Thread: Quick Question

Would a Russian child- if they moved to the States at five years old while still continuing to speak Russian as well as English- still have an accent or would it be gone forever and be replaced by an American accent?

Originally Posted by strawberryfynch

Would a Russian child- if they moved to the States at five years old while still continuing to speak Russian as well as English- still have an accent or would it be gone forever and be replaced by an American accent?

I think the child would speak with an American accent (and his Russian would have traces of the American accent as well).

У всех по-разному. Большинство детей теряют русский или говорят с сильным акцентом.

Originally Posted by strawberryfynch

Would a Russian child- if they moved to the States at five years old while still continuing to speak Russian as well as English- still have an accent or would it be gone forever and be replaced by an American accent?

In my experience of children of Russians growing up in America in bi-lingual households, they end up speaking American-inflected English with no accent at all. This is true (again, in my experience) as long as they are younger than, say, 16 or 17. Any older and they always have a slightly (or not so slightly) detectable accent.

It's harder for me to judge their Russian, but my impression from native speakers is that they also speak Russian with little or no accent, as long as they are required to speak it regularly at home.

Даже взрослые молодые люди (студенты), приехавшие из США после полугода обучения\жизни в семье говорят по-русски с нелепыми американскими интонациями и явным акцентом (который они пытаются сохранить, как сувенир на память). То же самое с российскими корреспондентами, постоянно вещающими из-за границы - почти у всех слышно влияние местного наречия.

Originally Posted by Leof

То же самое с российскими корреспондентами, постоянно вещающими из-за границы - почти у всех слышно влияние местного наречия.

Кстати, да. У них такаааая странная интонация появляется.

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Leof

То же самое с российскими корреспондентами, постоянно вещающими из-за границы - почти у всех слышно влияние местного наречия.

Кстати, да. У них такаааая странная интонация появляется.

Это от постоянных улыбок.

Originally Posted by Leof

Даже взрослые молодые люди (студенты), приехавшие из США после полугода обучения\жизни в семье говорят по-русски с нелепыми американскими интонациями и явным акцентом ...

100%. Очень часто это замечаю!
Even (many) adults (!) after spending 4-7 years abroad start speaking with a very noticable accent. So I'm almost sure that the said child would speak in Russian with a strong (or, less likely, slight) American accent, since the main source of Russian for him/her are the parents, and they can adopt an American accent too, and pretty fast.

The less educated these people are, the faster they forget proper Russian pronuciation, and even grammar! (It's a fact, there was a research on the matter)

большой благодаря всем вам!

If they lived with their Family (mom dad babsuhka, sister) who all still spoke Russian as well, How would they develop such a horrible accent? In my experiences, in most cases no. But everyone is different.

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

If they lived with their Family (mom dad babsuhka, sister) who all still spoke Russian as well, How would they develop such a horrible accent? In my experiences, in most cases no. But everyone is different.

In fact usually it's very easy to notice a person who lived abroad for a long time (even if his/her native language is Russian and he/she speaks in English with Russain accent). Most of these people have very unnatural, 'foreign' intonations (for example, their tone goes up at the end of thr sentence, etc.).

Maybe it's because Russian is more uniform, than English (or German, or any other language with many dialects and pronuciations), and for Russian native speakers ear even this subtle 'accent' is very noticable, marking a speaker as a 'foreigner'.

PS. But I've seen a 14-16 y/o girl, who lived from the very yearly age (3 y/o, I think) in UK, and spoke perfect Russian. But I'm sure her parents put an extraeffort to achieve this result, and she visited Russia occasionally as a child.

Originally Posted by strawberryfynch

большое спасибо всем вам!

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by strawberryfynch

большое спасибо всем вам!

Моя ошибка... Я всегда делаю ту ошибку! ugh..

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

In fact usually it's very easy to notice a person who lived abroad for a long time (even if his/her native language is Russian and he/she speaks in English with Russain accent). Most of these people have very unnatural, 'foreign' intonations (for example, their tone goes up at the end of thr sentence, etc.).

I remember I heard Maria Sharapova speak Russian awhile ago in an interview. She didn't have an accent, but definitely spoke funny.

"Типа like uhm я выиграла, и like на бабки разжилась uhm типа Nike мне круто башляет! Хехехе!!!!"

Типа того ?!

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

"Типа like uhm я выиграла, и like на бабки разжилась uhm типа Nike мне круто башляет! Хехехе!!!!"

Does she really speak like that? Уж0с.
But I can't hear an accent through the text, so the answer is "I don't know".

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

"Типа like uhm я выиграла, и like на бабки разжилась uhm типа Nike мне круто башляет! Хехехе!!!!"

Does she really speak like that? Уж0с.
But I can't hear an accent through the text, so the answer is "I don't know".

No, she doesn't! Actually, I had this conversation with Olya a couple of months ago, and she says that Sharapova sounds more or less normal when she speaks Russian, but with a slightly "odd" intonation.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

"Типа like uhm я выиграла, и like на бабки разжилась uhm типа Nike мне круто башляет! Хехехе!!!!"

Does she really speak like that? Уж0с.
But I can't hear an accent through the text, so the answer is "I don't know".

I don't remember But sure, why not. I'm sure theres some interviews with her on youtube.

Originally Posted by strawberryfynch

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by strawberryfynch

большое спасибо всем вам!

Моя ошибка... Я всегда делаю эту ошибку! ugh..

Твоя, твоя, чья же ещё.))
В общем, в таких случаях лучше писать не "моя ошибка", а что-то вроде "да, ошиблась", "ошиблась, признаю". В крайнем случае "виновата" (ИМХО).

Originally Posted by Zaya

В общем, в таких случаях лучше писать не "моя ошибка", а что-то вроде "ошиблась, признаю", "виновата", "виновата, исправлюсь".

виноват, исправлюсь? :o у нас чё тут армия чтоль :)
сделать ошибку и быть виноватым несколько разные вещи.

Originally Posted by net surfer

Originally Posted by Zaya

В общем, в таких случаях лучше писать не "моя ошибка", а что-то вроде "ошиблась, признаю", "виновата", "виновата, исправлюсь".

виноват, исправлюсь? у нас чё тут армия чтоль
сделать ошибку и быть виноватым несколько разные вещи.

Так в шутку тоже говорят.
Предложи что-нибудь другое, я ведь не против.
А fault в my fault (если калька оттуда) -- не ошибка, а именно вина.