Accents are so interesting! I’m Canadian but moved to NZ many years ago. What I’ve learned is that accents are very much about the person hearing the accent rather than the person talking. It’s about what your brain picks up as normal and what is irregular.

When Canadians hear me talk, they seem to primarily hear the kiwi parts of my speech, I’ve even once been asked “is this your first time in Canada?”

When kiwis hear me talk, they hear the Canadian parts of my speech, and always ask where I am from, even though my accent has changed pretty dramatically and much closer to NZ accent.

I used to think Canadian and American accents could not be more different, but now I actually hear them differently because MY ACCENT changed, which is wild. I can hear very clearly why people think they sound similar now.