Americans in Israel

amother

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:17 am

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
1)Why do so many Americans in Israel use the L instead of ל and R instead of ר?
This cause people to have a strong accent.

2)Why do some children from American parents speak with an Israeli accent rather than learning proper English from their parents?

Americans sometimes comment that our children don't sound Israeli when speaking English. They speak proper English. The answer is that we taught them that English does not have a ר & ל these small changes makes all the difference.

When I hear kids of American parents speak English with an accent I always, wonder why. Say the word milk with an L and ל it changes from proper to accent.

salt

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:20 am

Because for a native American it's difficult to pronounce the ל and ר like an Israeli. So they use the closest sounding sound.

Just like many Israeli's cannot say L and R like Americans.

Plonis bas Plonis

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:21 am

You think it’s on purpose/by choice? Smile

If you didn’t grow up speaking the language, it’s quite difficult to pronounce sounds you’ve never used.

Success10

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:23 am

I'm not seeing what's so different about L and ל. Yes, for those of us who didn't learn the proper ר sound in our youth, it's not easy to learn when you're older. Also, some of us don't care if we talk with an accent, this is a country filled with immigrants. No shame in that.

amother

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:32 am

I learned the proper way to say it once I came here. My question is why not just learn the two letters ל & ר properly

Many Israeli's like Natenyahu speak English properly with no a accent. It's these two letters that male the accent.

Elfrida

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:36 am

An accent is made up of much more than two letters. And if we're talking letters, what about ע?

Netanyahu lived in America for three years as a child, and another four years as a teenager, which is the best time to acquire accent.

salt

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:43 am

amother OP wrote:

Also cholam is pronounced differently by American natives..
The British accent is closer to the Israeli with the L and the cholam.
But Brits say the chirik more wrong - like 'it' as opposed to 'eet'.

When I try to put on my most Israeli accent many Israeli's think I'm French. Oh well.

dats me

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:45 am

amother OP wrote:

I learned the proper way to say it once I came here. My question is why not just learn the two letters ל & ר properly

Many Israeli's like Natenyahu speak English properly with no an accent. It's these two letters that male the accent.

I believe Netanyahu lived in the USA for part of his childhood, it’s much easier to pick up the proper accent at that point. Most Israelis speak English with an Israeli accent, even very fluent speakers.

Elfrida

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 5:57 am

My nephews and nieces were born here, and grew up hearing English spoken at home all the time. They speak (mostly) fluent English, but all have an Israeli accent.

As someone said above, why does it matter? As long as they can communicate without a problem, the accent isn't really significant. They are Israeli, not English, or American.. Why shouldn't that fact be reflected in their speech? The same way my speech reflects my origins. There are more important things to make a fuss about.

Last edited by Elfrida on Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:21 am; edited 1 time in total

Elfrida

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:01 am

amother OP wrote:

I learned the proper way to say it once I came here. My question is why not just learn the two letters ל & ר properly

So do you have no American accent whatsoever? As in, Israelis will think you are a native Hebrew speaker?

amother

Whitewash

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:17 am

I speak Hebrew with an Irish accent.
My Scottish friend married a Yemenite and their kids have an accent which reflects that.
Halevai that our crazy accents should be our biggest problems at the moment!!

amother

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:19 am

Elfrida wrote:

So do you have no American accent whatsoever? As in, Israelis will think you are a native Hebrew speaker?

Yes. The same as many Americans who learn Hebrew in Israel (especially in Ulpan)

Success10

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:22 am

amother OP wrote:

Yes. The same as many Americans who learn Hebrew in Israel (especially in Ulpan)

Good for you! It was clearly important to you to sound like a local. Not all of us have the same priorities, though, and would rather direct our efforts elsewhere. Neither of us is right or wrong.

Bnei Berak 10

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:22 am

amother OP wrote:

Just FYI it's not mandatory in Hebrew to pronounce a rolling ר from one's throat.

amother

Honeysuckle

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:24 am

I moved to Israel as a very young teen. I'm married to an Israeli and speak Hebrew most of the day. I still have a strong American accent. My name has a ל in it and I still do not pronounce it properly.
This is not by choice. Some people have an easier time learning language and imitating accents and some people are more challenged.

DrMom

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:40 am

OP, you are basically asking, "why does anybody have an accent in any foreign language? Why can't you just speak like a native?"

I'm sure if somebody taught you Chinese, you could learn the vocabulary and grammar fluently, but still have the accent of whatever country you're from when you speak. Having a Chinese person interrogate you with, "What's the matter with you? Why can't you just speak Chinese like a native Chinese person???" would not be helpful.

Physiologically, as we speak, we exercise different muscles in our mouth. If you do not learn to pronounce a specific sound early enough in life, the muscles needed to produce that sound atrophy, and it is very difficult to train yourself to pronounce these sounds later in life.

amother

Floralwhite

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 6:48 am

Are you being serious?
We are grateful just for any additional language in which we can communicate B”H

Brit in Israel

Tue, Dec 26 2023, 7:01 am

My kids speak both languages they hear the English from my British accent and from DH American/Israeli so they have a mix.
Ivrit they learnt from Israeli gannets and DH so it's full Israeli accent.
I can't roll my Rs for the life of me. My 6yr old has tried many times to teach me where to sound it from. I can't say my surname in ivrit as it has an L and 2 Rs I usually just spell it out.

Dh grew up in Israel with American and South African parents and now after being married to me has been teased for saying one sentence in 4 accents. Something we don't even realise but outsiders hear it.

My dream would be to be able to learn correctly ivrit especially as I only learnt Hebrew growing up but I need more hours in my day to fit even one of my dreams in.