On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 20:03, ss <cybers...@gmail.com> wrote: > http://www.pseb.org.pk/bulletin/spet2006/bulletin_details.htm >> Pakistan's official language is English. Only Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) >> and the Punjabi areas of India can come close to competing with accents in >> Pakistan, where many families speak English at home and where accent >> neutralization for non-native speakers of English is substantially easier >> than in India. Language skills and accents provide Pakistan with a major >> advantage over all other Asian outsourcing destinations.
The once I had been to Lahore, I was quite surprised to hear many home-bred Lahoris school-children speak in impeccable received pronunciation. Apparently, some of the (boarding?) schools there have that effect on kids. (Would anyone have any clue what school(s) I'm talking about? I saw these kids in a debate competition I was adjudicating, and can't recall for the life of me which school(s) they were from.) Not that my anecdote is meant to be understood in relation to the talk about "competing with accents" and "accent neutralization" -- just that I happened to recall it. Also, does anyone know if an accent can be _consciously_ gained/lost? I don't mean losing one's regular accent while playing a role in an Oscar-winning film. That would only be putting on a different accent for a while. Is a permanent and non-subconscious change possible?
