[bsder]

> Having an accent while possessing an IQ above 110 is laziness.

Hogwash. We already have scientific studies showing that your native language processing blinds you to perception of certain non-native language characteristics as it optimizes on your way to adulthood.

Chinese tones, for example, are quite hard for native US English speakers to process because our language brain circuitry ignores them. The Japanese have a very difficult time perceiving the difference between "r" and "l". The process of reactivating that perception requires a lot of immersion and a lot of work.

I suspect that the people who don't speak with an accent fall into one of three categories: 1) child learners 2) those very rare individuals with exceptional neural plasticity or 3) people who have spent a VERY long time in a country.

I know people who have been in the US from foreign countries for 30 years and still have an accent. They are very hard to get rid of, and simply talking to a speaker with your native accent can reactivate it again.

[rdancer]

> requires a lot of immersion and a lot of work

In other words, requires one not to be lazy.

[bsder]

Someone who learns a foreign language as an adult can hardly be called "lazy".

Fixing an accent is something that I would place under "hugely diminishing returns".

My classical guitar tremolo is quite poor. It would cost me probably 1,000 hours to fix--and at that point I'd probably be average. I have a LOT of other things in my guitar work that I would be far better spending that time on.

Similarly for a foreign language. Would I be better off fixing my horrible American accent in my Mandarin, or would I be better off learning 10,000 more words or kanji? As I am not a foreign language interpreter or teaching in China, the words and kanji have FAR more utility for me. And, to be fair, I would be even better off to learn one of the other dialects like Cantonese.

Time is finite.