Ever wonder why some folks have a very strong accent, and some have none?
So did I. My wife, Teresa, came over at age 20, has a strong accent.
One of my foster sons, Juan, came at 12, speaks absolutely unaccented English, yet Tito, came at 14, has a strong accent.
Well, I was recently with a distinguished educator from Croatia, US educated (PhD) and teaches in a US university, and has a very strong accent.
He began his talk with a simple apology, he said, "Linguists have studied the problem of accents. Education and practice have very little to do with
this. The reality is simple, if you learn a second language before your teenage years it is likely that you will speak with no 'other' accent. Learn
it past 13 or 14 and you will have the accent, no matter how high the education and how deep the intellect."
As I have listened and observed, since that revelation, it seems quite accurate. Any other observations out there?
Baja Arriba!!Mike Humfreville - 9-22-2004 at 09:16 PM
I learned Spanish roaming around the Mexican highlands when I was 10, 11 and 12. I never put an effort into it, it just happened, even though many of
my friends were American and European.
I think the learning process changes during puberty or at least in that vicinity and perhaps only in boys-to-men transitions.
As a young American tow-head living in Mexico I may have wanted, subconsciously, to fit in, so I learned to speak the language of those around me and
today I still speak ?street? Spanish with a good Spanish pronunciation and a Mexican overdrive. My vocabulary sucks and my verb conjugations are
stuck in the present but I learned what it took to fit in.
Once puberty sets in I think we may be out to become independent. We no longer want to fit tightly with our pals. We want to make a name for
ourselves and fight the world to determine where we stand on our own, to test our strength against others. We become proud of the things in us that
are unique rather than embarrassed by them.
I hold no misconceptions that mine is anything more than a small part of the answer. And it certainly a stretch of the imagination. But I suspect
it?s at least partially correct for some of us.
This is a good thought-provoking thread.
Regional Spanish accents
jeans - 9-22-2004 at 09:48 PM
Can you discern regional Spanish accents? My ear is not skilled enough. I watched a movie two nights ago set in Havana. The male lead was a Mexican
actor. After watching the movie, I then watched it with the director's & writer's commentaries (I love DVDs).
The actor had worked many hours with a dialect coach to perfect his Cuban accent for the Spanish dialogue. His hard work was lost on me. The female
lead was British which I was unaware of until I saw the commentary. Her American accent was perfect.
I used to frequent a small neighborhood cafe run by a couple from Guadalajara. A regular customer was a older woman with whom they would converse in
Spanish. She spoke so perfectly...slowly and clearly, that I felt if everyone spoke like she did, my comprehension would increase ten-fold. After
my first experience of her I asked about her. She was from Mexico City and she was a teacher.
Regional Spanish accents...
Herb - 9-23-2004 at 11:54 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by jeans
Can you discern regional Spanish accents?
When I lived in Mexico City I got very good at this, especially since it is a very international city. There were so many spanish speakers from all
over the world and I learned to discern fairly quickly where someone was from. The Spaniards were the easiest to pick out because of their near lisp
to the way they speak. The Cubans were the most difficult to understand because they, especially the women, speak VERY rapidly. In fact, I've had some
Mexicans tell me that they have trouble following Cuban women's words when they are excited.
It also used to be very common in Mexican television, film and stand up comedy to make fun of the rural northerners who seem to almost sing when they
talk. It was very similar to the way folks in the US make fun of a southerner's drawl and, of course, the same offensive associations between that
particular speech pattern and ignorance were drawn.
I can still pick up the differences, but it is more difficult for me to associate them with a given region now.
I find the study of lingquistics facinating. I agree with what the liguistics professor said about being at least exposed early. I took my first
spanish class in 3rd grade and at least learned the phonetics. Although I did not really learn the language until I was 20, I've had folks tell me
that after being immersed for a while, I sound like a near native speaker.
The downside about really learning Spanish in the DF is that I used to have people in Baja tell me that I sounded like a Chilango (not a good thing in
Baja!) I hope that has changed in 20 years of my Mexico trips being to Baja only. I'll have to ask for some feedback on my next trip. Because I use the language so infrequently now, I probably just sound like a "pin**e
gringo."
Hahahahahahaha
jrbaja - 9-23-2004 at 01:02 PM
Herb, you know my extremely limited Spanish. Imagine my having to interpret construction stuff between the "Chilangos" and the border Mexicans on
the Titanic movie... hahahahahahaha
And I think I have mentioned before the British colony in Borneo who I couldn't understand a word of what they were saying.
Something I had to deal with moving from Massachusetts to so. california as a kid as well. I reckon we all talks kinda funny. Just depends on hooz listenin.thebajarunner - 9-25-2004 at 11:47 AM
We send our Latin America mission prospects to language school in Costa Rica for a full year of concentrated study.
Their little kids don't attend school, they just play on the school grounds with the local kids.
Guess who speaks better Spanish at the end of the year??
Baja Arriba!!
does Terayza (like Heinz Kerry) know you are talking about her?
