I Changed The Way I Spoke To Improve Myself

3rd March 2014

It's true - when I was around 15 I began speaking differently - I was terrible - "I fink" "I aven't got anythin" etc etc

I just heard a conversation on Radio 2 about it.

Is there anything wrong with wanting to improve yourself to get somewhere or something in life?

Please discuss.

That should probably be speak, not spoke.  ::D:: 

Nothing wrong with putting a little effort in to things is there now?

I agree Andy. People speaking clearly is better all round; even if one has to make a concious effort to do so, with time ot would get easier.

It is particularly annoying when someone talks to a foreigner who has learned English well but then makes no effort to speak clearly- as if a foreigner is going to understand a broad northern accent...

Eilzel wrote:I agree Andy. People speaking clearly is better all round; even if one has to make a concious effort to do so, with time ot would get easier.

It is particularly annoying when someone talks to a foreigner who has learned English well but then makes no effort to speak clearly- as if a foreigner is going to understand a broad northern accent...

I don't think people should go changing their accents Eli.

If you live in the North of England you'll have a Northern accent.

Move down South and your accent may change.

If a foreigner moves to Newcastle tough titties, he'll struggle for a while but in time he will understand people better .

I think that strong accents can be offputting actually, and a clear voice gives a better impression all round.

Raggamuffin wrote:I think that strong accents can be offputting actually, and a clear voice gives a better impression all round.

Offputting?

Really?

I only think that is the case when you hear one where you shouldn't - if I go to Newcastle I expect to hear North-East accents.

When I ring BT I expect to hear an Indian accent - I'd be mightily p1ssed off if I got a Brummie.

 

BigAndy9 wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:I think that strong accents can be offputting actually, and a clear voice gives a better impression all round.

Offputting?

Really?

I only think that is the case when you hear one where you shouldn't - if I go to Newcastle I expect to hear North-East accents.

When I ring BT I expect to hear an Indian accent - I'd be might p1ssed off if I got a Brummie.

  

  

I just mean very strong accents really where you can't understand what someone's going on about. I like a hint of an accent.

some accents are lovely to hear like geordies and welsh, the worst of all to me are the brummies...its painful to listen too..

Well I have a London accent.
I used to speak nicely, turned 15, and went all 'ard and cockney, now I speak better.

I always pronounce my 'T's and never drop my 'H's - that's unforgivable!

once i stopped saying " yaar mannn" i must admit i got much better job offers..  

Andy, I think it is a matter of where you are. If you are going for a job interview, making a public announcement, meeting someone for the first time- a strong accent or not speaking clear wont go down well. I'm not saying people should lose their accent completely; just tone it down when appropriate.

Eilzel wrote:Andy, I think it is a matter of where you are. If you are going for a job interview, making a public announcement, meeting someone for the first time- a strong accent or not speaking clear wont go down well. I'm not saying people should lose their accent completely; just tone it down when appropriate.

or a slightly high pitched voice with a slight lisp...  

heavenly father wrote:some accents are lovely to hear like geordies and welsh, the worst of all to me are the brummies...its painful to listen too..

Yes, but look what happened to Cheryl Cole. She was kicked out of the American X Factor because nobody could understand her accent.  

eddie wrote:Well I have a London accent.
I used to speak nicely, turned 15, and went all 'ard and cockney, now I speak better.

I always pronounce my 'T's and never drop my 'H's - that's unforgivable!

Those are the things I did - my dad used to pick me up all the time.

It wasn't until I started working in the city that I realised how I needed to improve.

Raggamuffin wrote:

heavenly father wrote:some accents are lovely to hear like geordies and welsh, the worst of all to me are the brummies...its painful to listen too..

Yes, but look what happened to Cheryl Cole. She was kicked out of the American X Factor because nobody understand her accent.   

well thats true but shes worth it..lol  

It's true - when I was around 15 I began speaking differently - I was terrible - "I fink" "I aven't got anythin" etc etc. Is there anything wrong with wanting to improve yourself to get somewhere or something in life?

No, nothing wrong at all apparently, unless you're doing it so that a "foreigner" will be able to converse more easily with you? Then it's:

If a foreigner moves to Newcastle tough titties, he'll struggle for a while but in time he will understand people better.

Better yet, why not stomp hard on the foreigner's exoskeleton until its guts squish out like the cockroach it is?

Manners are also of paramount importance.  Just speaking correctly it not enough.

But I do have a problem in Scotland even though those I have met have all been darlings................  I get fed up with saying " Pardon "  Love 'em to bits just ca't understand a word they say especially when they have been partaking of the Scottish water.......

 ::dedhrs::

heavenly father wrote:

Eilzel wrote:Andy, I think it is a matter of where you are. If you are going for a job interview, making a public announcement, meeting someone for the first time- a strong accent or not speaking clear wont go down well. I'm not saying people should lose their accent completely; just tone it down when appropriate.

or a slightly high pitched voice with a slight lisp...  

Is that how you imagine I talk?

Eilzel wrote:

heavenly father wrote:

or a slightly high pitched voice with a slight lisp...  

Is that how you imagine I talk?

not at all...  

heavenly father wrote:

Eilzel wrote:

Is that how you imagine I talk?

not at all...  

Good, because it isn't. And to think all gay people speak a certain way would be a pretty dumb assumption to make.

heavenly father wrote:

Eilzel wrote:

Is that how you imagine I talk?

not at all...  

You're way off HF. And also being rude for no reason, a smiley smilie doesn't make it less so.  ::D:: 

I   accents, especially Northern and the Irish (oh, especially the Irish )

According to this Scots have the best accent around...

If you're a British financial-services customer contacting a call center, you're likely to be happier if the person answering the phone has a Scottish accent, rather than any other accent, according to Khalid Aziz, chairman of Hampshire, U.K.-based executive communications consultancy The Aziz Corporation. "Within Anglo-Saxon culture, Scottish accents are imbued with a certain brand value for things like probity and financial caution," says Aziz. "People are more inclined to feel their inquiry is being dealt with sensibly and responsibly - people trust that sort of accent."

That bias was demonstrated in a survey last fall sponsored by The Aziz Corporation that rated U.K. accents for their business appeal. Scottish accents scored highly across the board: 43 percent of respondents judged speakers of such accents as likely to be successful; 40 percent found them hardworking and reliable; and 31 percent found them the most trustworthy. By contrast, the Liverpool "scouse" accent scored worst: only 15 percent of the survey's participants believed scouse speakers were successful; just 9 percent said they were hardworking and reliable; and only 8 percent regarded them as honest and trustworthy. The London "cockney" accent showed mixed results: respondents associated it with both a degree of success and a tendency toward unscrupulous dealings. When it comes to call centers, the Scots have a rival in the extreme Northeast of England; the "geordie" accent, which is characteristic of Newcastle natives, is a "warmer, caring, wrap-your-arms-around-you sort of accent," Aziz asserts. For global financial-services firms considering setting up call centers outside the primary area of business, these perceptions are important to take into consideration.

http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/scots-accent-favored-for-call-centers/18402776

Raggamuffin wrote:

heavenly father wrote:some accents are lovely to hear like geordies and welsh, the worst of all to me are the brummies...its painful to listen too..

Yes, but look what happened to Cheryl Cole. She was kicked out of the American X Factor because nobody could understand her accent.  

To be fair, most of Tyneside havent got a clue what she is on about!

nothing wrong with the brummie accent,how about the scouse one, worst of the lot.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

It's true - when I was around 15 I began speaking differently - I was terrible - "I fink" "I aven't got anythin" etc etc. Is there anything wrong with wanting to improve yourself to get somewhere or something in life?

No, nothing wrong at all apparently, unless you're doing it so that a "foreigner" will be able to converse more easily with you? Then it's:

If a foreigner moves to Newcastle tough titties, he'll struggle for a while but in time he will understand people better.

Better yet, why not stomp hard on the foreigner's exoskeleton until its guts squish out like the cockroach it is?

@ben
Have you heard a Newcastle accent? We had 2 backpackers from England and No one could understand the guy from Newcastle (the other was from London so easy enough) any way the guy from Newcastle was on the phone I forget exactly what it was about but My brother gave up and told the guys from London to talk to him.... The guy from London said why you giving me the phone I can’t understand a word he says either?


On the first point, I also disagree it does make it easier for foreigners to understand if you speak with a consistent accent. I know Foreigners comment that they can understand people from Sydney or Melbourne (the most multicultural cities) but you can see the blank look on their face when they speak to someone from Adelaide or Hobart (least multicultural) and that goes for the locals understanding too. It wasn't till a Korean girl I was seeing pointed it out that I noticed (I meet her in Adelaide, it was easy because apparently I was one of the few people she could understand )


the Sydney/Melbourne accent is apprently most like the "non-discript" accent in American TV/film the one they use when your not mean to guess what state they are from.

BigAndy9 wrote:3rd March 2014

It's true - when I was around 15 I began speaking differently - I was terrible - "I fink" "I aven't got anythin" etc etc

I just heard a conversation on Radio 2 about it.

Is there anything wrong with wanting to improve yourself to get somewhere or something in life?

Please discuss.

As long as you don't start speaking like David Cameron or George Osborne Andy...that's just a little too nice   

BigAndy9 wrote:3rd March 2014

It's true - when I was around 15 I began speaking differently - I was terrible - "I fink" "I aven't got anythin" etc etc

I just heard a conversation on Radio 2 about it.

Is there anything wrong with wanting to improve yourself to get somewhere or something in life?

Please discuss.

As long as you don't start speaking like David Cameron or George Osborne Andy...that's just a little too nice   

Ben_Reilly wrote:

It's true - when I was around 15 I began speaking differently - I was terrible - "I fink" "I aven't got anythin" etc etc. Is there anything wrong with wanting to improve yourself to get somewhere or something in life?

No, nothing wrong at all apparently, unless you're doing it so that a "foreigner" will be able to converse more easily with you? Then it's:

If a foreigner moves to Newcastle tough titties, he'll struggle for a while but in time he will understand people better.

Better yet, why not stomp hard on the foreigner's exoskeleton until its guts squish out like the cockroach it is?

?

BigAndy9 wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

It's true - when I was around 15 I began speaking differently - I was terrible - "I fink" "I aven't got anythin" etc etc. Is there anything wrong with wanting to improve yourself to get somewhere or something in life?

No, nothing wrong at all apparently, unless you're doing it so that a "foreigner" will be able to converse more easily with you? Then it's:

If a foreigner moves to Newcastle tough titties, he'll struggle for a while but in time he will understand people better.

Better yet, why not stomp hard on the foreigner's exoskeleton until its guts squish out like the cockroach it is?

?

Just pointing out how your hatred of "foreigners" makes you contradict your own positions, BA.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:


?

Just pointing out how your hatred of "foreigners" makes you contradict your own positions, BA.

That's true, when I made my first reply I was actually agreeing with Andy as you say; amazingly how quickly he flipped his position when I referred to the problem people not speaking properly was for foreigners   

changing the way you speak doesnt "improve you" at all, it merely changes perceptions of you, you become seen as something you are not, kinda false advertising. No matter how "posh" you may speak, it is a trueism that "you can take the scroat out of the slum, but you can NEVER take the slum out of the scroat.

I understand making effort to talk better, but it's not the end of the world and those who can't accept you and all that can just do one.

As I lived in loads of places, by the time I went to boarding school at 11, everyone thought I was American, I had such a mixture of accents. My Dad was not amused and gradually the accents dropped while I stayed in one place. Then I did some acting and learnt voice projection etc. I think Les thought I was 'posh' when we met! I tend to relapse into accents if I know them, for example, going back to Norfolk and talking to people who have always lived there, out comes my Norfolk accent.

Sassy wrote:As I lived in loads of places, by the time I went to boarding school at 11, everyone thought I was American, I had such a mixture of accents.   My Dad was not amused and gradually the accents dropped while I stayed in one place.   Then I did some acting and learnt voice projection etc.   I think Les thought I was 'posh' when we met!   I tend to relapse into accents if I know them, for example, going back to Norfolk and talking to people who have always lived there, out comes my Norfolk accent.  

So you talk a bit of Bernard Matthews as a well then? 

As well as posh?..posh bird then eh?  

Joy Division wrote:

Sassy wrote:As I lived in loads of places, by the time I went to boarding school at 11, everyone thought I was American, I had such a mixture of accents.   My Dad was not amused and gradually the accents dropped while I stayed in one place.   Then I did some acting and learnt voice projection etc.   I think Les thought I was 'posh' when we met!   I tend to relapse into accents if I know them, for example, going back to Norfolk and talking to people who have always lived there, out comes my Norfolk accent.  

So you talk a bit of Bernard Matthews as a well then? 

As well as posh?..posh bird then eh?  

Not as Naaarfok as Bernard, I don't think Bernard was as Naaarfok as Bernard LOL, but heading there.   I have a Zummerzet accent as well when I'm down south, as I lived there for 16 years.   Most of the time though I'm what you would call 'well spoken', which is quite funny as my Nan was a char lady and my Grandad was a builder.   My Dad is a bit posher, though my Mum never forgot her roots and neither do I.   Most of my Mum's family come from round the Millwall football ground area!!!!

Sassy wrote:

Joy Division wrote:


So you talk a bit of Bernard Matthews as a well then? 

As well as posh?..posh bird then eh?  

Not as Naaarfok as Bernard, I don't think Bernard was as Naaarfok as Bernard LOL, but heading there.   I have a Zummerzet accent as well when I'm down south, as I lived there for 16 years.   Most of the time though I'm what you would call 'well spoken', which is quite funny as my Nan was a char lady and my Grandad was a builder.   My Dad is a bit posher, though my Mum never forgot her roots and neither do I.   Most of my Mum's family come from round the Millwall football ground area!!!!

...love to near that Sassy, fewer people are like that now...not forgetting their roots, good for you.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:


?

Just pointing out how your hatred of "foreigners" makes you contradict your own positions, BA.

But I don't have a hatred of foreigners Ben.

I think you will find I love going to foreign lands and mixing with the locals.

Where have I said I hate foreigners?

Sassy wrote:As I lived in loads of places, by the time I went to boarding school at 11, everyone thought I was American, I had such a mixture of accents.   My Dad was not amused and gradually the accents dropped while I stayed in one place.   Then I did some acting and learnt voice projection etc.   I think Les thought I was 'posh' when we met!   I tend to relapse into accents if I know them, for example, going back to Norfolk and talking to people who have always lived there, out comes my Norfolk accent.  

My eldest moved around a bit when he was young - he had such a nice accent - spoke very well - maybe moving does that to you?

The tone of voice is also important. I can't be doing with people who speak very loudly, even to someone about two feet away from them.

BigAndy9 wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:I think that strong accents can be offputting actually, and a clear voice gives a better impression all round.

Offputting?

Really?

I only think that is the case when you hear one where you shouldn't - if I go to Newcastle I expect to hear North-East accents.

When I ring BT I expect to hear an Indian accent - I'd be mightily p1ssed off if I got a Brummie.

 

And when you take the underground, you're bound to hear a Pakistani accent over the PA. Sounds like, minnie, minnie, minnie... Go figure.

Original Quill wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:


Offputting?

Really?

I only think that is the case when you hear one where you shouldn't - if I go to Newcastle I expect to hear North-East accents.

When I ring BT I expect to hear an Indian accent - I'd be mightily p1ssed off if I got a Brummie.

 

And when you take the underground, you're bound to hear a Pakistani accent over the PA.  Sounds like, minnie, minnie, minnie...  Go figure.

Perhaps you like to explain that, before people think you are a total hypocrite about racial prejudice. We wouldn't want them thinking that now, would we?

Thing about Sassy is that while she may have a posh accent, she thinks like an ordinary "one of the boys" and does not look down at folk.

Original Quill wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:


Offputting?

Really?

I only think that is the case when you hear one where you shouldn't - if I go to Newcastle I expect to hear North-East accents.

When I ring BT I expect to hear an Indian accent - I'd be mightily p1ssed off if I got a Brummie.

 

And when you take the underground, you're bound to hear a Pakistani accent over the PA.  Sounds like, minnie, minnie, minnie...  Go figure.

I can't hear anything they say in the Underground, but that's because of the sound system, not the accents.   

Raggamuffin wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

And when you take the underground, you're bound to hear a Pakistani accent over the PA.  Sounds like, minnie, minnie, minnie...  Go figure.

I can't hear anything they say in the Underground, but that's because of the sound system, not the accents.   

Might be part of it, but It was a total shock...and I still have no idea what he was saying. I mean, I understand political correctness and affirmative action, but why put him on the sound system at all until his voice can be understood. Sort of self defeating, innit? I mean...what if he had to give safety instructions or something.

Andy wrote:
It's true - when I was around 15 I began speaking differently - I was terrible - "I fink" "I aven't got anythin" etc etc. Is there anything wrong with wanting to improve yourself to get somewhere or something in life?

As far as I can see, that is a perfectly laudable goal. I mean, we are constantly building vocabularies and getting it right. What's wrong with that?

But I do think it is regrettable to lose sight of the regional accents. The aspirated consonant you hear from a London cockney is choice. And there's a bit of it in all Brit English. I studied a little bit of p-Celtic and q-Celtic and when I was interpreting some 15th and 16th-century manuscripts. It helped immensely in following old Scot and Welsh dialects. Read MQS' orginal script of the Casket letters, and you will see they even wrote in an accent: Quare are you goen' and queen ere ya goona be back?

Sassy wrote:As I lived in loads of places, by the time I went to boarding school at 11, everyone thought I was American,

Must have been embarrassing for you, given how much you hate America.

So Quill, backtracked quick when you realised it made you look racist and thought of an excuse. What health and safety do announcers have anything to do with?

Hate America, nope, hate American policies that means America thinks it has the right to use the CIA to disrupt other governments because they don't like their policies, hate the fact they think they have the right to take over other countries and make life a misery for the inhabitants, can't stand the hypocrites who think they are non-racist by standing up for negroes but say foul things against Palestinians and Pakistanis. Hate the fact that America thinks it's ok to take people without trial, hold them for years and torture them, and then has the gall to complain about what other countries do.

Like most countries, a lot of it's citizens are lovely, a lot of the government stinks. Only when the American government stinks, it tends to do it all over the world.

Eilzel wrote:I agree Andy. People speaking clearly is better all round; even if one has to make a concious effort to do so, with time ot would get easier.

It is particularly annoying when someone talks to a foreigner who has learned English well but then makes no effort to speak clearly- as if a foreigner is going to understand a broad northern accent...

I see a northern accent should be eliminated to make it easier for new arrivals to understand us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

kevins58 wrote:

Eilzel wrote:I agree Andy. People speaking clearly is better all round; even if one has to make a concious effort to do so, with time ot would get easier.

It is particularly annoying when someone talks to a foreigner who has learned English well but then makes no effort to speak clearly- as if a foreigner is going to understand a broad northern accent...

I see a northern accent should be eliminated to make it easier for new arrivals to understand us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Northern accent shouldn't be eliminated, but you should be!   

Joy Division wrote:Thing about Sassy is that while she may have a posh accent, she thinks like an ordinary "one of the boys" and does not look down at folk.

And how do you know she has a posh accent?