Gad Elmaleh Quotes

There are certain situations, when you're in America, when people understand you better without an Australian accent.

Language is like songs, like food, like dance-it is the expression of what we think.

When I speak in English, my expressions become different. My attitude, too. I'm not sure why, but there really is a difference. My hands move differently when I speak English.

Personally, just as an actor, I love accents; they're fun.

Well it is sometimes difficult to act in another language.

English is my second language, but in Hong Kong, they don't know that I'm from China. They think I'm from Hollywood because all the films they see are from here. China and Hong Kong are very different places, but they're starting to merge. Still the culture is very different.

The writing is important, but the way you say the line and the pause you give it, the facial expression - all of that is very important.

The problem is that it is difficult to translate.

I'm a Yente and I have a terrible accent.

Are you trying to give me a hint that I should drop it? I can lose the accent; I just have to really focus on what I'm saying. And I have to talk slowly.

I was very nervous about the accent. I was very nervous about being an American.

An accent in a way can be an entry into a character.

If I were bombing with my jokes in English, I would go back to France. Maybe do that mime thing.

Everybody wants to say who they are and where they're from. And the easiest and cheapest and most universal way of doing that is through their accent.

That's my ultimate goal: to get people to say my name right.

One of the nice things about the United States is that, wherever you go, people speak the same language. So native New Yorkers can move to San Francisco, Houston, or Milwaukee and still understand and be understood by everyone they meet. Right? Well, not exactly. Or, as a native New Yorker might put it, 'Wrong!'

Language and identity are so fundamentally intertwined. You peel back all the layers in terms of what we wear and what we eat and all the things that mark us, and in the end, what we have are our words.

We think of speaking as something we do naturally, without any effort. But like playing music, it requires attention and knowledge and practice.

One of the things I was taught was how you deal with language. It's important, very important in comedy.

As a Scotsman, my accent can sometimes be difficult for people to understand.

I wouldn't say there are alliances at the pageant, but I understand if you can't speak the language, you would want to hang out with someone who understands you.

My music was about travelling a lot and connecting with other people, and English is the voice of travelling.

I was 12 years old when I first moved to New York, and at that age, you're trying to find yourself. It was hard being so different from everyone I was around, and I felt that nobody could really understand me because everyone was American, and I was this little English girl with an accent.

The last thing an Englishman wants to hear is a man from Brussels trying to imitate his language - you want to hear a different point of view. You may not be able to understand the details, but you can understand the feeling.

Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican.