Can you learn an accent?

[sidney]

Yes it is possible, especially if you're around people who speak the same accent, or if the accent was specifically taught to you, like in those call center companies over here where the employees undergo an American or British accent training.

[Rosa]

Yes, I think it is quite possible to learn an accent. It might take some level of practice for some but with persistence it could happen. I remember when we usually watch a lot of Nigerian movies at home we were able to sound just like they did. I have also been able to speak like a Trinidadian through practice too .

[Esperahol]

I would have to say so - I'm actually pretty bad for it myself. I only need a few minutes with someone who happens to have an accent in order to catch it myself. Worse there are some accents so engrained in me that I've actually taken to writing the way I would speak it. It's rather weird actually... funny, but weird.

[Hanaseru]

I think it's perfectly possible to learn an accent.

Every accent has its own patterns, and so you can learn the accent by analyzing speakers of the accent's phonological patterns and apply them to your own accent.

For example, I live in Staten Island (or as we call it here, Sta'n Eyelan).  We often pronounce words that have the ah sound with an åh (kind of like aow) sound, such as in Sausage.  This rule can be applied to other words, with that sound, such as Coffee.

[darknessassassin]

Yes, it is possible. One of my friends developed British accent just by watching too many British TV shows/series. I know this might sound unrealistic but it is true.

[dorannmwin]

I really don't know that it is possible to learn an accent without being exposed to it on a regular basis. I find that for me I pick up different accents depending on the people that I am around.

My son has learned Spanish from native speakers and yet even his Spanish doesn't have an authentic accent.

[jillanntan]

I try but it's difficult. I always end up sounding Irish or Indian. It would be interesting, though, to catch a different accent and just play around with it. If there's one accent I'd want to learn, it would probably be Italian or Australian.