Can a child be brought up bilingual with no accent?

Question

My son is going to be born and raised in Spain. I'm English and my wife is Spanish. We plan to use only English at home all the time.

Will my son be able to speak English without a strong spanish accent? thanks.

Answer 1

My sister Aaliyah is the only child in our family born in the US. She speaks Castellano like she is from Argentina and her English is very American.

From an English perspective she sounds American, from a Spanish, she sounds Argentinian.

I've noticed the Japanese girls in my neighborhood speak Japanese like their parents and English like an American, too.

Answer 2

I know from personal experience that a lot of my cousins (Chinese people who grew up in Canada) speak Chinese with no accent.

I, however, can't speak Chinese anymore - I can only listen. =/

Answer 3

Your child will probably speak English like his English model which are you, his parents. He will also be able to speak Spanish like a native. Both of my children were in dual language programs. My daughter speaks English beautifully. I was her English language model. Her Spanish did have a Mexican accent to it even though we are Puerto Rican, because her Spanish language models were Mexican. Congratulations on your future bilingual son!

Answer 4

If he's raised in spain, he'll most likely speak in a spanish accent,

but it probably won't be very strong.

Answer 5

I'm Argentinian both my parents are british, whenever I travel to visit my grandparents, everybody is surprised about my english. People tells me I have no accent at all.

I believe it also depends on your wife's accent

Answer 6

No they won't because they will learn english from you and the way you speak.  This girl i know lived in the netherlands with her dutch father, and american mother until she was about fourteen, and she came back to indiana and she speaks with no accent and sounds american. just influence your english with them more, and have your wife just speak spanish to them if you are really that concerned about it.

Answer 7

I was born in Los Angeles, CA. My parents are Mexican. However, the part of LA I lived in... was basically like living in Mexico. But I grew up without an accent when speaking either language.

Answer 8

I think it's possible, as he'll probably learn to speak English from someone who speaks it without a Spanish accent.

Answer 9

That really depends.  He will probably speak Spanish with a Spanish accent.  If you just speak English in the home...there is a good chance he will be able to speak English with an English accent.  I know several people who have been able to do it.  You will be amazed at how many people can turn their accents on and off (so to speak).  We do it in my house as well.

Answer 10

My cousin just visited from Germany and her daughter has absolutely no accent whatsoever.  She freaked out the girl at the local Dairy Queen by asking her what a milkshake was.

Answer 11

I have been raised in the U.S. and I speak Dutch, too, but my English is pretty much accentless. At least not with a Dutch accent.

Answer 12

If he learns his English from you, he'll most likely follow your accent, though he may also pick up his mothers accent if she has one.

I am English, but my son, who has been in the US 18 months, now speaks English with an American accent.

Answer 13

I'm not so sure, but you can. I was born and raised in the Philippines and I knew how to talk in the language there. Then. I came to U.S.A and my Filipino accent is gone and I can talk fluent english.

Teach your son in English and Spanish while he's growing up.  

Answer 14

I am american and my husband is french/moroccan  also living in spain.

I only speak english to my son as well.

My husband grew up in france speaking arabic at home and doesn´t have an accent in arabic. He know speaks spanish without any accent either.

I wonder the same thing about my son but I think if you always always speak to him in english. Let him watch some tv or movies in english that he wont have an accent.

I have met people who are in a similar situation that speak english perfectly because of a parent even though they live in a non english speaking country.

Also In the US there are many people who speak spanish, german, or asian languages at home and speak english perfectly.

I think there is hope for our boys!

Answer 15

your son can speak english with no acent if you try.

my kids speak japanese at home. they speak english at school.

they speak really good japanese with no accent.

but problem is vocabulary.

their japanese conv friends are

couple of japanese kids, me and my family in japan. they have no problem with daily conv but i guess they dont have much vocab than native kids in japan.

Answer 16

Children learn from their environment.

Regardless of the language they will learn the accent in the fashion it has been tough to them. Your child will more then likely have some of a Spanish-English accent as your wife will be the primary care taker.

However, if you are the primary care taker he will pick up your accent.

Try to balance it as much as possible if you have strong objections to a Spanish accent influence. You need to talk talk talk as much as you can around this child...

Give you an example... I'm from New Orleans but have been raising my daughter in NYC.. She has a New Orleans accent and has never visited that city. She clearly learned it from me.

Answer 17

He'll certainly be bilingual.  However whether he speaks with no discern-able accent depends a lot on him.  Some people hear and emulate the way of speaking around them flawlessly.  Others seem to settle on one particular mode and that's how they speak.

It has a lot to do with the way the brain works.