AsapScience found that while a regional accent can be phased out to some degree via modified pronunciation of syllables and phonemes, a non-native accent is almost impossible to eradicate fully, especially after the age of 12.

Why? Well, it’s all in the phonemes, and the way in which our brains get set in their ways.

Every language has phonemes that are unique to it - our ‘th’ sound for example, doesn’t exist in German - which make it difficult for non-natives to ever really nail a foreign accent completely.

After the age of six, say the AsapScience team, our ability to learn new languages, with all their complex subtleties, decreases significantly, and after the age 12, it doesn’t matter how long you spend living in a foreign country, you’ll likely never be able to switch your native accent for the non-native totally.

What’s more, the subtleties of language and sound formations are so finespun, that we’re only able to hear them in other languages as babies. Studies show that after 10 months, our abilities to recognise the difference between phonemes which do not exist in our own native tongue, dramatically decreases.

Do you know what your accent says about you?