S: accent(.) it’s really hard for me to to hear something and then and then repeat it back, like it takes some practice, I- I, it was helpful and and uh, um, in Russia, to really concentrate on like syllables, and intonation is really important in Russian, the, the, the stress of where you put the emphasis on a particular syllable can actually change the meaning of the word, um, so uh, there’s something would be, some somebody’s name you can get offended if you , say ((speaking Russian)), so uh,

I: And that’s one of your areas of weakness then?

S: Well, uh, it’s lotta, it’s a common, common thought that people who are musically or- talented (oriented) can (    ) pick up languages cause they hear it and (    ) I don’t know what goes on in their brain but it’s something different, but uh, I’m like a hundred percent tone deaf and I can’t play an instrument for my life, so, for me it’s repetition that I can perfect my accent when I first moved to Germany I remember my accent was absolutely atrocious, and throughout the year just over and over being aware of how people pronounce I I do it by actually mouth relations are(.) I really need to see somebody speak the word, cause I mimic how they move the mouth and that’s how I can, (    ) so better my accent. So that’s one of of, the huge advantage of being immersed and and having a heritage speakers

I: in the classroom

S: in the classroom as a teacher, um, and , that’s something I noticed in Germany and in Russia too is that um perceptivem if I can see somebody move their mouth and and how they pronounce the syllablesm in successionm umm not justm sounds by themselves but words in successionm then that allows me to perfect but the weakness is is that retention I guess need, need constant practice to keep that up to par