Second Language Idioms

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Jeff from Paris, France.

Well, hi, Jeff.

How are you doing?

Welcome to the show.

Hi, how are you?

Okay.

What can we do for you?

Well, I’ve always been fascinated with languages, and especially the learning process of language, and I was wondering if you guys think that it’s possible to ever reach the same level of proficiency in a foreign language as a native speaker when you start learning the language from scratch.

That’s a really great question.

Yeah, at what age?

Yeah, that’s always the answer. What age do you start?

Well, as far as I’m concerned, I started learning English when I was 11 years old. I’ve been told that unless you start really listening to the language when you’re a baby, you’ll never really sound authentic.

That’s a really good question. Most people say that if you learn the language before the age of 10, you have a chance of speaking it so that a native can’t tell that it’s not your first language. If you want to be perfectly bilingual, I mean perfectly, you really need to start learning it before about the age of four.

Of course, these are ballpark numbers that just depends on the individual. But in general, in the aggregate, those are pretty good age markers.

So you’re saying that you started learning at about 11?

That’s right.

Yeah, and so you are a native French speaker.

That’s right.

Because I know that in French, I mean, you can tell straight away if a person is a native speaker or not. But I was thinking because in English you have so many different accents that maybe it was not as easy for a native speaker to tell whether you’re native or not.

Well, French has a tremendous number of accents as well. There is a few accents, but I was thinking in English, you know, Canada, the U.S., UK, Australia, maybe you have even more accents.

Jeff, did you learn English in school then, or did you have somebody in your family who was an English speaker?

No, I don’t have any native parents in my family. Both my parents are French, and I started learning when I was 11, and then I majored in English in university, and I’m an English teacher, literature teacher, actually.

Oh, very good. Yeah, you sound great.

Yeah, I was going to say, you don’t sound like most French people I know who speak English.

All right. Would you be able to tell?

I think I would. I’ve heard a couple things. I think you gave yourself away on your nasals.

Oh, that’s right.

This is something that the French do very well and the Americans, at least, and usually the British do very poorly. Americans tend to get their French nasals badly, but it’s a strong difference.

Yeah, but I’m hearing a lot of things that are right.

Yeah.

I mean, what we’re talking about is something really subtle, but it tends to be more idioms anyway, doesn’t it?

Yeah, that’s definitely where you’re going to get caught up. It’s when what we take as normal everyday expressions kind of stump the onlooker, you know? Or even a lot of times, we’ve talked about this on the show before, prepositions tend to be a giveaway.

Oh, gosh.

When somebody’s trying to learn English or when an English speaker is trying to learn another language.

Yeah.

But you, I mean, just in this short conversation, you sound pretty good. And you’re probably a great teacher because of it, because you’re giving your students an accent that they can emulate, and that’s probably good for them.

Well, thank you.

Because, you know, I was thinking about idioms and idioms and expressions you can probably learn in a book. But in accent, I mean, it’s a lot harder to pick up.

You know, I’ve traveled a lot and I’ve probably picked up a lot of different accents along the way. So, you know, I learned English watching televisions, watching movies. But, you know, I’ve never really stayed in one place for a long period of time.

And you’ve traveled in the United States then?

A little bit, yeah.

And what about in the UK? Because it’s funny, you mainly sound American to me. There’s something happening with your R in words like harder that kind of gives you away as a non-American speaker.

But I wouldn’t automatically notice whether or not you were a—I wouldn’t think of you as a French speaker automatically. Or as you suggested, the ends of words like accent, the nasal.

Yeah, the nasal, yeah. It’s really interesting.

So it’s funny. Do your students come to you and want you to teach them British English or American English, or do they care?

Well, actually, I teach them in international high school. So the kids are from a lot of different places, the U.K., Australia, and America. And, well, you know, they all have a lot of different accents. And I don’t think they have a clue where I’m from, really.

Oh, I see.

They know I sound American, but they don’t have a clue where exactly I’m from in the U.S.

I’m sorry. I misunderstood. You’re teaching French to English speakers. You’re not teaching English to French speakers.

Well, actually, I’m teaching both English as a language to French speakers and also English literature to, well, bilingual kids, basically.

Oh, wonderful. Very good.

Sounds like a great pastime. How do you like the work?

Oh, well, I love English. I mean, my job is my passion.

Wonderful.

Well, Jeff, I think you need to come over this way and travel around the country and pick up some more accents.

All right.

Thank you, sir, for calling. Good luck in Paris.

Thank you for having me.

All right, sure.

Bye-bye.

Thanks a lot.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

We’d like to hear about your encounters with foreign languages, 877-929-9673, or email us. The address is words@waywordradio.org.