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The importance of a good accent | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Merv Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5274 days ago 414 posts - 749 votes  Speaks: English*, Serbo-Croatian* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 41 of 255 13 December 2010 at 7:54am | IP Logged | |||||
How did I say this was a bad thing? I just said that I think it is possible, with sufficient effort, to get to a near perfect accent. You correctly point out that that takes time and effort, both of which could be better invested perhaps in other aspects of the language. We all focus on what we feel is important. Accent is important to me so I choose to spend some time on it, and you are free to apportion your time as you see fit. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Aineko Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 5449 days ago 238 posts - 442 votes Speaks: Serbian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin | Message 42 of 255 13 December 2010 at 8:03am | IP Logged | |||||
ok, I'm sorry, you didn't, but Arekkusu said something that seemed like that to me (that post about not bothering with native accent being same as not wanting to learn more words) and you were '100% with Arekkusu on this', so I draw the conclusion. Btw, I also never said it is impossible. I'm just saying that it's not worth the effort for everyone and I don't get the big fuss about that fact. Edited by Aineko on 13 December 2010 at 8:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5431 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 43 of 255 13 December 2010 at 1:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Can adult learners achieve native-like pronunciation in a foreign language? I think it is possible but highly improbable. One may or may not believe in the critical period hypothesis, but the plain truth is that the vast majority--let's say 95%--of learners will never sound like native speakers. As a matter of fact, most people don't change their childhood accent despite having spent decades in a different dialect region. There is a even a cottage industry of specialists in accent reduction for native speakers.
It seems to me that the real question here is what are we trying to accomplish? There is no doubt that everybody wants to reach what I call the intelligibility threshold whereby we are fully understood despite whatever manifestations of foreign origin remain. Beyond that, the sky is the limit. If sounding like a native is your goal, you have a lot of work ahead of you. Or you may prefer to work on your grammar and vocabulary because you feel that they are the priority and that the accent will take care of itself. I would also point out that a foreign accent is not necessarily a bad thing. I even think that some accent combined with great grammar and vocabulary can make a very compelling and exotic combination. Why try to sound like a native when you are not one? Don't get me wrong. Sounding like a native is a valid goal as well. But there is so much to master in a foreign language that there is something to be said for not spending all one's time on trying to sound as if you were born in a different country. 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5382 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 44 of 255 13 December 2010 at 2:35pm | IP Logged | |||||
Yes, a near-native accent is my goal, but I fail to see how it's draining my attention or energy away from other aspects of the language. On the contrary, a proper pronunciation is a sound foundation necessary to understand the many nuances of languages. When I imitate native speakers, I internalize not only the sounds and the intonation, but also the feeling of the sentence and the wording chosen to match it. I learn the structures and vocabulary used. Part of those things become meaningless and impossible to grasp withouth the proper sounds and intonation needed to express them. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lucas Pentaglot Groupie Switzerland Joined 5168 days ago 85 posts - 130 votes Speaks: French*, English, German, Italian, Russian Studies: Mandarin | Message 45 of 255 13 December 2010 at 2:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
I don't believe in the critical period hypothesis. Most people never sound like native speakers simply because they don't want to. Other people would like to, but social factors stop them to feel free to lose their native accent for the target language accent. That's why they feel embarassed and their efforts fail miserably. A child doesn't care about his accent and doesnt even think that people around him could think "look at him, he's trying to speak with our accent but he's ridiculous because he's not native". And if there are people around him think that, they would replace the world "ridiculous" by "cute" or "smart"...because it's a kid. For me, that's why children (and some adults) sound like native speaker...I don't get the point of trying to create a mysterious "critical period hypothesis". 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5353 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 47 of 255 13 December 2010 at 3:55pm | IP Logged | |||||
It is interesting that you brought this up. I just saw a musician friend of mine this weekend, who is from London. He has spent three years in New York so far, and his accent hasn't disappeared at all, and before that he was living in Boston and going to music school there. When I first met the guy, I was totally surprised that he didn't just arrive from London or something. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| J S Newbie Netherlands Joined 5106 days ago 25 posts - 31 votes Studies: Irish, English* Studies: French, Dutch | Message 48 of 255 13 December 2010 at 4:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
Agreed, Lucas, and well written. This idea struck me powerfully when reading Talent is Overrated (http://geoffcolvin.com/books/talent-overrated/). Sometimes, the point of trying to create a mysterious excuse for why something isn't possible is to excuse trying at all. When someone tells me I can't do something - learn a language, have an excellent native accent - because I am too old or don't have the right talent, I work hard to remember: Talent is Overrated. For anyone interested, you can read Chapter 1 online. Here are some of my favorite excerpts:
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