An Accent Waiting to Happen

It's fair to say that accents are very distinct cultural and geographical identifiers. In the UK, it is easy to tell whether a person is from England or Scotland just from their accent. Similarly, it is also easy for a native English speaker to distinguish between other native speakers and those who have learned it as a foreign language, just on accent alone.

If I was taken into the centre of Amsterdam tomorrow and attempted to talk to the locals in Dutch (assuming I was fluent, which I am certainly not yet!), they would instantly know they were talking to a foreigner without knowing anything about me.

This is the main reason I'm writing this post. Since I started studying Nederlands in February, I have struggled most of all with pronunciation. Even though a lot of Dutch words are similar or even identical to English, the pronunciations, especially of the vowels, is extremely different.

This has been my biggest frustration up to now, as I can hear myself and know I sound so alien to the native speakers I'm trying to imitate in my audio files. Even though I can hear how they are pronouncing words, when I try to do the same my tongue feels like it has a mind of its own and I end up in a horrible muddle.

Forunately, I'm told this is only natural as my brain has only ever known English speech patterns until now. Because my English knowledge is so deeply set in my memory, when I try to speak Dutch my subconscious is telling me, "No, Josh, you are English and that is not how we pronounce vowels."

I realise I will never sound like a native Dutch speaker completely. If I get chance to live in the Netherlands and immerse myself in their language and culture, I will undoubtedly pick up a twang and at least sound less alien to them, but they will always know I have a different mother tongue.

A good example of this is Wigan football manager Roberto Martinez. Despite being Spanish (which you can tell just by listening to him speak) he has an undoubted hint of northernness which highlights his time in that part of the world.

Maybe in time, I'll record myself trying to speak Dutch and post it on here, but unless I improve I may be too embarrassed to even attempt it. Wish me luck, folks!

Tot de volgende keer!