(Foreign Languages/Accents) Have you ever met anyone like this???

Question

Man, how should I put this?

Have you met someone that speaks a language the person doesn't "look" like s/he speaks but does?

For example,

1) a caucasian American woman with blond hair and bright blue eyes that speak fluent Mandarin Chinese with NO accent?

2) a 7-year old Korean boy that speaks FLUENT Spanish with an Mexican Spanish accent?

3) a Norwegian man that speaks perfect Lebanese Arabic?

4) an Egyptian professor that speaks perfect English with an RP accent (BBC British) accent)?

5) or perhaps a Korean-American male newscaster that speaks English like an American without ANY trace of Asian accent?

Answer 1

One of my professors from last year is Korean, and he speaks English like any American born and raised person.

Answer 2

I'm a caucasian woman who gets compliments on my accent when I speak Spanish all the time. But I agree with the previous answerer that it doesn't matter. People have all kinds of backgrounds so you never know from the looks of a person just what languages they will or don't know.

An example: I was once with a Brazilian friend of mine who hadn't been in the United States very long. She knew that I spoke Spanish and, where we were, she could see a black woman across the way. She told me that I should go over to that black woman because maybe she spoke Spanish. Being from the United States, I wouldn't normally assume that a black person spoke Spanish when I saw one, but she did because she was from Brazil. Does that make sense? So, this question sort of seems as silly as thinking that a black person speaks Spanish when you see one in the U.S.

(Please don't misunderstand; I know there are some Spanish-speaking black people in the U.S. It's just that you don't assume that they do.)

And, by the way, the Korean-American newscaster probably grew up speaking English all his/her life, so it wouldn't be a surprise that he/she sounds like a native speaker. That might also be the case for all of the people you've mentioned.
Peace out.

Answer 3

I have had a classmate in the past who is Chinese but was born and raised in Argentina and speaks Spanish perfectly. I also know someone who is Korean, born and raised in Argentina, moved to the US five years ago, speaks fluent Spanish and speaks English with a general American accent.

For some reason, where I live (Southern California), I see plenty of Asians/Asian-Americans who speak Spanish well. They've either learned it in school or have been brought up or lived in a Spanish-speaking country.

I saw a young Caucasian male on YouTube a few weeks ago who speaks Tagalog pretty well. He said he did his missionary work in the Philippines. There's also this lawyer named Michael Gurfinkel who specializes in immigration law and is married to a Filipina. It kinda freaks me out whenever he busts out in Tagalog.

I've met a young Filipino guy who grew up in London, migrated here and yet kept his English accent. I have a friend who is of Chinese descent, is from New Zealand, and speaks with her local accent.

I took a beginning French class and acquired the Touraine accent almost immediately. I have a French first name (but with no French blood whatsoever) and my professor thought that I was taking the class for an easy A.

Same goes with my Spanish teacher in high school. I have a Spanish last name and she thought I was raised somewhere in Latin America.

A lot of young Filipinos my age automatically assume that I don't understand or speak Tagalog. What's weirder is that a lot of Filipino adults automatically assume that I don't understand or speak Tagalog.

I've gotten a lot of weird questions through the years? "Are you Asian?" "So if you're Filipino, does that make you Latino?" "Do you speak English?" But yeah, different story.

Answer 4

I was kind of on the reverse side. I Live in the states, but I also lived in Norway for a year. Two weeks before I was to come home, I was having a conversation with a Norwegian (from Bergen), He did not, and would not believe I was from the states because I spoke Norwegian like someone from Sweden. So, being American, I spoke Norwegian with a Swedish accent. Go figure ;)

Answer 5

I met once in Nwe York city a man (about 30 years old) he was korean but he was really good while speaking Spanish, with a mexican accent and slang, since im from that country i was surprised while listening to him, he said he had many years living and working with mexicans...

Answer 6

Yes. Having been brought up in London, there are many people who look like they should speak only hindi or Arabic, yet speak better English than the Queen herself.

Answer 7

i am white but i naturally speak with a bit of a middle eastern accent although i can fake having a local accent pretty decently... does that count?

Answer 8

Sure, I had dinner in a japanese restaurant, and besides was an absolutely japanese looking couple, who said "Boa noite" and we had a nice conversation in fluent portuguese, as they were brazilians and we understand and even speak it if not 100 %, but enough.

Answer 9

Yes, i met an australian guy that speaks spanish with uruguay accent because he learned spanish with an uruguay´s teacher, its very funny because u cant imagine that he's really australian

Answer 10

yes I met a chinese man in rome who spoke english with an italian accent...quite odd but charming.