So...
Whenever I meet new people, they invariably ask me one or both of the following questions.
1) Where do you get your accent from?
2) Are you Cuban?

When I say I am not Cuban, they get most offended, and when I say I don't have an accent, they tend to leave.
I don't have any idea how I appear Cuban (I am multiracial, mostly Indian and Middle Eastern), nor do I have a remotely Spanish accent (I did not learn Spanish until well into my teens).
But I have no clue how to answer these questions in a way which will not offend...

Originally Posted by Zebedee

So...
Whenever I meet new people, they invariably ask me one or both of the following questions.
1) Where do you get your accent from?
2) Are you Cuban?

When I say I am not Cuban, they get most offended, and when I say I don't have an accent, they tend to leave.
I don't have any idea how I appear Cuban (I am multiracial, mostly Indian and Middle Eastern), nor do I have a remotely Spanish accent (I did not learn Spanish until well into my teens).
But I have no clue how to answer these questions in a way which will not offend...

If people are offended when you say you're not Cuban, that's their problem...I really don't see how that's offensive.

As for your accent, they're asking because they obviously do think you have an accent...you denying it doesn't change that. It's probably a slight accent, but still there...so maybe if you answer them instead of denying it? I don't know...some people have accents because English isn't their native language (even if they were born in an English-speaking country), and others have accents because they grew up hearing people speaking English with a particular accent. You might not hear it, but if a lot of people are asking about it, you probably do.

they shouldn't get offended if you say you are not Cuban. unless maybe you answer them in an offended tone. people respond back to how you react. if you sound offended then they'll take offence.
and if they say you have an accent, then you probably do, its just that when you talk you don't recognize that b/c you are used to your own "accent" so it doesn't seem like an accent to you. i think i used the word accent too many times
besides nothing wrong with having an accent, just makes you unique

Okay, maybe "offended" wasn't the word...more like they think I'm lying or something.
I do realise I seem to speak a little differently than everyone else, but I don't know where the accent comes from...don't know what to say? "I don't know where my accent is from..." :.S

I don't understand why they'd become offended after that :O. But you're not to blame, lol. Perhaps they are just reeeeally sensitive people??

And accents are awesome! I wish I had stronger accent when I speak korean because I kind of sound like a fool without it D:

just say everyone has their own accent, which is true we all speak differently even if English is our first language
i had a friend in elementary school who was born here but he had a Chinese accent we'd all tell him but he would say "i was born here ! " ... btw now i think he got from his parents b/c of starfish's answer

If you speak a language other than English frequently, that's likely where your accent comes from! And accent probably just means that you pronounce certain words or letters/phonemes differently. I know I never thought I had an accent (I thought I was 'neutral'), but then I went in for a psych study where the experimenter immediately picked up on me having one. And lately I've begun to notice that I say certain letters differently because of my second language. So I can understand why you might think you don't have one, but others might.
If you don't speak another language, maybe you're around other people who do? (like starfish said).

Maybe you woke up one day w. foreign accent syndrome and noone close to you had the heart to tell you.

Originally Posted by camelsrfun

Maybe you woke up one day w. foreign accent syndrome and noone close to you had the heart to tell you.

Absolutely. Give me a moment so I can grab a hold of the flying pig, then I'll get back to you.

Foreign accent syndrome is a real thing. Is there another logical reason for a person to have an accent when ostensibly there is no reason for them to have an accent?


Maybe the OP should consult and SLP ?



Someone doesn’t just have an accent for no reason. And odds are the people are asking are more inquisitive and maybe recognize some of the more common accents.


I don’t know anyone who is Canadian born who speaks with anaccent, even when another language is spoken at home. In fact, even the people Iknow that immigrated here under the age of 10 who speak with a discernableaccent even when another language is exclusively spoken at home.

If you are immersed in English and learn to speak it pastabout 11 it is hard to obliterate your accent even if your 1stlanguage is an indo European language. It has to with needing to learn to formthe phonemes with ones mouth prior to a certain age in order to do be able todo it effectively.

Originally Posted by camelsrfun

Foreign accent syndrome is a real thing. Is there another logical reason for a person to have an accent when ostensibly there is no reason for them to have an accent?


Maybe the OP should consult and SLP ?



Someone doesn’t just have an accent for no reason. And odds are the people are asking are more inquisitive and maybe recognize some of the more common accents.


I don’t know anyone who is Canadian born who speaks with anaccent, even when another language is spoken at home. In fact, even the people Iknow that immigrated here under the age of 10 who speak with a discernableaccent even when another language is exclusively spoken at home.

If you are immersed in English and learn to speak it pastabout 11 it is hard to obliterate your accent even if your 1stlanguage is an indo European language. It has to with needing to learn to formthe phonemes with ones mouth prior to a certain age in order to do be able todo it effectively.

That's a gross generalization. I know people who learned English well into their teens, who lived for the first 22-25 years of their lives in non-English speaking countries, English is their third language and yet...no accent.

And then there's me who despite all attempts to be taught to roll r's and exposed to the sound from the time I was born, I couldn't do it if my life depended on it. I have a friend who is Mexican, and he had the same problem even though Spanish was the only language he spoke. He needed SLP help in Mexico to correct it, around the age of four. This same friend then came to Canada at the age of six. He speaks English with a bit of an accent, whereas his twin doesn't. There's no clear-cut age or level of exposure needed in order to have an accent or not have an accent. Some of it also depends on the motivation of the person, but some of it is out of the person's control.

There are innate (genetic) differences in the way an individual person will form sounds. Also it's important to distinguish between a different pattern of speech, and an accent.

I know people who learned English well into their teens, who lived for the first 22-25 years of their lives in non-English speaking countries, English is their third language and yet...no accent.

When we're young our brains have the ability to recognize and pronounce many different phonemes. However, with time, our brain prunes these connections if we're not using them. It's why some ESL Asians are terrible at differentiating Rs from Ls. There are a bunch of pub med articles about this that I'm too lazy to drag up at the moment.

Hence in many cases there is an age-related degradation associated with learning languages and this can lead to accents. It's likely a combination of factors (genes, age, etc.).

Originally Posted by Lois

When we're young our brains have the ability to recognize and pronounce many different phonemes. However, with time, our brain prunes these connections if we're not using them. It's why some ESL Asians are terrible at differentiating Rs from Ls. There are a bunch of pub med articles about this that I'm too lazy to drag up at the moment.

Hence in many cases there is an age-related degradation associated with learning languages and this can lead to accents. It's likely a combination of factors (genes, age, etc.).
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It definitely is a combination...I was just pointing out that the post that I had quoted was a huge generalization, and it's not as clear-cut as camelsrfun made it sound.

Even taking your example...I know two Chinese women (well, I know more than two, but I'm using them as examples ). Both of them came to Canada at the age of eleven, and both speak only Mandarin at home. One of them speaks English with no discernible accent whatsoever, while the other one has a very thick accent. The point I was trying to make is that age at which you learned a language is not the sole determinant of whether or not you'll have an accent, or how strong your accent will be.