Or know someone who doesn't sound like a native speaker of a language, even when they're fluent?

或者認識的人即使說得很流利，聽起來也不像以某種語言為母語的人？

This is why you have a different accent in a foreign language.

這就是為什麼你在說外語時會有不同的口音。

The first reason is that sounds differ from language to language.

第一個原因是，打開課本，不同語言的聲音是不同的。

Open a textbook, and one of the first things you'll see is an alphabet,

你首先會看到一個字母表，

explaining, for example, that the P in French is very different from the P in English.

解釋法語中的 P 和英語中的 P 是完全不同的。

Hold the palm of your hand up in front of your mouth and say Paris in English, you'll feel a little puff of air on your hand.

舉起手掌放在嘴前，用英語說 Paris，你會感覺到手上有一股氣。

Now, try the same thing again, but try to remove that puff of air and you'll get something closer to the French sound.

現在，再試一次同樣的方法，但要試著把那股氣去掉，你就會得到更接近法語的聲音。

Learning about letters individually tells you very little about how they work when they come together.

單個字母的學習對字母組合後的作用知之甚少。

For example, when certain consonant combinations are forbidden in your native language,

例如，當某些輔音組合在您的母語中被禁止使用時，

you'll often find yourself inserting sounds to make them pronounceable in a foreign one.

您往往會發現自己插入了一些音，使其在外語中可以發音。

The reason a Spaniard might tell you that he is from ehSpain is because SP is just not possible at the beginning of Spanish words.

西班牙人之所以會告訴你他來自 ehSpain，是因為在西班牙語單詞的開頭不可能出現 SP。

It's the same reason that when English commentators talk about the French footballer, Kylian Mbappé,

同樣的道理，當英語評論員談到法國足球運動員基利安·姆巴佩時，

they often find themselves inserting a third syllable to make it more pronounceable.

他們經常會發現自己插入了第三個音節，以使其更容易發音。

It's because in English, starting a word with an M and a B next to each other is just not done.

這是因為在英語中，以 M 和 B 相鄰開頭的單詞是不存在的。

So people find themselves subconsciously adapting words of a foreign language to fit the rules of their own.

是以，人們發現自己會下意識地改編外語單詞，以適應自己的語言規則。

The next reason is stress.

第二個原因是壓力。

No, not that kind.

不，不是那種。

It's where people put the emphasis on words.

這是人們強調詞語的地方。

For example, all French words are stressed on the final syllable, usually with a higher pitch and greater volume.

例如，所有法語單詞的重音都在最後一個音節上，通常音調更高，音量更大。

That's why French speakers will call the Texan City, yooston, instead of the English, Houston.

這就是為什麼說法語的人會把德克薩斯州的休斯敦市稱為 yooston，而不是英語的 Houston。

Meanwhile, English words often have a secondary stress in addition to the primary one.

與此同時，英語單詞除了主要重音外，往往還有次要重音，

Civilization, for example.

例如，Civilization 這個字。

Ditching your languages stress pattern is often very hard and is not always well taught.

要擺脫自己語言的重音模式往往很難，也不一定有人教得好。

Other elements of a language's rhythm can be hard to pin down.

語言節奏的其他要素也很難確定，如粵語和意大利語。

Cantonese and Italian, for example, are syllable timed, which means that every syllable has roughly the same duration.

例如，音節定時，即每個音節的持續時間大致相同。

If you repeat this sentence with every syllable roughly equally timed, you may find yourself halfway to imitating an Italian.

如果您在重複這句話時，每個音節的時間都大致相同，那麼您可能會發現自己模仿意大利人已經成功了一半。

Whereas in English, the stressed syllables come at roughly regular intervals and the remainder are less distinctly pronounced.

而在英語中，重讀音節的間隔大致固定，其餘音節的發音則不太明顯。

This is how you can distinguish Italian from English being spoken through a wall, even if you can't make out any individual words or sounds.

這樣，即使你聽不出任何單個單詞，也能隔著一堵牆分辨出意大利語和英語。

If pronunciation, stress and rhythm were better taught,

如果能更好地教授發音、重音和節奏，

you might not find yourself speaking like this next time you go on holiday.

下次去度假時，你可能就不會這樣說話了。