Woman who can 'speak any language like a native' praised for being '100% accurate'
An Instagram user with a knack for accents has been praised by viewers for getting every single one '100% accurate'.
Some people might be able to pull off one or two accents with enough practice, with some relying solely on Shrek to nail their Scottish accent, or mimicking Bridgerton to try and lock down that British pronunciation.
Most of the time, though, it quickly slips away and you 'lose it' to your natural voice, unable to maintain anything beyond a few words.
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Teona Sima, who goes by The Language Blondie on Instagram, hasn't just mastered one accent, but numerous languages from across the globe.
The 20-year-old racked up thousands of followers by showing off all the different accents she can mimic, and her skills have actually proven so impressive that some people aren't even sure where she's from in the first place.
Teona has been able to convince people that she's from LA, Ireland, or even Australia just by changing the way she speaks.
Speaking to UNILAD, Teona explained that she's had a knack for mimicking accents since she was a child of around 11 or 12 years old.
"I grew up watching Superwoman, Miranda Sings and Liza Koshy and I imitated them a lot at home, which I think was crucial for my language learning skills as they involve a lot of careful listening and imitation," Teona explained.
In one impressive video, Teona can be seen changing her accent on demand as someone behind the camera calls out different countries.
While maintaining the same conversation, Teona slips effortlessly from Greek, to Australian, to French, to Russian, to Spanish and beyond.
Viewers have been blown away by her talents, with one completely unable to hide their excitement as they commented in all caps: "THE WAY THEY WERE ALL SO GOOD GIRL WTF THE FRENCH ACCENT WAS PERFECT??"
Another impressed viewer commented: "French 100% accurate Italian she sounds like my Italian friends," while a third wrote: "Your accent is perfect."
After leaving fans guessing for some time, Teona eventually confirmed that she is actually from Macedonia, in southeastern Europe.
She's shared a number of tips about how other people can learn different languages and accents, including listening to music to help hone your skill set.
Teona explains: "Music, music, music!!! It is by far the easiest way to memorize vocabulary (science-based) and make the language a part of your daily life."
She went on to recommend finding foreign music that you like, reading the lyrics to understand the difference between the verbs and nouns and 'get a feel of the language', and sing along to 'acquire the accent'.
Teona also told us that she encourages people to 'loosen up, be lighthearted and not judge yourself while practicing the accent'.
"You will absolutely sound terrible in the beginning, but don’t get discouraged, practice, practice, practice, then practice some more and you will inevitably master it!," she continued.
"The important thing is to have fun with it and do your best to imitate exactly what you hear. And that comes after a lot of listening and imitating, so make sure to do the work in order to see the results."
You can find more tips from Teona here - and next time maybe people won't laugh when you try to do an impression.
Emily Brown