Comments on: “You Have a Very Good Accent”

By: landa

landa — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:48:06 +0000

I worked for a government’s nationalized oil company for several years in the NY office. Many of the higher executives had married Anglas they had met in college, and who moved with them. They spent many years in their husbands’ home country & raised bi- or tri-lingual children. And yet, hearing them speak Spanish would raise the hairs on the back of my neck. The grammar and vocabulary were flawless. It was The Accent! We laugh when we hear the typical gringa “grassy-ass”–imagine a whole conversation!!! In time, I grew accustomed to hearing them speak, but still chose to speak with them in English. It was softer on the ear.

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:24:13 +0000

Thank you for presenting a nice balance between enjoying the experience and improving speaking facility and accent. Language is most importantly a way of communication and achieving that goal is a major accomplishment. Accent is the icing on the cake, but the cake is the important part. You give sound advice with interesting examples.

By: Kit G W

Kit G W — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 06:51:47 +0000

What a terrific article! As I start to introduce my young kids to Spanish and French, this is a good reminder not to put too much pressure on them to speak “perfectly.”

By: Susan

Susan — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:47:41 +0000

Thanks for the great comments!

By: Joe Rishel

Joe Rishel — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:06:52 +0000

What an interesting and thought-provoking article on the importance, or more accurately, lack of importance of accents in any language. We are led to believe that there is a “perfect” pronunciation for English, but that perfection can vary depending on where it is spoken. Could the same apply to Spanish? Of course. Susan Stephan has made numerous valid points in this succinct article. So don’t worry about the accent.

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:09:29 +0000

What a fantastic article. I completely agree with your take on accents!! While perfection is something to which we might aspire, it is certainly not something we need to worry about! When I was learning Japanese, I found that the more I concentrated on getting the pronunciation “just right,” the more I flubbed the sentence over all. When I started to just concentrated on getting my point across, I actually became MORE fluent, and my accent actually improved. We used tongue twisters in my high school German class, and they were the highlight of our classes! Even the most jaded students would perk up and try to participate, or at least pay attention, because it was so amusing. When I taught English in Japan, I used them in my classes and the kids absolutely loved them. I think any time you can make learning fun, people (both kids and adults) learn much faster, and retain the information longer, because they’re enjoying it. Thanks for sharing your insight!

By: I-Chu

I-Chu — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:26:54 +0000

I 100% agree with you on the idea of accents. Of course we can train ourselves to speak with better accents, but like you said, the most important part of learning a language should be communication, instead. Just think about this – Would it be easier for us to talk to someone with great accent yet with little fluency or a fluent speaker with heavy but understandble accents. Thanks for writing such an inspirational article!

By: Yara

Yara — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 05:29:03 +0000

Trabalenguas?! Wow, I would not have thought of that. Thanks!
I admire anyone that learns a new language as an adult. I still haven’t loose hope of learning Italian or Portuguese;)

By: BethO

BethO — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:25:23 +0000

I think we all just want to feel accepted. When someone has a “perfect accent” they may be more confident about opening their mouths to talk and not being seen as an outsider. Years ago my grandfather came from the Southern U.S. to the North and he first had to take “elocution classes” and lose his accent before trying to get a job, because of stereotypes about Southern people. Hopefully we are all a bit more open-minded nowadays but it’s human nature that people have their ideas about who is “us” and who is “them”, and the accent when you talk identifies you. We all love it when we talk to someone and they welcome us right in as part of their group. It might be an accent or it might be a bit of slang or a regional word that does the trick. Or, it might just be persistence. My accent will never be perfect but I really think I get a LOT of points for trying.
Sometimes I think everything about learning a language boils down to confidence. No amount of studying compares to what we learn in real conversation. My husband feels inhibited speaking English because of his accent, and I can see his face just light up and he starts talking more when somebody tells him they understand him fine. Working on the accent itself is of course very important, but it’s also good to give ourselves our own little pep talk and not wait for someone else to do it.
That’s something we can help our kids develop too!

By: Anna Maria

Anna Maria — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:55:31 +0000

What a refreshing take on accents! I am pentalingual and one of my biggest concerns when speaking in different languages has been accents. This article has given me a new perspective on the subject. What is important is the ability to communicate in another language and not the particular accents when communicating.