surroundings and with their new peers. Language patterns are mostly set by early adulthood. You have to consciously overwrite your language programming in order to change your speech and language patterns. I "picked up" a California accent while I lived there, but, I did so intentionally (I didn't like announcing that I was a Utah County native every time I opened my mouth). In grad school I very consciously identified and shed any of the pronunciations that marked me as a native Utahn. In order to do this I had to physically practice speaking without my native Utah accent.