2007-01-12 07:45:11 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Oh yeah. It's all a matter of how you say things and mastering the dialect. There are tapes available, and you can even watch movies to "polish" your accent.
2007-01-12 07:48:22 · answer #1 · answered by whoops! 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It will be hard, but it's possible. Takes lots of practice and a good ear. Frankly, I don't see the problem with having an accent, I know I have one when I speak the other languages I've studied. Minimize it the best you can, but you may never speak exactly like an English person.
2007-01-12 07:51:00 · answer #2 · answered by Rossonero NorCal SFECU 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It would be very difficult, both in terms of accent and word usage. The accent is probably the easier of the two to master. You do need to have a good source of English language speech (easy with TV and the internet) and listen very closely, always comparing what you sound like to what they sound like. You will hear some contradictions, of course - people have different accents in English as with other languages - but you can work those out. I'd recommend concentrating on people with one particular way of speaking or from one particular area. If you are talking about English as the English speak it, listen to the BBC; if English as we speak it here in the US, you could pick other news broadcasts. Those will give you "general" English accents. Or you could have a little fun and try to follow people with distinct accents. For myself, I am trying to speak like Puerto Ricans rather than a generic or peninsular accent when learning Spanish - mostly because I have a number of friends who are from PR themselves. The reward of listening carefully, for me, has been that many people have mistaken me for coming from some Spanish-speaking country (though the country varies).
The word usage part will take a little more time. You can listen carefully and pick up most accent situations relatively quickly - a year or so - but word usage will continue to be a problem. Idioms and false calques (taking an expression in your native language and transferring it to the new language) will most likely plague you for quite some time.
Overall, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Some people may look down on you because you have "an accent," but there's nothing to be done about that. (Let them learn another language and see how easy it is!) I would bet most people will be fine with it.
2007-01-12 08:07:40 · answer #3 · answered by Gary B 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no i do not think you speak exactly like English people you speak just like Polish people.....hey i did not mean to make fun of you.i am just trying to say no matter how good you speak the english language you will always have an accent if your native language is not english sorry
2007-01-12 07:50:07 · answer #4 · answered by xoxo 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is no reason why not. My wife is German, but nobody would ever guess it - unless they listen very carefully. She still "makes" a picture with a camera, and "has" a thirst - both direct translations.
2007-01-12 07:50:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
if you want to speak properly like english people, yes you can, but if you want to speak "american", it'll be really hard because we mess so many words and phrases up
2007-01-12 08:00:23 · answer #6 · answered by Jen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Of course you can. Practice is the key. Watch plenty of network television.
2007-01-12 07:48:40 · answer #7 · answered by Bee Biscuits 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can, but it takes a lot of work and practice.
2007-01-12 07:59:20 · answer #8 · answered by rbarc 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. You will always have a discernable accent.
2007-01-12 07:53:23 · answer #9 · answered by Georges 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋