I’ve noticed that kids seem to pick up a new language effortlessly. What’s even crazier is that they don’t just learn the words and grammar, they also absorb the native accent without even trying.
This always makes me wonder: can we, as adults, ever really speak a new language with a native accent? Or are our mouths so shaped by our mother tongues that it becomes nearly impossible to lose that original accent?
The older we get, the more our mouths and vocal habits settle into the patterns of our first language. By adulthood, we’ve formed an accent that clings on stubbornly, no matter how hard we try to shake it.
Which brings me to a question that’s been on my mind a lot lately: if our first language physically conditions our mouths, can we still fully mimic a native accent through imitation and practice alone?”
This thought hit me particularly hard when I realized that most of my French learning so far has focused heavily on grammar and spelling, with barely any attention paid to pronunciation.
After nearly a year and a half of speaking French, there are still sounds I just can’t seem to pronounce correctly. R, E, and U still trip me up every time.
Learning to pronounce the French “R” has been the most mind-numbing part. Sometimes it feels like the sound is blocked in my throat, and no matter how many times I try, nothing happens. It’s the kind of frustration that could easily bring a tear or two.
Then there’s the E that I keep pronouncing like the English O. The U that somehow turns into “iew.” The strangest part? I don’t even notice when I do it. It just sounds normal to me.
And that’s what makes it even more frustrating: mispronunciations slip by me without warning. I only realize them when someone else points them out.
I’ve gotten my fair share of criticism about my accent from people bold enough to call me out on it. The funny part is, I can’t even tell where my accent comes from. Is it English? Swahili? Some strange mix of both? Honestly, I have no idea.
To make things worse, my jaw gets tired when I try to pronounce French words “the right way.” It starts to feel sore after a while. So eventually, I give in and default to what feels natural. That is, speaking French the way my mouth already knows how to speak Swahili and English, blending the pronunciations together.
At one point, I even considered mimicking French speakers exactly, like maybe I could fake it until I made it. But it turns out, it’s really not that simple.
I used to think I’d be good to go once I mastered the grammar and vocabulary. I didn’t realize that pronunciation would be its separate mountain to climb, one waiting quietly near the finish line.
Still, despite the challenges, I’d love to learn another language. I keep bouncing between Spanish and Italian. Spanish is practical as it’s widely spoken across the globe. But Italian? I just love it.
But every time I seriously consider starting a new language, I hear this voice in my head asking, “Am I ready?” in a South African accent.
Because here’s the thing: when you’re learning a new language, some days are golden. You’re acing conversations, expressing your thoughts, everything flows. And then other days hit, your brain short-circuits, your grammar crumbles, and you sound worse than a toddler just learning to speak.
And that’s when the doubts creep in. Am I actually progressing… or just stuck?
Learning a new language is such an interesting journey, and with the world becoming a global village, more people are choosing to take that step now than ever before.
But I keep circling back to this question: can adults really learn a foreign language and speak it with a native’s accent? And even more importantly, should accents really be the benchmark for fluency?
