My German friend told me that it was obvious I was from California because I had a very strong Californian accent.

A lot of well-traveled Europeans seem to be able to pick out and even imitate accents from the States, but I've never personally been called out for having one.

I asked her what my accent was like, expecting her to say I over-used the word "like" or something, and she surprised me by saying that I spoke like I was singing. She had a hard time explaining what she meant in English, but she basically said Californians speak with lots of high and low notes, which makes us talk in a very "singy" way. (She then did a hilarious impression of the "Californian" accent.) I wondered if she meant we use more inflection in discussion, but I couldn't figure out a good way to ask that in simple English, so I left it at that.

I would love to believe that my accent is musical in nature, but that seems too good to be true. I am sure there are much more negative ways to describe the Californian accent than "singy," and am curious what others think about this topic.