Why is it hard to remove the accent

[Saturlight]

There was a guy on TV could speak 8 languages, yet still had a Romanian accent while speaking English. I wonder why accents are so difficult to remove...

You'd think if you had the intelligence to sponge up 7 other languages as well as your own, you'd be able to speak in a standard tone.

[PoloMint]

Try and learn a foreign language after you are 20 and no matter how much work you put in, you will probably always have a slight (or not so slight) accent.
However learn a foreign language when you are 1-10 years old (grow up in a household with two languages being spoken) and with little effort you will pick them both up fluently and with a natural accent in both.

There are some things you just can't do as well as when you were a kid. One of the 'features' of being human.

[Analoguesat]

Why have I still got a thick Brummie accent even though its 20 years since Ive lived down there??

(The locals round here still get upset when I tell them "everyone speaks funny round ere" )

[Zorba]

I bet that bloke speaks all those languages with accents, not just the English,except Romanian of course.

[Saturlight]

I couldn't comment on his other languages, but he definitely had a Dracula voice in English.

[RedDevil_UK]

he definitely had a Dracula voice in English.

LOL Classic

personally i love local accents.

i would really love to speak another language, its something i always want to do but never get round too.

bit like upgrading my computer LOL

[T_G]

You be surprised how sneaky accents are. After not talking a lot in my mother language for 15 years my mates take the piss when I talk to them on the phone...

[Zorba]

I know,You even type in an accent.

[Saturlight]

I know,You even type in an accent.

Yeah you can type with an accent.

"Pleased I am, meet with you. Kind sir." Oops, hope that doesn't sound rude. If so I apologize.

[Likvid]

Heh...americans sounds stupid when they talk Swedish.

[T_G]

Heh...americans sounds stupid when they talk Swedish.

Well, ever since the Muppet show I think Swedish sounds funny

[Likvid]

Well, ever since the Muppet show I think Swedish sounds funny

And are there any Swedes in the Muppet show?

[T_G]

And are there any Swedes in the Muppet show?

Are you serious?? One of the best known characters is Swedish. He might not be as famous as Kermit, but surely he has his own cooking program on Swedish TV?

[rolfw]

Yep, certainly is and one of my favourite characters.

[T_G]

Yep, certainly is and one of my favourite characters.

That's him! Nice one. I bet he is preparing Surströmming

[Salty25]

Sorry I've come in a bit late, but since I am the English language graduate on the forum I should provide an answer!

Well, unfortunately this question is a major source of debate within linguistics, and more specifically phonetics (the production of sounds in language).

It is a question of how language is stored - In templates? Is there a premitted range of sounds? Are sounds stored seperately from each other or in a complicated matrix? And are different accents/language stored as seperate entities or in some sort of intersected matrix?

If you're really curious, this will bring you a long way - http://www.morton-tatham.co.uk/publi..._synopsis.html. I'm selling mine if you're really keen

[rolfw]

Far too much information for me Salty, I think I'll just be content with the knowledge that some people can learn a language and speak it with very little accent, whilst others maintain their original accent.

My brother in law speaks fluent French with a broad Scottish accent and he's been there for 20 years.

PS. England Language graduade Salty?

[Topper]

PS. England Language graduade Salty?

That must mean your up for a 1:1 then

[Salty25]

PS. England Language graduade Salty?

I must have said it so many times - I'm the worst example of an English degree student ever, I'm a terrible typist and have the most terrible mix of an Essex and Suffolk accent ever! In my defence though, I am slightly dyslexic, I'm pretty sure of it!

I do agree about the detail, try it on a Monday morning, or in fact ANY morning for that matter!

Thank for the endorsement Topper Well, I got a 2.1/upper second class degree, so something must be working between the ears!