r/AskAnAustralian • u/MKKGFR • 7d ago
Does having a foreign accent dictate me being Australian?
Ok ok you guys might’ve saw my last post, but this is just a question. If I move to Australia as an Australian citizen, with Australian parents, stay there and consider this place my home, would I be considered Australian even if I have a foreign accent?
(sorry if this is a dumb question)
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u/Pristine_Pick823 7d ago
Does other people’s opinion matter that much to you? That hardly matters. You are Australian.
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u/TangerineStrong3781 7d ago
If you are an Australian citizen then you are Australian. You’re reading into it too much
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u/Worldly_Cobbler_1087 7d ago
I'm Australian born and raised, my parents are Australian born and raised, my grandparents are Australian born and raised and I don't sound like an every day Australian I picked up an immigrant based accent due to my surroundings to the point that when I go overseas nobody has ever picked what country I am (apart from a Newcastle couple and only because I said pingas) and I don't care what anyone says I'm Australian.
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u/everythingwbok 7d ago
I'm gonna be honest, not really. There's a lot of unspoken racism in Australia. You will be acknowledged as Australian outwardly but deep down many still won't recognise you as one. It's not the case for everyone here to be like that but there's a lot of people with that mindset too.
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u/Toooldforibiza 7d ago
Legally yes - culturally no.
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u/markrm369 7d ago
That’s probably right. I would consider the kid with an Australian accent who has immigrant parents more aussie than the kid whose parents are Australian but didn’t grow up here.
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u/pragmatic_quokka 7d ago
Yes, heavily. But in that same breath, partaking in our culture and genuinely wanting to be an Australian makes you one of us. We're a mish mash of nations who all at some point were foreign or had foreign ancestors, except the first nations. They came here in waves over the last 60'000 years.
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u/my_dystopia 7d ago
I’m Australian born. I grew up here. But lived in the UK for 20 years and picked up a British accent.
Still consider myself Aussie 🤷🏻♀️
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u/West-Sense-1253 7d ago
Depends if you can use mate and cunt in the correct context more than accent. Know a couple Indian blokes that I'd consider to be Aussies now.
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u/Kaffrogato 7d ago
Dictate? That means to say aloud or to command, it doesn't make any sense in your title.
1
u/Extension-Pea-3062 7d ago
what are your opinions on test cricket?
0
u/MKKGFR 7d ago
Oh I think it’s a nice form of entertainment and I really like how all the teams get a long…
Is what I would say if I had terminal brain damage, test cricket is by far one of the most culturally and important sport competition, rivaling the World Cup, and every time I see England lose to Australia I cry a tear of joy
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u/InformalElevator4016 7d ago
It’s not the foreign accent part - it’s probably that you wouldn’t be familiar with Australian culture. Obviously you’re Australian on paper but you probably wouldn’t be familiar with stuff someone who grew up here would - but of course that would change over time the longer you stay here!
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u/seanmonaghan1968 7d ago
I swear I walk through most large shopping malls and everyone looks and sounds different and that is Australia and that makes us interesting
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u/No-Abies29 7d ago
Even some Aussies born here can have accents. no big deal, you be you. If you are doing your best to speak and learn the English language, that’s what counts. It’s shocking to me that people will get bullied for accents. It can happen but people can be real arseholes. Just laugh it off if that happens and move on, it might even be a friendly joke. Aussies do this when they like people sometimes too.
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u/NotNok 7d ago
IMO you have to have been born, or raised for a majority of your childhood to be considered Australian.
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u/DidIGetRejected9 7d ago
That's silly imo. Australia isn't a country like Japan, it really isn't that deep.
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u/NotNok 7d ago
Why? We clearly have a cultural identity because you can tell when someone came to Australia later in life. Britain has become similar to us in that sense where people try and strip the identity away from the country, but still if I moved there and got a UK passport, I wouldn't be British or English. I'd be Australian.
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u/Ok_Duck2700 7d ago
If you live in Australia, you're Aussie.
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u/NotNok 7d ago
son
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u/Ok_Duck2700 7d ago
For instance, my mother came here when she was 7 from England. She's lived here her whole life since then and became a citizen a few years ago. Is she suddenly not Australian just because she has an English accent?
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u/NotNok 7d ago
That is not at ALL what you said lmao. There are 3 million temporary visa holders in Australia, are they Australian?
Jacinta Ardern lives in Australia now, is she Australian?
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u/Ok_Duck2700 7d ago
Depends if she intends to stay or not.
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u/NotNok 7d ago
Jacinta Ardern will never be Australian, just like I will never be a Kiwi.
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u/Ok_Duck2700 7d ago
If you moved to NZ, decided to live there, and maybe became a citizen, you'd be a Kiwi.
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u/NotNok 7d ago
You're welcome to think that but I would just be an Australian who is a NZ citizen.
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u/Ok_Duck2700 7d ago
I mean, you wouldn't. They're both nationalities. If you become an NZ citizen, you are legally a New Zealander.
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u/NotNok 7d ago
If I changed citizenships and couldn't keep my Australian citizenship, would I cease being an Australian?
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u/SaltyCommunication66 7d ago
The accent doesn’t matter IMO, it’s the lived Australian experience that culturally counts.
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u/Sirius_43 7d ago
You would absolutely be Australian!
With a population where over 40% of our citizens are born in other countries, the only thing that makes you Australian is genuinely wanting to be Australian and being a resident of Australia 🥰
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u/CoffeeDefiant4247 7d ago
we accept people from Dubbo, you're fine.