From WIRED: "But pesky foreign accents, rooted as they are in our brains' incomplete library of sounds, can be trained away. Joel Goldes is an accent coach based in Hollywood. He works with everyone from actors trying to sound right for a part to foreign business people who want to be free of their linguistic liability. He says his experience fits with the scientific research. "Our brains really block us from hearing what we’re hearing. Until someone is taught to form the new sounds, they don’t hear them. That’s why a person can be in a country 30 to 40 years without losing their accent," he said."