Out of all the classes I took in college, my favorite was a quirky speech/drama class that focused on speech patterns, accents and dialects.  I quickly learned I had quite the penchant for mimicking pretty much anyone.  From polite Southern belle drawls to harsh, nasal Long Island overtures, I was a quick study.

To this day, I can still hear the subtle differences between a Georgia diphthong and an Alabama twang.  And the best part?  I can quickly assimilate between the two if warranted.  I’m not sure if it’s a gift … or a curse.

I genuinely like traveling some place I’ve never been to before, just so I can glean what sort of local accent I need to practice.  I religiously watch the reality show “Ruby” because it’s set in Savannah, Georgia.  (Uh, I’ve never been.)  The city itself is like a special guest star.  The show has a cast of characters with accents thicker than molasses.  Not only have I never missed an episode, now I feel like I could visit Savannah and fit right in.

I’m learning German right now, which has been the bane of my existence.  Try as I might, I cannot master it.  My tongue trips over itself as I try to repeat conversational phrases.  At one point I think I may have actually sprained my tongue trying to ask how to get to Opera Square.  It’s been one of the only times in my adult life I haven’t been able to master a foreign accent.  (Granted, I haven’t tried Swahili.)

Even when I took a course in sign language, I immediately picked up the deaf instructor’s vowel-heavy speech patterns.  I ended up bombing the class, but became remarkably proficient in mimicking my instructor.  To this day if I don’t want to talk someone, I can quickly pretend I’m profoundly hard of hearing.  No harm, no foul.  And the person I don’t want to talk to is usually none the wiser and quickly moves on.

Since I’m a proud Midwesterner, my accent is virtually nil, so it’s nice to go rogue sometimes.  When I visited Philly for the first time, my head nearly exploded.  So many accents, so little time.  I really do have a knack for it.  My co-workers used to be in awe of my ability to do a spot-on impersonation of my ex-boss’ painful Minn-ah-soooo-tah accent.  It was like the movie “Fargo” come to life.

Maybe I missed my calling in linguistics.