Céline Dion

Do you think Céline sings perfectly ? (whatever the language)

Greg,

I thing she does, but this doesn't mean necessary that she speaks the language correctly, because the songs might have been writen by somebody else.
I heard her speaking English a few times and she sounded correctly.

Chamonix,
She has a non-native English accent.

<<Do you think Céline sings perfectly ? (whatever the language) >>

I don't like her very much. She has a very powerful voice and a great technique but her interpretations lack emotion - it's like listeing to a machine. But that's just me.

listening*

She was on Oprah and she sounded Native Canadian, not Native American.

Did she sound completely mono-tone, say 'eh' a lot, and talk about the elk hunt?

Native Canadian?
She ain't Indian :p

Not knowing her family backround, we cannot rule out that Céline might have Native ancestors somewhere in the mix.

But for all intensive purposes, she's a Québecoise.

Hüsse, in North America when we say "Native American" or "Native Canadian" we usually mean indigenous to the continent, as compared to Americans who've been born here but aren't ethnically indigenous to North America.

Native North Americans are also frequently called Indians, but that can also get confusing because there are actually quite a few North Americans of (real subcontinent) Indian descent, as well.

JJM's right, Céline could possibly have some native ancestors back there (it's not uncommon for people to have distant connections to natives, even to the point of being something like "1/16 Native American") but a better term would probably be "native-born Canadian." A picky semantic distinction, I know, but it's one most North Americans make, so using "native American" or "native Canadian" when not referring to indigenous natives of North America will undoubtedly lead to confusion.

Anyway, regarding her accent, Céline is most definitely a nonnative speaker of English. This doesn't mean anything bad, as her English is very good. She simply happens to be a Canadian who didn't grow up speaking English natively (just as there are plenty of Canadians very competent in French who are just native English speakers). I just did a google search and most sources seem to indicate that she started learning English at the age of 18. I would say especially if you hear some of her older songs her Québecois accent is stronger---she's gotten very good at English since then, but she still has a noticeable nonnative accent, as is basically inevitable when learning a language past childhood. Hopefully it's not too confusing that it's quite possible to be a native-born Canadian who doesn't speak English natively, or even much at all.

"Hopefully it's not too confusing that it's quite possible to be a native-born Canadian who doesn't speak English natively, or even much at all."

1. Many of my concitoyens canadiens in Québec do not speak English at all as they have no need to in their day-to-day life.

2. Many of my fellow Canadian citizens in Alberta do not speak French at all as they have no need to in their day-to-day life.

Sounds about right. I have family in Nelson, BC, and whenever we visit them it's an exclusively English world, altho my cousins go to a school where instruction is in French half the day and my aunt is also competent in French, they just don't need it in their daily lives there in Nelson.

Celine definitely needs an accent coach.

I don't know whether Céline Dion has Native American (or Native Canadian) ancestors but according to genealogists, she's the distant cousin of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Madonna, Baroness of Ashecombe (via her French-Canadian mother).

http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=5883

I think that French Canadian accents (a dear lady's of course) sound sexy :)