Daniel J. Levitin

You could work as actors do with a speech coach. And you could learn to do a much, much better job. And some diplomats, if they need to, they get this training. It's very intensive, takes a lot of work. Things that would have come effortlessly to you as an eight-year-old are going to be a lot of work. It's not impossible. And you can get pretty darn good.

You could work as actors do with a speech coach. And you could learn to do a much, much better job. And some diplomats, if they need to, they get this training. It's very intensive, takes a lot of work. Things that would have come effortlessly to you as an eight-year-old are going to be a lot of work. It's not impossible. And you can get pretty darn good.

You could work as actors do with a speech coach. And you could learn to do a much, much better job. And some diplomats, if they need to, they get this training. It's very intensive, takes a lot of work. Things that would have come effortlessly to you as an eight-year-old are going to be a lot of work. It's not impossible. And you can get pretty darn good.

I think that a real native speaker will still notice just in the way that you as a Michigander, somebody in New York will probably predict you're from the Midwest.

I think that a real native speaker will still notice just in the way that you as a Michigander, somebody in New York will probably predict you're from the Midwest.

I think that a real native speaker will still notice just in the way that you as a Michigander, somebody in New York will probably predict you're from the Midwest.

There's a little subtle thing about the vowels. I have a weird accent because I spent 40 years in California, but 20 years in Canada. Oh, yeah. And I used to have the neutral broadcaster San Francisco accent, which was the canonic American accent that all the broadcasters wanted. I was born into that. But 20 years of Canada ruined it. And people say, people can hear it.

There's a little subtle thing about the vowels. I have a weird accent because I spent 40 years in California, but 20 years in Canada. Oh, yeah. And I used to have the neutral broadcaster San Francisco accent, which was the canonic American accent that all the broadcasters wanted. I was born into that. But 20 years of Canada ruined it. And people say, people can hear it.

There's a little subtle thing about the vowels. I have a weird accent because I spent 40 years in California, but 20 years in Canada. Oh, yeah. And I used to have the neutral broadcaster San Francisco accent, which was the canonic American accent that all the broadcasters wanted. I was born into that. But 20 years of Canada ruined it. And people say, people can hear it.

You can train and get so much better that it would be that subtle. What's happening, though, in the brain is that in the early years of life, the primary mission of the brain is to learn as much as it can about the environment it's in because it doesn't know what it's going to need. So at the age of four... A toddler can learn any of the world's languages.

You can train and get so much better that it would be that subtle. What's happening, though, in the brain is that in the early years of life, the primary mission of the brain is to learn as much as it can about the environment it's in because it doesn't know what it's going to need. So at the age of four... A toddler can learn any of the world's languages.

You can train and get so much better that it would be that subtle. What's happening, though, in the brain is that in the early years of life, the primary mission of the brain is to learn as much as it can about the environment it's in because it doesn't know what it's going to need. So at the age of four... A toddler can learn any of the world's languages.

It doesn't matter which country they were born in. It doesn't matter what their genetics is. And they can learn it natively. And so let's talk about the Japanese R-L distinction. Japanese don't make that distinction. We do. In certain Indian dialects, they have a different D. There's a frontodental D. So they wouldn't say Delhi as in New Delhi. They would say Delhi, New Delhi. I can make it.

It doesn't matter which country they were born in. It doesn't matter what their genetics is. And they can learn it natively. And so let's talk about the Japanese R-L distinction. Japanese don't make that distinction. We do. In certain Indian dialects, they have a different D. There's a frontodental D. So they wouldn't say Delhi as in New Delhi. They would say Delhi, New Delhi. I can make it.

It doesn't matter which country they were born in. It doesn't matter what their genetics is. And they can learn it natively. And so let's talk about the Japanese R-L distinction. Japanese don't make that distinction. We do. In certain Indian dialects, they have a different D. There's a frontodental D. So they wouldn't say Delhi as in New Delhi. They would say Delhi, New Delhi. I can make it.

I can't really hear the difference. I learned to make it. In French, we've got all these different ooh sounds. There's ooh and there's ooh. And they mean different words. If I say I'm getting a book or I'm getting a book, it just sounds like I'm saying book with an accent. But in French, it would be something very different. Two versus two, different words, different meaning.

I can't really hear the difference. I learned to make it. In French, we've got all these different ooh sounds. There's ooh and there's ooh. And they mean different words. If I say I'm getting a book or I'm getting a book, it just sounds like I'm saying book with an accent. But in French, it would be something very different. Two versus two, different words, different meaning.

I can't really hear the difference. I learned to make it. In French, we've got all these different ooh sounds. There's ooh and there's ooh. And they mean different words. If I say I'm getting a book or I'm getting a book, it just sounds like I'm saying book with an accent. But in French, it would be something very different. Two versus two, different words, different meaning.

Yeah, Chinese has this because they have tones. They all mean different things. One of them means mother. Another means lamp. Another means gunpowder. Yeah. But to us, it's the same sound. So the infant can learn it all. But a funny thing happens around age 10. The primary mission of the brain shifts to get rid of all that unused capacity to make room for other stuff.

Yeah, Chinese has this because they have tones. They all mean different things. One of them means mother. Another means lamp. Another means gunpowder. Yeah. But to us, it's the same sound. So the infant can learn it all. But a funny thing happens around age 10. The primary mission of the brain shifts to get rid of all that unused capacity to make room for other stuff.