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Non-natives are often poor speakers of a language for the basic
reason that they don’t try to speak and learn like children do – trial and
error. While children have little pride and are willing to be laughed at or
with, they quickly forget their embarrassment, understand their mistake and
master the language, sometimes better than their parents. By contrast, most
adults feel ashamed when struggling to express themselves in a second language
and avoid the learning process. Aside from grammar and vocabulary errors,
foreigners often fear people’s reaction to their accent. Interestingly enough, this accent is generally
not an issue for listeners. In reality, pronunciation and intonation can be a
greater problem but fortunately can be consciously improved with practice.
Many foreign speakers hate the sound of their own accent in a foreign
language. They can easily detect the difference between their accent and that
of native speakers, whether live ones or those on television. As a result, they
feel second-class or worse. Curiously, in many cases, a foreign accent actually
creates a favorable impression. Henry Kissinger, he legendary Secretary of State
under Nixon, retained his heavy German accent and caused people to believe that
he was quite perspicacious, a benefit in his role. My mother was born in France
and did not study English due to the “War”. She arrived in New York in her 20’s
and quickly became a top perfume salesperson because people believed that,
being French, she must be familiar with perfume. Even ordinary folk seem much
more exotic when speaking with a foreign accent. How many actresses were
considered sexy merely because they spoke in a different way? Thus, it is
perfectly fine, even beneficial sometimes, to speak with an accent, even a heavy
one.
On the other hand, native speakers do not understand the difficulty
faced by foreigners in pronouncing the problem sounds posed by each language.
Some examples include the throated h and a in Hebrew and Arabic,
the various varieties of r in Russian, English, French and Spanish among
others, the English th, so dreaded by the French, and the two types of sh
in Russian. Every language has its landmines that test the tongue of the
foreigner. Having learned to say these sounds as small children, locals see
their pronunciation as obvious and view their mangling as laziness or lack of
caring, which it is admittedly sometimes true. Fortunately, it is possible to
practice these sounds in the safety of your own home, alone or with a trusted accomplice,
and perfect their pronunciation. My challenging French r word was serrurière, a female locksmith, which truly gets
your r’s rolling. Once you can say them like the native, your status will
increase enormously as will their appreciation of your language skill and
knowledge. It is all of matter of practice and therefore attainable.
A more difficult challenge is intonation. In simple terms, each language
has a unique song, ranging from flat to sing-song or even extreme highs and
lows. Russian tends to be flat, dying in the end while French is up and down
and Italian and Hebrew simply sing. This is one of the reasons that speakers of
certain languages are considered to be hysterical while other are viewed as
cold. Simply, the natural rise and fall of volume varies by language and
depends on the emotional content of the sentences. Small children naturally
absorb the accepted intonation, but adults find it hard to change their way of
speaking. Yet, incorrect intonation makes it difficult for natives to
understand you and even sometimes conveys the wrong message, such as unintended
annoyance, anger or questioning. As in pronunciation, a little homework goes a
long way into retraining your speech to be flatter or more expressive. Over
time, a person can develop linguistic schizophrenia, speaking in a different
intonation for each language. In other cases, the learned intonation starts
entering the native intonation, creating a hybrid. In any case, even not so
young adults can practice and reduce native-language interference in their
intonation, thus increasing the perception of their language skill, a good
result in itself, as well as ensuring that their intended meaning is transmitted.
As the song goes, you got the power.
So, if mastering a foreign language is a matter of practice and the
willingness to make and learn from errors, accent should not be a barrier.
Proper pronunciation and intonation can and should be learned, without public embarrassment.
It is such a wonderful feeling when a local tells you how well you speak the
language. Enjoy. You have earned the compliment.
* Picture captions allow access to the sighted impaired.
Picture credit: Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/clker-free-vector-images-3736/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=23713">Clker-Free-Vector-Images</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=23713">Pixabay</a>
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