Let's say that an Mexican is living in Spain with his Spanish wife, or French Canadian is living in France with her French husband, something like that.
How much will the different accent of the minority parent affect the pronunciation of the child?Can the accent of one parent affect the pronunciation of a child?
It does indeed depend on which parent spends more time with the child. Many years ago, one of my neighbors had a son. She's from Taiwan and has a very heavy accent. I'm not sure where her husband is from, but his accent is much lighter. She had already had a daughter who her husband had raised. This daughter speaks perfect, unaccented English.
When her son was born though, she had left her job and spent time at home raising him. He developed a very heavy Chinese accent and was actually put in ESL when he started school even though English was the only language he spoke.
A friend of mine also has a daughter whose native language is French (she and her husband are from France). Both parents work and their daughter is being watched by a Russian woman during the day. I hear all the time that she speaks French with a bizarre Russian accent!Can the accent of one parent affect the pronunciation of a child?
yes, i have seen it happen, even if the child is one language speaker, can pick up the pronunciation like one parent. Teachers need to understand its not done on purpose, but can't be helped. I think for this reason some parents may stop speaking their native tongue to child in say an English speaking country. This might be done to stop confusion in school. Its hard when you are going up around two languages when your young for some.
It won't affect them.
I was born and raised in Canada to two West Indian parents.
and I sound like a Canadian when I talk...the only time you may hear me talk with a slight West Indian accent is when I'm around my parents...when I'm not..all you hear is my Canadian accent.
depends with whom the child spends most of their time with. Mom or dad?
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