One of the interesting things that's happening to me, one of the effects of living in Croatia, is that my ear is being retrained. I'm immersed in a culture that does not have English as it's primary language. Sure, people speak a lot of English around me. But they all have accents. And, their basic foundation of language, of speaking and making sounds with their mouth is fundamentally different from native English speakers. And, it's very different from American speaking.

It comes out in every day speech. There are lots of little phrases that Croatians in general use in English that American's don't. I often hear, for instance "and in one moment", as in "I was walking down the street, then in one moment I realized I left my keys at home.". It's not incorrect, it's just not phrasing that an American would use. And there are lots of little ones like that. "Moisty" is another one. It's actually incorrect but it gets the idea across. I think it stems from following a pattern. They hear us saying "It's sunny outside", or "It's rainy outside". So, instead of "It's humid outside", they use "It's moisty outside".

But, really, the thing I notice a lot these days has more to do with my ear being retrained. Croatian's don't speak with a nasal sound. Americans DO. I've been watching American news more than usual now because of the election (in which I heavily favor Obama, BTW). And I notice it every day. Americans sound like they have a head cold. They sound like they're congested and speaking through their nose. I never noticed this before I lived here. But now, I've gotten used to the way they speak here, which is not at all nasal. By comparison, Americans are very nasal in the way they speak. And sometimes it actually sounds annoying.

Strange.