Do you know what Hugh Laurie, Emma Watson, Kate Winslet and Damien Lewis have in common? Yes, they are all British, but their special talent is imitating American accent perfectly! There are many actors who have mastered different accents, some better some worse, but it certainly seems to be part of their “job description”. Take Tom Hanks, for example, in the movie “Terminal”, where he plays a character from the fictional country of Krakozia, but he is actually using a Bulgarian accent to affirm the character. It is amazing how they can switch between accents while for the most of us it takes a lot of time and practice to improve our accents. Here is a sample of non-native English-speakers who speak the language very well, still have recognizable accents. Or do they? Test your ability to recognize their accents, guess where they are from and see if you sound like any of them!

- Kornelia Lasluisa

Most parents stack up on bedtime stories, cute little baby books before their baby is born, and the benefit of reading to your child from infancy has long been proven, but have you thought about actually having a conversation with your newborn? I mean not only talking to them and explaining, showing them the world surrounding them but actually having a dialogue? Ridiculous, no? Not at all! I truly believe that every child is a mini genius, we just have to let them learn. When they first start communicating with you using the sweet little cooing and babbling sounds, we, adults, can actually make an effort to understand them and respond. This “conversational approach” will actually help them with language development, comprehension and overall learning skills. You can read this interesting article on this topic to learn more about these findings.

- Kornelia Lasluisa