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Poll: In my second language, my accent is
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Oct 2, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In my second language, my accent is".

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Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:47
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Very good Oct 2, 2017

It used to be that Brazilians took me for a native speaker. My husband and I spoke Portuguese exclusively at home. But that was a long time ago and I would be less than honest if I claimed that I'm still that good.

Spanish, not so much, even though I started learning it in 8th grade. I think the only way to gain near-native mastery is to be forced to speak it all the time because the people around you don't know any other language.

[Edited at 2017-10-02 08:38 GMT]


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 08:47
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Near native Oct 2, 2017

I speak French fluently with a strong Belgian accent after 30 years in the francophone part of Belgium.

 
Gianluca Marras
Gianluca Marras  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 09:47
English to Italian
could be better Oct 2, 2017

I have lost a bit of it.. but it seems good

 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Odd Oct 2, 2017

Swedes think I'm Norwegian, Norwegians think I'm Swedish

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 09:47
Spanish to English
+ ...
Very good Oct 2, 2017

As far as I know, my accent in Spanish is quite good, although often still recognisable as foreign. It varies, for example if I spend a weekend with English-speaking friends, my Spanish might suffer on a Monday morning. However, even years ago, I could sometimes get away with being mistaken for a native Spanish speaker, but from a different region.

And apparently my Scottish accent gets stronger when I'm dictating with Dragon, much to my friend's amusement...


 
Jan Truper
Jan Truper  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:47
Member (2016)
English to German
other Oct 2, 2017

I'm native German, but when I was living in the US, people often assumed that I came from South Africa.

 
Serena Basili
Serena Basili  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 09:47
English to Italian
+ ...
Passable to natives' ear, horrible to mine Oct 2, 2017

I can hear my Italian accent every time I speak English. I'm really fluent in it, but I do hate my non-native accent and I would honestly trade one of the languages I speak to be mistaken for a native Brit (but non from the Newcastle area, sorry -hahah). A friend of mine told me that my pronunciation improves when I speak slowly, though.

 
Noni Gilbert Riley
Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 09:47
Spanish to English
+ ...
Depends who's listening Oct 2, 2017

Some people spot it at a hundred paces, others have to be told. It helps also if they don't see me, since my non-Spanish appearance is a bit of a give-away. I personally hate hearing what to me sounds a very less than perfect accent when I have to be recorded.

Ah, and another thing that distracts people from the faulty accent is speaking the language very well!


 
Carla Catolino
Carla Catolino
Italy
Local time: 09:47
Member (2008)
Italian to English
+ ...
At first.... Oct 2, 2017

At first people talk to me, but after a few minutes into a conversation they ask me if I am American (I am Canadian and not American but in Italy everything from that side of the ocean in American)! My kids sometimes make fun of me because I have some difficulty in pronouncing certain words! For example, one word wold be "periodo" and this comes out in my Canadian accent....they laugh and try to get me to pronounce it the right way!

 
Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:47
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Opposite problem to Noni's Oct 2, 2017

I am told my accent is very good, and so it should be after spending 35 years listening to it as my main job. But on the other hand, I have only very rarely had occasion to speak it, so I am by no means fluent in speaking it.

 
Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 17:47
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Excellent Oct 2, 2017

People in Tokyo think I'm from Osaka. I can also switch accents, as well.
When I lived in Toyama, somewhere with a heavy accent like in Yorkshire, people thought I was born there.


 
Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:47
French to English
Other Oct 2, 2017

What makes an accent "good"? Surely, that's a subjective thing. I mean, I love to hear English spoken with a French accent. In fact, I love to hear all accents.

 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:47
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
15 years in France didn't do much good for my accent Oct 2, 2017

I was taught French at school by native English speakers. My family visited France very regularly but only for short trips so, although I was well aware of how poor my teachers' accents were, I never picked up a good accent myself. By the time I went to live in France I was 38 years old and it was much too late. My son has an accent that's part Midi and part Breton (where he lives now) and zero English, but mine's still 95% London/Surrey with some Midi tweaks (such as the odd extra syllable).... See more
I was taught French at school by native English speakers. My family visited France very regularly but only for short trips so, although I was well aware of how poor my teachers' accents were, I never picked up a good accent myself. By the time I went to live in France I was 38 years old and it was much too late. My son has an accent that's part Midi and part Breton (where he lives now) and zero English, but mine's still 95% London/Surrey with some Midi tweaks (such as the odd extra syllable).

OTOH I started Spanish at 55 and, while I'll never be very fluent, my accent is not supposed to be too bad, due to hearing it spoken mainly by native speakers. It isn't consistent though as I've had teachers from three different regions of mainland Spain and I live in the Canaries, where there's a very different accent and quite a few different words.
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R. Alex Jenkins
R. Alex Jenkins  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 05:47
Member (2006)
Portuguese to English
+ ...
For others to decide Oct 2, 2017

I live in the north of Brazil, and people often comment on my accent and ask where I'm from. There's something about the way I look and speak that attracts attention, but that's also because there aren't too many gringos in my neck of the woods, in Belém do Pará.

Normally I'm OK with it, but occasionally someone will say "you've been living here HOW long, and you still have an accent", which I think is pretty rich coming from someone who doesn't even speak half-fluent English, and
... See more
I live in the north of Brazil, and people often comment on my accent and ask where I'm from. There's something about the way I look and speak that attracts attention, but that's also because there aren't too many gringos in my neck of the woods, in Belém do Pará.

Normally I'm OK with it, but occasionally someone will say "you've been living here HOW long, and you still have an accent", which I think is pretty rich coming from someone who doesn't even speak half-fluent English, and if I'm in a particularly bad mood I'll remind them of how strong the Latin American accent is to the native English ear.

I think I speak really well and very fluently, but I do accept that I have an accent that comes from the throat. It will never change and it's what identifies me as English around the world. My kids think it's great too and will often speak Portuguese with a deeply affected language just to wind me up. It's pretty funny and I laugh along with it.

YO GOS-TA-REE-YA UM CO-PO DAY MARACOO-JAH
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Poll: In my second language, my accent is






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