A Jamaican taxi driver once praised me for keeping my Trinidadian accent. He said that most Trinis lose theirs by the time they reach Piarco Airport. We are notorious for changing our accents abroad while simultaneously being proud that we were once voted as one of the world’s 12 sexiest accents. I am faithful to my accent but speaking in English as a Trinidadian abroad can get complicated.
When I was doing my MA in Interpreting and Translation here in London, I had a lecturer tell me that she kept forgetting that English was my first language because of my “island accent”. These passive aggressive remarks can sting. I went home and cried. When I tried to report it, I was told it was “unfortunate.” It was not just unfortunate; it was hurtful, condescending, and mean. Sometimes as an immigrant you can just do without the discrimination and I completely understand.
To avoid such comments, immigrants have to code-switch, softening our accents, slowing the pace, and changing our vocabulary. Living in London, I always have to be conscious of my vocabulary. In Trinidad we learn standard British English in school. However, being geographically close to the US, a lot of Americanisms float into our daily parlance. This can be stressful as sometimes I’m not sure if a word is Trinidadian, American, or English. I have been unable to complete a sentence in the past because I needed to google if “sidewalk” and “pavement” are the same, just one word is British and the other American, or if they refer to different things entirely, and if so, which one is used when (sidewalk is American and pavement is British). And my friend once shuddered when I told her I had "to make groceries." I was told that in the future I should say I had "to do my weekly shop." Noted.
If that isn’t complicated enough, we also have to consider the Trinidadian vocabulary. Nappies are British and diapers are the American equivalent, but in Trinidad they’re all Pampers. The same way all chocolate milk is Milo, unless it’s hot then it automatically becomes tea because any hot drink is tea. I once heard someone say they needed to make a cup of coffee tea.
To make a verb ending in “y” an adjective, most English-speaking countries remove the “y” and add “ied”. We Trinis have no time for that, so we eat “curry chicken” and “fry plantain”. And an “avocado” just tastes better when it’s called “zaboca” and I cannot bring myself to call a “patigal” an “easy peeler”.
If you teach English, your students will never be quite sure what to make of you. I taught in France and Colombia and in both countries my students would ask me if I had an American accent or an English accent. My response that I had a Trinidadian accent never seemed to satisfy them. I was a good teacher, but they had to be careful not to pick up my accent.
They needn’t have worried so much because it turns out that our accent is difficult to imitate. Just take a look at Mangrove in the Small Axe series where they use British actors of Jamaican heritage to play Trinidadians. I love the show because I am proud of the role the Mangrove 9 played in the Black Power Movement in the UK, but it might have as well been a musical with the way the actors were stressing our sing song rhythm.
A lot of my friends switch between accents. They use a standard British or American accent when talking to foreigners, and then a Trinidadian accent with other West Indians. I've also witnessed Trinidadians adopting a "Spanish" accent when speaking English to Venezuelans back home. We're very skilled at code-switching.
People change their accents or switch accents for various reasons, it's a very complicated and conscious decision. Most times it's because they don't want to be discriminated against, want to fit in, or they've lived in a country so long it has become part of their identity. Of course, they're also those that just like a ting. I have always kept my Trinidadian accent because it's important to me as a linguist. I want people to know I'm from the Caribbean as soon as I open my mouth. It doesn't always work in my favour, but so it go.
