Those are very good points! Why do people want to change their accents? To blend in? To be accepted? To be able to belong? I love the way the UK has very different accents and it would be a shame if everybody started speaking in an Oxbridge way. Also, how on earth does an English speaker not understand a Glaswegian or a Welsh?
I lived in Australia 20 years since I was 13 because I was 11 when I left Scotland my accent is not that strong but I can still switch on my old accent in a heartbeat. When I went back to Scotland after 20 years I thought everyone in Scotland sounded more posh than myself. I thought the younger people talked very refined and more of a standard English than the Scots I used to speak as a Kid. The accent is definitely changing and I think it's because a lot of Kids don't want to sound too Scottish in case they are judged in society. P.s. the Australians do not sound posh at all.
I could listen to Amanda, and Darren and all the various dialects of Scotland. I find them fun. In Canada we have Newfoundlanders who hide their accents and I quite enjoy them as well.
laughing so hard:) My Scottish roommate of 78 yrs of age still has her accent! People love her accent:) We practice this accent out of fun;) I notice the long oo's sound as n brooke nook ect:) when I hear a scottish accent! I am born n raised usa girl n she a scottie girl:) Life is so much better with a Scottish friend lol :):):) When she first came here no one could understand her!
The thing is, in my family, we have a very good ear for the way words are said by people around us. And pick it up. Its fun sometimes but some people think you are taking the whatsi out of them. We just cant help picking up the sounds. I remember, my brother was working with some irish during the 2000 sydney olympics and he sounded like he was a band member from The Commitments. It made me laugh no end
I have trouble understanding, but if everyone had spoken the same way, English would be like some homogenized processed meat. It would lose all of its unique texture.
Assimilation. Anglo saxon ruling class trying to eradicate any sign of those pesky North britons. Fed up with these Portuguese with bad Spanish and swedes and Norwegians with bad Danish. Ma Heids burlin! Am awa fur a swally. Tioraidh an dràsda. Tha mi sgith a nochd. Oidhche mhath 🏴
It is not prejudice, nor approval. You have to be understood by people that do not have your accent or are by far unfamiliar with your accent. People do not care from where you come from ..as long as you get yourself understood by others. My strong desire is to understand what you are saying...therefore English from England and from America are the ones most learned in schools around the world.
Respectfully disagree, first off you say yourself that it is YOUR strong desire to understand what someone is saying...good for you mate, no offence, but it's not my 'strong desire' to alter how I speak just so you can understand me. I will repeat things, I'll modify it if someone is having trouble, but why should I change my accent for other English speakers, and why is my accent less valued as a result of how it ultimately sounds? That's prejudice whether you want to accept it or not.
Kirsty Strain's scottish accent is lovely.
Those are very good points!
Why do people want to change their accents? To blend in? To be accepted? To be able to belong?
I love the way the UK has very different accents and it would be a shame if everybody started speaking in an Oxbridge way.
Also, how on earth does an English speaker not understand a Glaswegian or a Welsh?
Very easily
I'm Australian and I can understand Amanda perfectly fine! I actually love her accent, I think it sounds magical!
I lived in Australia 20 years since I was 13 because I was 11 when I left Scotland my accent is not that strong but I can still switch on my old accent in a heartbeat. When I went back to Scotland after 20 years I thought everyone in Scotland sounded more posh than myself. I thought the younger people talked very refined and more of a standard English than the Scots I used to speak as a Kid. The accent is definitely changing and I think it's because a lot of Kids don't want to sound too Scottish in case they are judged in society.
P.s. the Australians do not sound posh at all.
I could listen to Amanda, and Darren and all the various dialects of Scotland. I find them fun. In Canada we have Newfoundlanders who hide their accents and I quite enjoy them as well.
laughing so hard:) My Scottish roommate of 78 yrs of age still has her accent! People love her accent:) We practice this accent out of fun;) I notice the long oo's sound as n brooke nook ect:) when I hear a scottish accent! I am born n raised usa girl n she a scottie girl:) Life is so much better with a Scottish friend lol :):):) When she first came here no one could understand her!
Accents make English so fun. All across the world it is more or less the same language but spoken in so many ways.
The thing is, in my family, we have a very good ear for the way words are said by people around us. And pick it up.
Its fun sometimes but some people think you are taking the whatsi out of them. We just cant help picking up the sounds.
I remember, my brother was working with some irish during the 2000 sydney olympics and he sounded like he was a band member from The Commitments. It made me laugh no end
Jesus christ people, just be yourselves! That being said, i absolutely love the glaswegian accent.
I have no trouble understanding Amanda at all.
I have trouble understanding, but if everyone had spoken the same way, English would be like some homogenized processed meat. It would lose all of its unique texture.
Assimilation. Anglo saxon ruling class trying to eradicate any sign of those pesky North britons. Fed up with these Portuguese with bad Spanish and swedes and Norwegians with bad Danish. Ma Heids burlin! Am awa fur a swally. Tioraidh an dràsda. Tha mi sgith a nochd. Oidhche mhath 🏴
It is not prejudice, nor approval. You have to be understood by people that do not have your accent or are by far unfamiliar with your accent. People do not care from where you come from ..as long as you get yourself understood by others. My strong desire is to understand what you are saying...therefore English from England and from America are the ones most learned in schools around the world.
Respectfully disagree, first off you say yourself that it is YOUR strong desire to understand what someone is saying...good for you mate, no offence, but it's not my 'strong desire' to alter how I speak just so you can understand me. I will repeat things, I'll modify it if someone is having trouble, but why should I change my accent for other English speakers, and why is my accent less valued as a result of how it ultimately sounds? That's prejudice whether you want to accept it or not.