How can some bilinguals from Montreal speak English and French with a perfect accent?

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Yggdrasil

its most likely the ability to learn very young, having bilingual parents, going to a french school then to an english one and vice versa, playing hockey against the french/english speaking kids, having french/english speaking neighbors, being able to watch tv in both language, being immersed young and getting years of practice is the key. Wanting to learn, being in close contact really helps. Dominance on perfectly bilingual people usually depends on the language of your elementary school and family. Usually whichever one you learned first is the primary one and i know of some people that don't have a primary language. Most of them learned both language at the same time often one parent only speaks french and the other only speaks english.

If you're too old when you learn you cant loose the habits, the tongue seem to be unable to move certain ways and the accent appears...

LexDiamonds

MontrÃ©al is unique in that there is always a steady influx of english-speakin people. So even if French is you mother tongue or dominant language, you will always be around someone who speaks english. So many people in MontrÃ©al are fully bilingual.

In QuÃ©bec however, most people are monolingual in french, so those who speak english speak with an accent.

I'm fully trilingual in English, Spanish and French and i have a native accent in all three, because i learned all three from childhood.

welllaners

Probably learnt both from birth

je t'aime <3

This is exactly like my mother. She was raised speaking French because she grew up close to Quebec and her whole family is French. So naturally she is perfectly fluent in French. But when she started school [like kindergarten] there were no French schools so she had to learn English quickly for school. She is perfectly fluent in both languages and she has been since she was a young child. If she spoke English to you, you'd have no idea she is actually French unless she told you. There isn't a single trace of a French accent when she speaks English and when she speaks French there is no English accent.
She moved to Toronto in her 20s and has lived here ever since. I'd like to think her English is now better than her French since Toronto is like not French at all. However she is still AMAZING at both languages. It's crazy.
I don't know how to explain it. I wish I had the same talent with languages! All I can say is that these individuals are completely fluent in each language. They don't have to stop and translate in their head what they want to say into the other language. They have mastered each and are essentially flawless when it comes to speaking either one!

David Gold

I live in Montreal and speak both english and french "quebec style" perfectly. I guess that because the population of Montreal is nearly splitted in half between people using primarily french or english as their language makes it easier for someone living here to master both languages to a level where no strong accent is audible. However this is not a generality and I am sure that the person you know feels more comfortable in either French or English. The language he thinks in would be the dominant one.

AKM

My fiance is the same way, he can speak both well...writing on the other hand ...hmm...he murders the language when he writes either, lol...but generally, the poeple that have this wonderful talent are simply this way because they have so much practise of the language that no accent is heard either way...it makes sense, bc people that speak other languages like Hindi or German can speak them fluently without accents, because they have so much practice with each...hope that helps!

jcampwick

exactly like most have said, you learn the language in childhood and you won't have an accent in either language. French have trouble pronouncing "th" and I've noticed so do I when I'm speaking french, but no problem when I'm speaking english...go figure!

itssoeasy

when you grow up with both languages, you can speak both fluently.
and its not only the accent that determines whethere or not someone is bilingual, but the expressions they use in everyday conversation.

and trust me, people underestimate the human brain a lot. it is perfectl capable of knowing 2 languages fluently, if not more than 2.

freeside49

Montrealers are pretty unique in that yes many speak english perfectly and speak french perfectly and neither with an accent. Listening to them they switch mid-sentence or use words from the language most appropriate to what they want to say. It comes from being born in an area where both languages are used extensively.

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