>>>>well, native readers are probably favored in this inquiry
>>>>;)
>>>
>>>(shrug) was born and educated in the USA -- but when I started school could barely speak English (Japanese was spoken in the home). Not that this was too much of a disadvantage -- most of my classmates could only speak Spanish. Took until around 3rd or 4th grade to stop blurting out in Japanese. Funny thing is the school district didn't realize they could've classified me as bilingual (since the political definition at the time usually meant I had to speak Spanish) until I was in the eighth grade -- and the primary reason they reclassified me as bilingual was to inflate the number of students in that classification to get more federal funding for the school.
>>
>>
>>From what I've noticed here in France where many people experienced a similar situation (parents speaking their mother language at home and school being taught in French), those who have started school no later than 8-year old end up with no accent at all.
>
>That matches my family's experience.
>
>My mother was born in the US but spoke only Yiddish until she went to school. Same was true of her younger sister. I'm pretty sure - but not 100% - that this was also true for most of her cousins as well.

My mom was born in Germany, moved to England at 8, and to the US at 16. You wouldn't have known that listening to her, though she did use some British idioms.

Tamar