I have been living in the US for about 10 years now and I know that I have got (unfortunately?) an accent in BOTH languages. For those of you who are in the same boat as me, do you ever wonder how much of an accent do you have? Can you hear yourself that well so that you can tell? On a scale 1 to 10 ( 1 = the least amount of accent), are you like a ‘2’ when it comes to Czech and like a ‘5’ when it comes to English?
In case you would like to compare your Czech accents, I have attached a YouTube video of Petra Nemcova, a world-known Czech top model. Petra has left her home in Karvina (CR) also about 10 years ago and both of her accents are quite noticeable. However, one must also count it the fact that she may be quite nervous during her interviews, hence her accent gets stronger.
CZ: Protoze ziji v USA jiz pres 10 let, mam (bohuzel?) prizvuk v obou jazycich – jak v cestine, tak v anglictine. Ti z vas, co jsou v podobne situaci, premyslite nekdy o tom, do jake miry ten prizvuk vlatne mate? Slysite sami sebe dostatecne na to, abyste to mohli posoudit? A jakou ‘znamku’ od 1 do 10 (1 = skoro zadny prizvuk) byste si vubec dali? Mozna ‘2’ z ceskeho prizvuku a ‘5’ za anglicky prizvuk?
Zkuste si vas prizvuk porovnat treba s topmodelkou Petrou Nemcovou – ma ho docela znatelny v obou jazycich. Musite k tomu ale take pridat jeji tremu (jestli nejakou vubec jeste ma), ktera ji par prizvukovych ‘bodiku’ zrejme pridala…
Here is Petra Nemcova’s Czech accent (pretty strong):
Here is Petra’s English accent (not that strong):
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I have NO american accent is English and NO czech accent in Czech ..
So I am one of few who can say they have no accents 🙂
BTW, foreign accents are in nowadays, so don’t get rid of it, it will make you a distinguished member of American society … I always admired Arnold Schwazenegger and I want to be like him :))
Great posting Tanja! I am here also for ten years and I am better with my Czech now because I have a small son and I am talking to him only in Czech. And I speak with my family over Skype quite often. But it is true when I go home to Czech Republic it takes me couple days not to sound “weird”. English is a different story. I gave up on my accent. I have one and I will have it forever 🙂
Vlastik is lucky he is accent-less 😉 I also have an accent but they say that it is only a slight one (they may be lying though to make me feel better). And Ladka, you are right, my Czech has improved ever since I started practicing speaking it with my daughter but there is a downfall; I think that my English accent is a little stronger now 🙂 I mean, downfall….is that really a ‘downfall’ like what Vlastik suggested? Maybe it’s a plus!!
Ladka,
be proud of your accent. Remember, the real “americans” are foreigners…
It was foreigners who built this beautiful country.
It is us who are the pioneers !!!!!
I have been in Australia for 23 yrs (oh my god I can’t beleive it’s been that long)- And I still have a Czech accent in English. I think its slight – my husband says it’s medium – but he loves it. However it has definitely gotten stronger since I started speaking to my babygirl in Czech. I definitely have Aussie accent in Czech. I think because Czech and English are so fundementaly different, you get into a mode of thinking in that language and than its hard to switch as we tend to translate which is always akward.
Ahoj Paulina, co delaji klokani?
Vzdy, kdyz prijedu do Prahy (jednou za 6-8 let)
tak se posledni dobou bojim otverit pusu. Ja si myslim, ze zadny prizvuk nemam, ale zbytek Ceske republiky thinks otherwise.
Dokonce si lidi o me septali (dobry pritel mi to pak rekl), ze ze sebe delam frajera… Tak kdyz jsem v Cesku, snazim se byt zticha a mluvit ocima ….
ja si nemuzu pomoc, ale me prijde, ze v anglictine nema takovy ten “typicky” prizvuk v anglictine, jako tady slychavam (sem exchange studentka v USA).. ale kazdopadne ovlada lip anglictinu nez cestinu, to je videt. ale ten prizvuk v anglictine mi fakt prijde zvlastni 🙂 me lidi tady rikaji, ze v anglictine skoro prizvuk nemam. dokonce dneska mi jedna holka rekla, ze kdyz sem ji tuhle neco rikala, myslela si, ze na ni mluvi nejaky american 🙂 talent 😀
Ja jsem v US pet let a vim, ze prizvuk mam, sice hrozne malej, ale je tam. Lidi rikaji, ze je “cute” :). Kdyz nekomu volam, prizvuk mam silnejsi. A kdyz pak prijedu do CR, ze zacatku mluvim trosku divne, ale dost rychle se to ztrati. Problem mam spis se slovickama, obcas si proste nemuzu vzpomenout, jak se neco rekne cesky a naopak.
Ja osobne si nemyslim, ze je to proto, ze cestina a anglictina jsou tak odlisne jazyky, moje maminka je z Bulharska a v CR zije skoro 40 let a porad ma trosku prizvuk!
Ilca, jestli jses exchange student a rikaji, ze nemas prizvuk, tak bud jse veliky talent anebo ten, kdo ti to rika, je pokrytec a nebo starsne zdvorily
Andrea,
moje babicka byla Nemka a i kdyz mluvila cesky dobre,
porad, kdyz jsem byl u ni na navsteve, tak jsem si myslel, ze jsem v Bavorsku …za cely zivot se nezbavila prizvuku, i kdyz ji dedecek zakazal mluvit nemecky s detmi (bylo po valce, cestina byl vitezny jazyk:) a tedy mluvila porad cesky…
Jestli jses tady pet let a mas “cute” prizvuk, tak jsi asi prisla, kdyz to bylo tak 15, ze?
Ja jsem prisel do USA, kdyz mi bylo 40, a mne zenske rikaji, ze mam “cute” prizvuk, muzi me rikaji, ze mam “thick” prizvuk, za coz jsem se urazel, protoze jsem si myslel, ze rikaji, ze mam “sick” prizvuk
Ahoj, no to jses sikovna, ze takhle dobre ovladas anglictinu. Je zajimavy, ze kdyz bych rekla nekomu jen jednu vetu, tak by se Americani rozplyvali: “You don’t have any accent!!”, ale jakmile povidam prihodu (neco delsiho), tak je to hned poznat 🙂
Jo a taky jsem parkrat dostala koment, jestli pry jsem Svedka (!!), tak jsem se cela zapyrila :))) (prijde mi ze Svedove maji moc krasny prizvuk), a rekla jsem ze srandy, ze teda Svedka jsem, ale pak jsem taky rychle zmizela, aby se me nezacali ptat, “what are the bet sightseeing places in Sweden”, nebo “How is ‘our’ Queen doing”…… 🙂
Tanja,
ahoj krajanko! Ja jsem ze Svedska 🙂 Jinak Svedove maji asi 5 vyraznych prizvuku :)) Zalezi na oblasti…
Kdyby si lidi mysleli , ze jses Svedka, urcite by se te ptali na jine veci nez sightseeing:)))
Je opravdu zajimave, jak ten prizvuk s nami roste az do hrobu, vid?
Se mnou je to to same – taky mam problem se slovicky; ten prvni den v Cechach je opravdu krusny…
Ja se slovicky problem nemam, whatever comes to my minds, vyigrivajet
Vlastimile,
do USA jsem prijela, kdyz mi bylo 27, ale ja mela vyhodu, anglictinu jsem studovala uz od 13cti. Taky mam celkem “talent” ma jazyky. Zato na matiku jsem tvrda 🙂
Andrea,
kazdy mame neco, ja byl vzdy talent na matiku, cisla to bylo vzdy moje, hlavne kdyz je pred tim cislem preskrtnute S, ale s prizvukama ve vsech jazycich co umim, to vazne…:))
Ve 13 letech jsem lezl po stromech, kradl sousedum jahody a kdyz jsem poslouchal nekoho z Olomuca, tak jsem byl hrdej, ze rozumim cizimu jazyku 🙂
Ale ted vazne, nekdo proste ma talent a zbytek ma dano od Boha.
Uplny souhlas.
A odkud to vlastne puvodne jsi? Kvuli tomu Olomoucu…ja su totiz z Brna 🙂
Andrea, ja su z Prahy 🙂 Tedy z male vesnicky vedle Prahy, kde jsem prozil statsne destvi a pak par roku jsem bydlel v Praze…z Olomouce jsem znal kamaradku
meho kamarada ….
Andrea, moje “deti” (28 a 32) taky uz nemaji znatelny prizvuk….Dcera bydli v North Carolina, kde ji obcas vynadaji , ze je Yankee a synovi obcas reknou (dydli v NJ) , ze je asi z Kanady, eh?
Moji sefove se lidi ptaji, odkud ze to jsem…nekdy jim sefova rekne ze jsem z Kansasu, nekdy jsem z Canady…obcas jsem z Hugo Boss, Versace nebo Vera Wang…a lidi (rural Oklahoma) tomu veri. fakt, nedelam si srandu.
Andrea, verim ti, ……
Kdyz jsem kupoval benzin v nejakem zapadakove v South Carolina, tak se me prodavac zeptal, odkud jsem, ze mam prizvuk (nevim, proc se ptal, nic spatneho jsem mu neudelal :)) Ja mu rekl, ze jsem z New Jersey, a on se divil, ze New Jerseysky prizvuk se tak lisi od jejich :)) Sednul na lep :))
Hi everyone. I’ve been living in US since 2000 and I talk to my parents maybe cpl of times a month and I can definately hear my stuttering trying to find the words in czech. I don’t think i have accent in czech, since it’s my mother language, but you can hear the odd flow of my sentences, my grammar. It’s been long time since I thought in Czech, my brain processes in English so when im speaking in czech i translate from english in my brain. With Petra, i heard her speak in english, she knows her stuff, i think it’s just her personality the way she speaks, she looks and acts shy, which i like. even after so many years she doesn’t have that arrogant approach. me in english, people tell me i barely have czech accent but they can still hear it sometimes, but mainly I can hear it!!! not trying to get rid of it, i don’t think i want to though!!
Accent also includes the intonation of the language and one of my Czech friends told me that I ‘sing’ Czech a bit :))
PS: you don’t think Petra is stuck up? I just don’t know about her….I have a feeling she is trying to act cute (to get the cuteness points) but to me she just comes out as annoying. But than again, this is the first video that I saw of her so I would need to ‘research’ her more 🙂
Tanja,
I could not care less whether Petra is stuck up or not. Is it the photo model whose parents could not afford to buy here shoes during commies times?
I am not sure is it her or not, but either her or some other beauty said that she had to wear the same shoes several years, that’s why her feet were small…Maybe she was sarcastic?
actually I wanted to say “I could care less”…
Me, stupid Bohemian :))
I don’t know, if that’s her. But she is the one who survided the Tsunami way back when, remember? Her model boyfriend died there and she was stuck, hanging off of a tree branch for hours until someone saved her?
ok, then it is her…
Strucne.
Je to trapas. Cela tahle debata. Slecna Nemcova. Na co si hraje? Z biologickeho hlediska existuje bod, kdy uz se clovek sveho prirozeneho prizvuku, nikdy, do konce zivota nezbavi. Muze ho potlacovat, maskovat, zcasti odbourat.. pripady, kdy Ivan Lendl poskytoval rozhovory a ‘malem zadal reportery, jestli by nemohl odpovidat anglicky’, jsou smesne. Stejne tak Petra Nemcova. Verim tomu, ze je mozne se naucit cizi jazyk tak, aby domorodec nepoznal, ze jsem v dane zemi nevyrustal, nicmene, zapomenout svou materstinu je nesmysl. Cele mi to prijde pokrytecke a falesne, hrani si na neco…!!! Studuju anglickou lingvistiku v Londyne, trosku se temato vecma zabyvam, a nekdy se musim stydet, jako napr. pri videu Uvolnete se, prosim s P. N. Taky pracuju s jazykem, taky si hraji s prizvuky, taky se me casto ptaji, jestli jsem ze Skotska anebo Geordie z Newcastlu, ale jsem si jist, ze Cestinu se opravdu nebudu muset ucit odznova. Ach jo. No, strucneji to neslo. Honza
ps. P.N. ten bod ocividne a hlavne usislysne propasla!!!
Ahoj Honzo,
Nemcova to mozna s tim prizvukem trosku prehani (prehrava), ale muzu ti rict – z me vlastni zkusenosti – ze neni tezke zapomenout rodnou mluvu. Je to jednoduche; kdyz nemas moznost nejaky ten cas s nikym mluvit cesky, tak to proste zapomenes. A cim vic zapominas, tim vic se citis blbe tim svym rodnym jazykem mluvit a hlubina se prohlubuje. Poznala jsem spoustu super Cechu, kteri emigrovali v 60. letech a komunikuji s okolim pouze anglicky.
Nemyslim, ze bych zapomel cestinu ( a to jsem z CR uz od 1982), ale opravdu je to nekdy tezke rici neco spravne a nekomolit vety…. Obecne vzato, cetsinu ovladam nejlepe, ale v kazdodennich situacich , treba kdyz mluvim o pocitacich, politice, danich a korupci, tak mi to cesky vubec nejde… Je zajimave, ze nekolik mesicu pred tim, nez moje babicka (nemeckeho puvodu) umrela, tak zapomela cesky a mluvila jen nemecky …. Takze mam nadeji, ze ma cestina se nekdy zlepsi 😉
Tak jsem si poslechl Petru Nemkovou jeste jednou a myslim, ze jeji anglictina je velice dobra, a a cesky zrejme zapomela, protoze jak musela za komousu nosit nekolik let stejne boty (jelikoz jeji rodice si nemohli dovolit ji koupit nove boty), tak asi jak ty nohy nemohly rust, tak ji rostly primo do mozku (k tomuto zaveru jsem prisel, kdyz jsem studobal teorii spojenych nadob)….A ja nosil boty po tatovy, tak s tou cestinou jsem na tom dobre 🙂
Uznavam, ze pokud clovek emigroval v 60. letech, to mame sumasumarum nejakych 50 let zivota v emigraci, do vlasti se pravdepodobne za celou tu dobu nepodival, aby ho komunisti nezavreli, a svou materstinu po celou tu dobu pouzival minimalne, jestli vubec, je sance, ze zapomnel mluvit plynule a satra po slovickach…Bohuzel, v pripade Petry Nemcove trvam na svem! Ta holka tvrdi, ze vyjela pred 10 lety. Nepredpokladam, ze by po ten cas zila v nejake izolaci, i kdyby neprichazela do styku s zadnymi Cechy, o cemz silne pochybuju, v dobe informacnich technologii, medii a internetu..nesmysl!! Poza! Stejne tak nedavno jedna slovenska servirka v restauraci. Ve stylu Petry N. a s afektovanym prizvukem a durazem na ‘anglicke -r-‘, omluvila se za sve nedokonale vyjadrovani se slovy..’Prepacte moju slovencinu’…nakonec z ni vypadlo, ze je tu asi 2 roky!!!…Prokristapana :))) dneska se tim bavivame u piva;)
I´ve got, funnily enough, a Scottish accent in English. I´ve got the musical ear and pick up accents really easily plus I think that Scottish accents are the easiest accents to pronounce for Czech speakers. I don´t think it´s particularly strong and I for sure don´t sound nowhere near as Scottish as for example Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting but I was told a couple of times that I sound a bit like Amy Macdonald, which always pleases me. And yes, I do find it difficult to find the right word in Czech after being away for some time. But I usually get back into it quite easily. Fortunately, though, my Scottish husband is learning Czech (he´s afraid of me having a secret language with our future kids:)) and I´m constantly in touch with my family so I guess (and hope) I´ll never forget Czech. I´ll try my best not to.
Daniela, you are in the same boat as most of us here. Struggling to keep the Czech language going!! It get’s easier when you have kids because then you talk to them in Czech most of the time. So good luck with everything!
They tell me I sound like Dracula!! And they love it! 😉 I live in Scotland. I have also picked up some Scots dialect, so English peeps won’t understand me well when I use it. That is quite funny. 🙂 Scots uses many ther own words that are not common in English.
I moved tae Scotland from America and had to learn tae talk like them. Coz I wus jus a wee bairn an was made fun of. Then I came back and me mother asked ‘is that my lassie?’ Eh Dinnae ken what ye talkin’ boot! Ye wunt to stairt speakin’ Scots!
Haha Martino, that’s funny Dracula!!! With all of those vampire movies being in style, I think you may be quite the hit of the party 🙂
I’ve always thought Petra Nemcova must be faking her bad Czech. I mean, sure she’s been away for a really long time but her family are still Czech and surely she talks to them every now and again. I don’t believe one can actually forget their mother tongue, or get such a horrible foreign accent (plus she still sounds foreign in English as well!) and especially when they’re still in touch with it in one way or another.
Yes, that interview was embarrassing. I don’t know what would be worse. If she was faking it or if she didn’t.
sice je uz je to nejaka doba co sem nekdo napsal ale vazne doufam ze si to nekdo precte, pisete tady jak jste v usa/uk/au/ca X let jako pan vlastik kterej je v us od 1982 a je naprosto bez accentu ale stejne neumi poradne psat anglicky, jak to? a ne jenom on.
zit v anglicky mluvici zemi X let a stejne umet hovno, prijde mi to jako docela popularni trend mezi cechama
ian, nerekl jsem, ze umim hovno….Kolegum americanum opravuji documenty a ucim je, jak se spravne vyjadrovat, aby to znelo profesionalne…. A nerekl jsem, ze jsem v USA od 1982 roku…
jsou i jine zeme, kde se da zit…Mimochodem umim 5 jazyku, i kdyz ne perfektne….Kolik jazyku umis ty?
Ja mluvim plynule cesky, svedsky, rusky, anglicky , trochu hure polsky, domluvim se nemecky, rozumim 95% ukrajinstiny, 100% slovenstiny …
C’est pas mal? Ques’qe tu pense?? (zam\pomel jsem jeste ze mam zakladni znalosti francouzstimy) ..
A ted mi IAN, rekni, kdo umi hovno… Om du ar sa smart, jag ar sacker att du forstar vad jag skriver …
Ian, psal jsem : “I have NO american accent is English and NO czech accent in Czech ..”…
kde jsem psal,z e jsem naprosto bez accentu? Vis, ja vydelavam penize tim, ze pouzivam svuj mozek kazdy den v narocnych situacich, ale jak ctu tvuj prisepvek, k cemu ten mozek pouzivas ty?
ian,
psal si: “je naprosto bez accentu ale stejne neumi poradne psat anglicky, jak to?”……
Vetsina Cechu umi mluvit cesky bez accentu, ale psat spravne cesky neumi…
Nepise se “poradne psat anglicky” ale podle pravidel ceskeho pravopisu to je “spravne psat anglicky”…
Slovo “poradne” je odvozeno od slova poradek, nema to nic spolecneho s tim jestli pises “correct English”, nebo ne..
Mimochodem, jsem si vedom, ze delam chyby , budu rad, kdyz si vzdy prectes muj prispevek a opravis ho. Rad se poucim, jsem si vedom, ze mnoho lidi ovlada aglictinu “poradneji” nez ja..
Ja jsem potkala Petru Nemcovou asi před 2 lety v SF a myslím si, ze je spíše víc nervózní když je v televizi. Naživo měla menší accent i v češtině i v angličtině. Myslím si ze všichni co tu žijeme někdy chytneme trosku accent i v češtině.. Lidé by to neměli kritizovat.