Imitating Someone's Accent Makes It Easier to Understand Them

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101206161826.htm

ScienceDaily (Dec. 6, 2010) — In conversation, we often imitate each other's speech style and may even change our accent to fit that of the person we're talking to. A recent study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that imitating someone who speaks with a regional or foreign accent may actually help you understand them better.

"If people are talking to each other, they tend to sort of move their speech toward each other," says Patti Adank, of the University of Manchester, who co-wrote the study with Peter Hagoort and Harold Bekkering from Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

----- (skipping)

..