Quote

Anyone that has come to America past the age of eighteen will be able to understand when I say that you can never shake your accent.

I speak pretty fluent American, though I do so with a strong British accent, and I love America: The scale and the variety of it are astonishing to someone not born there, and I'm convinced that its energy and generosity have somehow rubbed off on me and affected my writing. For the better.

I've grown up surrounded by Americans and to a very large extent feel American. It sounds strange because I seem to be so quintessentially English in everyone's mind - and perhaps I am. Perhaps it's quintessentially English to have a fascination with America.

Everyone thinks England and America are the same, as we have the same language, but I felt like an alien as an English person living in America.

To be honest, it's easier for me to speak with an American accent.

How wonderful it is to be an American. We have known the best of times and the worst of times.

My opinion is that more languages you speak, better it is, but when you come to America, you speak English.

I remember, the first time I came to the United States in 1996, I didn't speak a word of English at the beginning. I am very thankful for this country and the opportunity music has given me... My three kids were born here in Miami; they speak Spanish at home, but English with all their friends.

America has had an influence on me, as has going out with a Cuban-American guy and having lots of American friends. But I am still fundamentally British and speak with a British accent and feel very English.