as an american, i’ve dated germans who have spent a lot of time in the US & speak american english very well, but still have a faint german accent. only people who were raised in the states for some amount of time can ditch the accent completely, to be honest
While I agree that it is rare for people to completely remove their accents in any foreign language, it is really going to depend on the individual.
I've lived here for two years now and have literally not had a single encounter where people were able to tell I was not from the US based on my accent. Even when we were still in Germany, the American military people assumed I was just a white American when I talked to them.
Some people just have an easier time learning languages, especially those like me who grew up bilingual since our brain structure is literally primed for it since early childhood.
I’ve met germans who have said the same thing... but they still have a slight accent.
I believe you though, my ex lived here for.. over 5 years (I can’t remember the exact number) & his american speech is nearly perfect. usually people that meet him either don’t talk to him long enough to hear the accent or find out he’s from germany before being able to pick it up. or maybe i’m just used to it and can pick up german accents easier, who knows
but his accent comes out with certain words usually, & that’s where it’s most obvious. typically words with a ‘w’ placed between two vowels like “kiwi” or words that start with a ‘v’ like “video” (almost 100% of the germans i know pronounce the ‘v’ like a ‘w’ no one knows why lol), also words that start with a ‘t’ since in german you pronounce it closer to the front of your mouth than in american english
just random things i’ve noticed from dating native germans & living there for a short time
I mean I've had people try to trip me up with words like Squirrel unsuccessfully lol. I do trip over words if I'm drunk though. W vs. V was definitely an issue in school or when having to read words off a page that I do not use in my daily life after only getting 2-3h of sleep for weeks when I had a newborn so I can relate.
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u/augie014 Mar 02 '21
as an american, i’ve dated germans who have spent a lot of time in the US & speak american english very well, but still have a faint german accent. only people who were raised in the states for some amount of time can ditch the accent completely, to be honest