About this site

Hi, my name is Alexandre Smirnov. I can speak 12 languages (at different levels) with a native or near-native accent.

My true passion is achieving a perfect, native-like accent in every language that I learn. I have been mistaken for a native speaker of nearly every one of the languages in the below list, and this blog is a space where I detail the techniques and learnings that I apply to achieve this goal.

I hope you enjoy the content on this blog. If you have any comments or suggestions, I would love to hear from you!

Please note that I don't want to gate-keep language learning by shutting out folks who don't care about pronunciation, or who retain strong foreign language accents. There's nothing wrong with accents - they show who we are and where we're from, and if anything, should be a mark of pride (just being able to speak a foreign language is already a huge achievement). I just personally enjoy honing my accent to perfection, and pass no judgement on whether others choose to do the same.

My languages

Native:

English
Russian

Highly Proficient (B2+)

Spanish
French
Japanese

Intermediate (B1)

German
Swedish
Chinese
Korean

Basic (A2)

Hebrew
Greek
Czech

Passive or literary understanding

Danish
Norwegian
Portuguese
Italian