Do I have an accent?

Hi, Jasper
I am interested in the shadowing technique you just introduced. But tape recorder is so inefficient. Do you know any software which can aid in the shadowing? I mean, the kind of software which can record myself, then play the original speech and my speech simultaneously, so that I can compare them to identify the problem area?

My 2 cents:
yes u have a clearly discernable accent, which is nonetheless very slight.....regarding the question of why u and why not ur older brother, i think u may have given us the answer urself.....i claim to be no psychologist, but if, as u say, u were quiet and introverted in childhood, u just didnt talk in English as much as ur older brother would've and being surrounded by ur parents still speaking in ur native tongue in ur home (this I'm assuming), u would retain traces of this accent purely from a process of osmosis.......u just need to talk in English more dude :)

❝I am interested in the shadowing technique you just introduced. But tape recorder is so inefficient. Do you know any software which can aid in the shadowing?❞

Emma, Antimoon's own software will help you learn exactly what to do with your tongue to be able to make the sounds correctly.

For shadowing purposes, an audiobook would be most useful. Nowadays, there are many audiobooks recorded on CDs or DVDs; a check at the local library will reveal many, and a perusal through Amazon.com will reveal many more.

↑ Emma, I should have mentioned that your target voice should be the voice of a female--a member of your own sex. For complex reasons, the voice of a male would not work as well...

Hi,

I wanted to jump in and comment but the original video link was removed. Can you post a sample of your voice again, so we can listen?

It's pretty unusual for a person who came to Canada at the age of 3 to retain even a tiny bit of an accent. Normally, even kids who arrive at 6 or 7 years old become perfect North-American English speakers. Do you have any idea as to why, from your own point of view, you still have a slight trace of an accent? Do you consider yourself North-American, or do you have a sense of belonging to your old culture?

Apparently ScavHC doesn't seem to "have a sense of belonging to old culture", as he has admitted that he skipped his Chinese course when he was a kid, and he cannot speak any Chinese now
I think personality plays a bigger part

If your parents are Chinese, then of course they will speak English with a foreign accent - therefore if you have one, it'll probably because parents tend to be the main role models. You talk to them the most, therefore your speech is modelled on their speech.

HI, I moved to Canada from Italy when I was 12 and a lot of people think I was born here..But in the back of my head I know I have a tiny bit of an accent.

Also, sometimes people ask me if I speak better italian or english... and i can't even answer that question because at times, when i speak to my mom in italian, i just go into english because i can't find the words to explain what i'm trying to say in italian, and sometimes when i speak english there are words that i knw would fit perfectly into what i'm trying to say but i don't know how to translate them.

Truth is there are a lot of things (and by that i mean words and expressions) that you learn at home so i guess the simple fact that you speak another language at home affect your overall langauge skills in the language you acquired by the society you live in.

So, bottom line, I think I might sound native-like but the imprint of your origins will always stick with you, whether you want it or not. So whether you speak another language or not, just because maybe your parents do at home or you've been exposed to another language over extended periods of time, you are somewhat still affected by it. This doesn't change the fact that you can still do anything about it. I find watching One Tree Hill or other "white" tv shows helps learn idiotmatic expression that denote when a person is culturally-competent and coherent to a language, so it possible, even at 30, to learn a language at a native-like level and not have an accent in it.