Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie
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Regional accents- the last straw.
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Originally posted by MrGongGong View PostYou might
but having met many people who contradict this assumption I wouldn't.[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]
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I was.
I most certainly wouldn't.
(I used to find it very interesting to realise how our assumptions about the ways people speak aren't shared by people in other countries. I remember once at a conference of English teachers, in the bar one evening we all decided to speak in the broadest version of our native accent we could muster. One of my Polish colleagues turned to me in wonder and said You sound human!)
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Originally posted by jean View PostSo why tell such stories about the poor woman?
Regional accent may be a cultural interest to native speakers (of English) but to non-native speakers, even if English is their language of habitual use, it is not very much fun. When in the region or talking face to face, one could pretend not to understand English, RP or otherwise, then there is normally some help in various forms, but hearing it on the radio is a different matter all together. I’d expect a national radio station to ensure that its English would not cause extra problems to this particular group of its regular listeners.
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Originally posted by jean View PostI used to find it very interesting to realise how our assumptions about the ways people speak aren't shared by people in other countries.
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Some people's accents change according to their environments. Frau Alpensinfonie - born in London, emigrated to Australia as a £10 Pom, returned to England (Stoke-on-Trent), student in Wales, lived for Wiltshire before moving to North Yorkshire - changes her accent unconsciously, depending upon to whom she might be conversing. I can often tell who is at the other end of the phone.
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Originally posted by Eine Alpensinfonie View PostSome people's accents change according to their environments. Frau Alpensinfonie - born in London, emigrated to Australia as a £10 Pom, returned to England (Stoke-on-Trent), student in Wales, lived for Wiltshire before moving to North Yorkshire - changes her accent unconsciously, depending upon to whom she might be conversing. I can often tell who is at the other end of the phone.
(And then, of course, I return t't'North - and am accused of "talking all posh"!!)[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]
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Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View PostI've been told that I do this, too. Partly, I suppose, to do with my North-East Lancs "burr" (which led to a friend from Hampshire thinking that I was saying "Blackberry" when I once pronounced the name of your piano teacher's hometown) and partly with teaching for thirteen years in Easts London and Sussex. ("Arrre we doingga prrooo-ject today, sirrr? Ah like doingg prroooo-jects, doan't you?" Little ... miscreants!
(And then, of course, I return t't'North - and am accused of "talking all posh"!!)
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Most regional accents blur into other ones. In Rhyl, for example, the Welsh accent is only slight, with a strong does of Scouse. Moving from Liverpool towards Birmingham, the modification of the twang changes very gradually; by the time Brum is reached, the change has not been at all great.
However - visit Southport, where the Scouse accent is quite significant, and travel along the road for a few miles until you reach Ormskirk. Here, you will experience a strong mid-Lancs accent. How can the accent change so suddenly? There's no physical boundary (river or mountain range) between the two.
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