This is to be expected, as it doesn't seem to have ever set in as a real language in their life. My wife and daughter are foreign, and of obviously different a

This is to be expected, as it doesn't seem to have ever set in as a real language in their life. My wife and daughter are foreign, and of obviously different ages. My wife speaks English perfectly but with an obvious accent, but still dreams in her native language. She'll never forget it. The kid just had exposure as a child and was learning when she came, and today speaks English without an accent and has no memory of her first language. She shares the author's pain in that she can not speak to her grandparents, at all. I feel there's a point in life where language gets imprinted and you're stuck with it, probably by age 10 or so. People older will forever have varying degrees of accents, and people younger will happily accept whatever is current. I find it truly fascinating myself, especially because those older learning hear themselves speaking it perfectly.