Accent in America
Can i ever have a perfect Spanish accent as if i were born in Mexico when i was really born in America? I mean, when i REALLY practice Español??
5 Answers
It's definately possible, but means speaking the language every day and being open to (in fact, actually inviting!) criticism about your accent, intonation, word order and use, etc.
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I think, for the vast majority of people, one has to live in the country where the language is spoken in order to achieve this.
Yes you can, it requires lots of practice, and listening to native speakers, you must do your best to duplicate the sounds ( pronunciations) you hear. Even though I am an American living in México people from the south say I have the accent of the north.
I believe that most universities now teach modern languages with the intention that a person majoring in the language be given at least a good start toward speaking with little accent. This involves literally hours of work with headphones & microphone (so that you hear what you are saying "from outside your head"). The "sentence melody" as well as the pronunciation of individual words is taught - and this affects the reading habit of the student: you begin to "hear" what you are reading, and read as though you were listening. This can be accomplished on your own - but you need to be able to record what you are saying and listen to your recordings critically. Finding a site which offers both written and spoken text helps - you can record yourself reading that text and compare how you sound with the spoken version.
I think you can come close but you will never be perfect unless you get the help of accent coach.. I have heard people pronounce English well, but by the sound of their voice I knew they were speaking it as second language. Accent includes much more than pronunciation, but intotaions as well and that harder to imitate. Also as you get older it is harder to hear differences in pronunaction because you are used to the sounds of your native tongue according to lignusts.
I'm a Sci-fi fan. Have you ever seen Amanda Tapping from the Stargate SG-1 series and now on Sanctuary? I find it amazing how she can swtich back and forth from her American and British English accents. They are flawless. Of course, that is not as difficult as going from an English to Spanish accent, but some people just have an ear for accents and can adapt one at will.
as Samantha Carter
as Helen Magnus
