Originally Posted by
chaika adoc, I meant speech-wise, not heredity. When you move to live in a foreign country, you native accent takes a hit. In college I knew a Greek guy who after a year in the US said he was losing his native language. I have often heard people talk about going back to visit the family in Moscow or somewhere and have them comment on their American accent. That's what I meant by "Americanized."
I've heard people saying that, but it doesn't mean jack. It's their nostalgia or whatever insecurity/personal problems talking. Noone loses their native accent after let's say 15. Noone acquires american accent just like that either. It is physically impossible. How many Russians do you know speaking English without an accent, even having lived in the US for many years? Moreover, an average "Americanized Russian" has a lot better command of Russian than an average "native speaker" for a single stupid reason: he is on average better educated.
FYI, most of the Americanized Russians have difficulties letting it go. This is the reason they whine about forgetting Russian and all this nonsense. American accent? Ha-ha fifteen times. I, for one, would gladly exchange my perfect Russian and imperfect English for perfect English and imperfect French. But there is no way.