Quote Originally Posted by EagleJCS View Post
There is a tape recording of me when I was five years old and I have a quite pronounced drawl.

I tend to start subconsciously mimicking other strong accents if I'm around them for a particularly long period of time.
I can relate to both of these things! Of course as a kid back central West Virginia I had a strong local accent at the age of 5, but mostly lost it here in California. I have noticed, on my annual trips back to West Virginia, that the kids in town have stronger accents than their parents. When I asked about it, the parents said it was because the town-kids go to school with the true hillbilly kids from the hollers, and pick up their talk.

I too pick up accents I'm exposed to. I can revert to Appalachian quickly when exposed to it, but also if I'm around Canadians I start picking up their accent. When I spent two weeks at piping school with a load of Canadians I came back talking a bit like them, though I wasn't aware of it until people pointed it out.