thing is, Indian accent/pronunciation is hanging in between American, British and Australian. Ever seen our desi news readers? Their shrill voice causes me a head ache.

Our accents will vary depending upon the state we are from. But it's weird.

[sujoyp]

one reason maybe coz more people r working in MNC/BPO and talk to their child like that...

whelchome mhy chhild...how whas your sckhool thodaye dho your homewok

[ithehappy]

Why is this happening?
Simple answer, they are trying to be smart. They don't even know how idiot are they.
There is NO problem with British spelling though, don't know why you added it in the title!

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Posh British accent is where it's at
Don't attempt to do it consciously though...

[Sarath]

^Added it because the "parents" have completely failed to understand that their kids are the only breed who speak American but write British.

So they are still out of place like the rest of us with neutral Indian accents.

They will have to re-learn all the spelling if they are to be parceled to the US. Just a forced accent wont work.

Also it's very difficult to hold on to a foreign accent in an Indian scenario. I pity the kids. They must be under tremendous pressure to maintain that, despite their own parents speak fairly Indian.

[d6bmg]

Originally Posted by Faun

hollywood bro.

^^ This!!!

And there is no future of it.

[quan chi]

you see britisher's were wrong they should have posted "monkeys and indians not allowed" Dogs are loyal and atleast dont mimic.

Anyways only handful of indians can be considered as real smart rest of the population...hmmm...cant say anything.

[Liverpool_fan]

It's not common to see "proper" American accent among Indians. Or British for that manner. Especially for kids.
Maybe you saw a bunch of NRIs from US? That would explain it.

Imitating usually results in mixed up accent which sounds hilarious.

[asingh]

They are just fakes and want to put up a facade. Also when they speak Hindi with English rolling of "r" and extension of vowels..it sounds so dumb and stupid. Girls do this more.

Though I spell always in American style. Neighbor and not Neighbour.

[AcceleratorX]

It's all just semantics in the end. A lot of kids these days think they need to "fit in" with the global community, and hence start using American accents mainly because that accent is easier to fake (note that there are multiple American accents) and because it's "cool". Speaking *real* British English is not as easy as it sounds.

Indian English is a mishmash, but a definite offshoot of British English. Regardless, we use some Americanizations (like the 'z' I used instead of the 's' in this word).

In my spelling, it's always a fairly decent mix of both styles of English. I've never analyzed (yes, another modification!) my accent though.

[ico]

I'll tell you, if you live in a foreign place for a year, your accent will change.

I have a tough time pronouncing <ra> in Hindi in words like "murari" and so on.

[Sarath]

Originally Posted by Liverpool_fan

Maybe you saw a bunch of NRIs from US? That would explain it.

Imitating usually results in mixed up accent which sounds hilarious.

Nah! It's not an isolated incident that I came across just yesterday. Have been observing it a lot. Well they could be returning NRIs but not all of them.

Originally Posted by ico

I'll tell you, if you live in a foreign place for a year, your accent will change.

I have a tough time pronouncing <ra> in Hindi in words like "murari" and so on.

I've lived for 4 years and nothing happened

But yes we did succeed in changing a classmate's accent to Indian one. He had come from an American school

[ico]

Originally Posted by AcceleratorX

Regardless, we use some Americanizations (like the 'z' I used instead of the 's' in this word).

Never ever done that. I always select English (UK) in the spell-check. May be because that's what we need to follow. Indians are dumb - decide upon an Indian keyboard layout and dictionary ffs. Spelling standardisation is needed.

[prabhu.wali]

just to show that they are a class apart

[quan chi]

Originally Posted by AcceleratorX

British English is not as easy as it sounds.
Indian English is a mishmash, but a definite offshoot of British English. Regardless, we use some Americanizations (like the 'z' I used instead of the 's' in this word).

In my spelling, it's always a fairly decent mix of both styles of English. I've never analyzed (yes, another modification!) my accent though.

Exactly i agree.Real or pure british english is not that easy.Infact sometimes they dosent sound easy too.

[asingh]

Why would someone be spelling in mixed styles. Either British or American.

[ico]

^^ yup, that's weird.

and it's the reason why we need EN (IN) spelling standard + an Indian keyboard layout with the Rupee symbol.

[Liverpool_fan]

Well I can bet everyone here has mixed US and UK spelling one time or other. Just analyze your behaviour.

[AcceleratorX]

EN-IN is already becoming standard - for example, Electronic Arts, Microsoft (Vista and later), and some other big companies now provide a separate "EN-IN" section of their websites. You can actually choose an English (India) language in Windows Vista and 7 in the regional settings.

However, I suspect that if English (India) does become a globally recognized formal language with it's very own keyboard layout and a rigorous dictionary, at least one of our neighbours (guess who) will have a problem with it

[JojoTheDragon]

Brit EN + Italian Accent = FTW



\lulz

[mitraark]

They are not speaking an American English , they are trying to speak in that tone , which essentially makes up Indian English

My elders used to say English originated from Britain so we should speak as they do, but the accent of British English is actually VERY different. Maybe we should stick to our kind of english .... somebody gonna geta hurt real bad