My French teacher doesn't nasalize "in-"

"counterproof": I made this word up... if you're still wondering. :)

generalizations are always bad

Is it a generalization if we say, french are gay!

I think Tom has largely proven that picking up an accent and a perfect pronounciation was a matter of method, not a matter of age.

It does prove that it works for Tom (or that Tom works for his method! :)) but one successful person with his effective method doesn't make this a universal thing though. We could equally say that Tom is an exception to the rule because of other factors: he's a natural at languages, he has a monster IQ, he has devoted INORDINATE time and energy to English and pronunciation, etc. At the end of the day, he still might have to work just that little bit harder in some elements that come second nature to a native.

Face it: Experts who are accomplished in this area -- like Tom and Steve K -- have been devising language learning methods for an eternity. Nothing has really changed over these aeons, and sure his method and Steve K's might the best out there, but there are never guarantees for us mere post-adolescents. If there were foolproof methods, every one of us could become fluently multilingual with perfect accents if so desired! However, these guys are a rare breed and not everyone is endowed with these talents, the time or energy.

The reasons why people do not learn to speak with an accent in adult life are unrelated to any physiological restrictions on language acquisition. It's mostly a difference of motivation, along with attitude, time, opportunity, etc.

Children learn to speak without an accent because they have no other accent influencing their pronunciation, and because they are very highly motivated with a great deal of time and opportunity to practice. In sharp contrast to this, many adult learners have very little time and opportunity and are motivated only to acquire the ability to communicate—they don't care about their accents.

From a communication standpoint, improving pronunciation beyond a certain point serves very little purpose. You eliminate an accent only when you wish to pass for a native speaker—and there are significant reasons why you might want to do that, but most adults aren't interested in those reasons. Add this to the fact that learning to eliminate one accent and pronounce another language perfectly requires a lot of effort and time at any age (much more than just communicating), and it's inevitable that adult speakers will not often manage it (and won't care just as often).

There is a very high correlation between people who insist that one can never eliminate an accent and people who never seem to do so. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I always know which of my students will be obligated to repeat an ESL class. It has almost nothing to do with their actual level, and everything to do with their attitude.

>>From a communication standpoint, improving pronunciation beyond a certain point serves very little purpose. You eliminate an accent only when you wish to pass for a native speaker—and there are significant reasons why you might want to do that, but most adults aren't interested in those reasons. <<

I agree. Perfect pronunciation may be important if e.g. you are a spy of some sort, wanting to mix with natives for a suspicious purpose :-). Otherwise speaking with a slight foreign accent will not make you less accepted. The things that matter most with native speakers is about 90 % fluency and 10 % accent. If you speak with near-native fluency and with a slight foreign accent, they may realise you are not a native, even ask where you are from, but they may just as well compliment on your good target language skills. Either way, you have no reason to feel inferior. :-)