General Discussion

That would apply in my case, but exposure and a little intellectual curiosity go a long way, too. When I lived in Spain, I lived in Barcelona with a Catalan family. It was during the end of the fascist era, and Catalan was not permitted in the schools. So, of course, I was determined to learn Catalan. By the time a year had gone by, people in other parts of Spain told me that my Castilian (i.e. “Spanish” ) had a Catalan accent. Barcelona natives thought I was from Mallorca, where Catalan is also spoken, but with a different accent from the mainland.

I often get sorta-compliments over here. In the Netherlands, I have been told that my accent was good, but they could still hear that I was from South Africa (a place I have never been). In Sweden, I have been told that I haven’t quite lost my Norwegian accent. In Russia, I got some wild stares. My Russian was strictly from literature, mostly 19th century. I had never been to the Soviet Union, knew no modern slang whatsoever. It was like landing in New York and speaking Victorian English. Some Russians asked if I had a nice sleep for the past 100 years. My son in law, who was born there, tells me I’m a hopeless verbal anachronism. Oh, well, I can’t get everything right. At least the French, the Germans and the Swiss accept me as a native frequently enough to not give me complete inferiority complexes. In the States, Latinos vome from do many different places, I just keep my Spain accent, and they accept me as a “peninsular,” a European Spaniard.