Re: If I heard russian until I was two years old will I remember anything sixty years later lenneberg

[Alan]

"-" <pengu...@gmail.com> wrote

> If I heard russian until I was two years old will I remember anything
> sixty years later lenneberg

Forgive me for thinking that to be a rather odd question.
If you're 62 now, you already know the answer.
If you're not yet 62, (and assuming you're an adult) if you can remember
some Russian now from your two-year exposure during infancy, chances are you
will still remember it when you're 62.

[Sericinus hunter]

- wrote:

> My wife and three of here relatives, all of whom speak Polish
> extensively since birth, and most of whom don't even know any
> English, say my Russian sounds - Russian I repeat - are to close
> to be believable. I know some Polish from listening to Polish
> as an adult, but they say no, no, no, I am a good Mimic but
> the Polish, where I know some words, has a distinct American
> accent to them.Russian they understand also, and they say
> the Russian has - even if I only can say three or four words -
> had sounds with NO ACCENT -even if I SAY TTHE words wrong.
> The sound have native sounds.

I seriously doubt that Polish speakers can reliably make
this kind of judgment about Russian.
As to your main question, in my opinion, no, you will most
likely not have an advantage over others.
The whole thing sounds strange to me. If you heard something
long time ago and even if you remember it, it does not mean you
can reproduce it. Speaking without accent requires everyday
language usage and exposure.

[Alan]

"-" <pengu...@gmail.com> wrote

>That is NOT what I meant. I grew up here in the USA. I don't
> >understand Russian but when I repeat isolated words or >expressions or
>sounds native speakers say something is wrong. >They say I must have heard
>it before, because my SOUNDS >sound native, even if I don't know the words
>or mispronounce >the words. [...] However, by wife and all her relatives
>were born and grew up in Poland. My wife and three of here relatives, all

>of whom speak Polish extensively since birth, and most of whom don't even
>know any English, say my Russian sounds - Russian I repeat - are to close
>to be believable. I know some Polish from listening to Polish as an adult,
>but they say no, no, no, I am a good Mimic but the Polish, where I know
>some words, has a distinct American accent to them.Russian they understand
>also, and they say the Russian has - even if I only can say three or four
>words - had sounds with NO ACCENT -even if I SAY TTHE words wrong. The

>sound have native sounds. I don't remember anything.They say I must have
>heard it in the playground. I have had it with this group. I posted a real
>question - not some dumb proposition.If I am exposed to Russian as an adult
>in the future, will I have advantage over anybody else because I heard it
>and don't remember anything from when I was an infant.

Stranger and stranger ---- how you can be pronouncing the words "like a
native" when (in the estimation of native speakers) you are mispronouncing
them and saying the words "wrong"? As for your Polish wife and her
relatives, perhaps it is because they can't find anything good to say about
your Polish that they humor you about the quality of your "Russian" --- even
if you say the words wrong, but with "no accent". The little bit of Yiddish
you may have been exposed to as a child is probably helping you mispronounce
Russian today.
So, to answer your "real question" --- No. Your present ability to
mispronounce a few words in Russian will in no way be advantageous to you
in the the future if you wish to learn Russian.

[zbihniew]

I wonder if the Yiddish spoken in areas with Russian background might
have similar phonology.

[Peter T. Daniels]

Sounds like you're a talented mimic.

Do French-speakers say you have a good accent when you try to imitate
French words? (Etc.)
--
Peter T. Daniels gram...@att.net

[Paul J Kriha]

Alan <in_fla...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:JNSpg.126159$dW3....@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...

Weirder and weirder ---- So how many native Russians said the same
thing as the four native Poles? What? None? You haven't tried? Good grief!
pjk

[Harlan Messinger]

- wrote:
> Alan wrote: "-" <pengu...@gmail.com> wrote

> That is NOT what I meant. I
> grew up here in the USA. I don't understand Russian but when I
> repeat isolated words or expressions or sounds native speakers say
> something is wrong. They say I must have heard it before, because my
> SOUNDS sound native, even if I don't know the words or mispronounce

> the words. They say maybe I heard the sounds as an infant, maybe in
> the playground or from someone taking care of me ; may parents
> spoke only English at home, and their language at home was Yiddish,
> but my mother was born here and my father came here at the age of
> four. Both were highly educated, used English only except to their
> parents, and none of my Grandparents were around me to any extent
> while I was young or older. My parents told me the only thing I
> might have heard was Yiddish from someone, but not enough to learn
> anything. However, by wife and all her relatives were born and grew

> up in Poland. My wife and three of here relatives, all of whom speak
> Polish extensively since birth,

Earlier you mentioned native speakers of Russian. Now it seems you are
talking about Poles. Which is it?

> and most of whom don't even know any
> English, say my Russian sounds - Russian I repeat - are to close to
> be believable.

Even if they have heard or even learned some Russian, what makes them
any better as judges of the quality of your Russian accent than I would
be a judge of the quality of a Polish person's Dutch accent--or even his
Yorkshire English accent--given my status as a native speaker of English
from the northeast of the United States?