At what age is one's accent established?

Question

If you move from one country to another when you are a child, how old do you have to be when you move, to never lose your original accent?

Assuming both countries speak the same language, like someone moves from Ireland to the U.S. for example. And is that age different than if you have to learn a new language (example, from Spain to U.S.)?

Just curious; thanks!

Answer 1

I've heard of people as young as 5 who speak one language with the accent of another. For example I heard of a russian boy who moved to the states when he was 5 and had to learn english, cannot remember any russian, but speaks english with a russian accent.

For a more regional accent within a dialect, I think that it will really show itself around the age of 8-10, but up until about the age of 16 you can move and get a new accent quickly and subconsciously.

Answer 2

You never lose your original accent. After a while, you may naturally "alter" your spoken language (so, like, an Irish person who moves to the U.S. after 30 years may lose a small amount of the Irish-ness).

The reason people "lose" their accent at a young age is actually just that they learn words with the accent of where they arrive. A 5 year old may learn more US English than British English if he's going to school here, even though his parents speak British English.

Answer 3

Well technically a child will learn any accent as soon as the child starts talking. it listen to people around him and try to emulate it.

From my past experienced, my family lived in the states for 3.5 years almost 10 years ago and yet my sister and I still retained our American English. I was 10 when we moved there and my sister was 12. So after 3.5 years living there and now after 10 years we still retained the American accent. Many people would not know if we were true Malay because of out rather thick american accent when we speak english.

on the other hand my younger brother and sister were 4 and 6 respectively. When they got back to Malaysia from US with us, they could barely speak Malay because they were Americanized ;o. but after 10 years both lost their accents and barely spoke English.

i mean if both country speak the same language but different accent same thing would apply I guess

Answer 4

The book I am reading right now mentioned that there is a relationship between the age someone establishes their identity (early 20's) and the time that someone's accent is firmly established.

However, at the same time, accents continue to change as a person grows. A person from Texas, for instance, who moves to New York will sound kind of like a New Yorker to his family back in Texas.

Answer 5

I know of one Russian soldier who in the World War Two was a spy and was sent to Germany. He started learning English at the age 15 and to the age of 20 he was speaking German without any accent. While in Germany nobody could tell that he was Russian, he had no accent at all and his speech was even clearer than that of some Germans. So everybody thought he was German.This story is tru I did not make a word of it.

Answer 6

My ex's father is American (Arkansas!), his mother is British/English. They moved from England to U.S. when he was four years old and he had a thick English accent! (They have it on tape.) By the time he entered elementary school, he had an American accent. But this may be because he had conflicting accent-influences at home . . .

Answer 7

Accents are learned from birth. So by the time one starts talking, they're talking with the accent spoken in their home.