And why is that? I have a friend who moved here to Canada when she was 12. She's from South Africa and she's 16 now, and she still has the accent. However, her little sister moved to Canada when she was seven or eight, and now you can't hear any South African in her at all. Why is this?
2007-12-17 02:08:22 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Children who are younger learn language, especially pronunciation, more perfectly than older children and adults. About puberty, a person's language learning ability switches to other things in their brain. So your friend was too old to learn perfectly, but her younger sister still had her brain focused on language (this is a subconscious ability, not an insult to your friend).
But there are some other factors involved as well that are not easiy identified. My parents moved from Texas to Utah when they were in their mid-20s in 1961. My mother still sounds like she is from Dallas. My father sounds like he is from Utah with only a very slight Texas accent.
2007-12-17 02:17:43 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 5⤊ 2⤋
My wife loses her American accent when she visits England within the first day of arrival.
I will never lose my British accent and I have lived in the US for 8 years,
2007-12-17 12:27:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
well...number of years in a new place has nothing to do with it...it's like language learning.. the younger you are, the easier it is..the older you are, the harder it is to learn. same goes with accents. your friend's little sister was YOUNG...her accent of course would disappear quickly and with ease..however, your friend was 12 maybe going on 13..she was older..i highly doubt she will lose her accent at all..it may get weaker...but gone completely? doubt it.
2007-12-17 10:16:21 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
My husband and I (both Spanish speakers) moved to Italy when we were 22. Now we're 28 and I have lost my Spanish accent but my husband has not. I guess it works differently in every person. Then, it's easier to get on a language when you're younger.
2007-12-17 10:15:49 · answer #4 · answered by Maria Fontaneda 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
The older you are, the less likely you are to lose an accent.
2007-12-17 10:26:21 · answer #5 · answered by GrahamH 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I wondered the same thing about
actor Mel Gibson.
2007-12-17 10:19:07 · answer #6 · answered by elliebear 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
you won't lose ur accent until u stop speaking that language
2007-12-17 10:33:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋