Why is it hard to remove the accent

Saturlight

Saturlight

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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. :)
 
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.
 
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" ) :-rofl2
 
I bet that bloke speaks all those languages with accents, not just the English,except Romanian of course.
 
I couldn't comment on his other languages, but he definitely had a Dracula voice in English. :D
 
Saturlight said:
he definitely had a Dracula voice in English. :D
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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
 
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...
 
I know,You even type in an accent.:confused:
 
zorba said:
I know,You even type in an accent.:confused:
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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. :D
 
Likvid said:
Heh...americans sounds stupid when they talk Swedish.
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Well, ever since the Muppet show I think Swedish sounds funny :-rofl2
 
Likvid said:
And are there any Swedes in the Muppet show? :-DOH2
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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? :)
 
Yep, certainly is and one of my favourite characters. :)

[tube]sY_Yf4zz-yo[/tube]
 
rolfw said:
Yep, certainly is and one of my favourite characters. :)

[tube]sY_Yf4zz-yo[/tube]
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That's him! Nice one. I bet he is preparing Surströmming :eek:
 
Sorry I've come in a bit late, but since I am the English language graduate on the forum :D 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/publications/books/palgrave/palgrave_synopsis.html. I'm selling mine if you're really keen :D
 
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?:eek: :-lmao
 
rolfw said:
PS. England Language graduade Salty?:eek: :-lmao
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That must mean your up for a 1:1 then :)
 
rolfw said:
PS. England Language graduade Salty?:eek: :-lmao
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:-DOH! 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 :D Well, I got a 2.1/upper second class degree, so something must be working between the ears!
 
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