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Education

Accents...Should kids be taught to speak proper?

95 replies

Itcouldhavebeenbeetroot · 07/02/2007 23:19

I have been working (as I am sure loads of you know) with kids on a Shakespeare project. NOW....

Some of the kids have really strong accents - and so cannot be understood by many people - what should be done about this if anything?

Is it enough that they are having the experience? Or should we insist that they learn to tone down their accents?

AND should this be something that could be useful in everyday life - not just in theatre - darling?!

Interested in opinions - no judgements here btw - just raising the question.

OP posts:

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colditz · 07/02/2007 23:20

Interesting. being able to tone down an accent is certainly a skill worth knowing.

edam · 07/02/2007 23:21

Who can't understand them? If they aren't reaching their audience, then yes, they need to modify their normal speech for the occasion.

expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:22

Speak 'proper'?

Um, sorry, but I find that offensive if you mean that they should all be coached to sound like they're London toffs.

I see my childrens' natural accents as part of their nationality, their heritage and their culture.

I'd be extremely pissed off if someone insisted on 'toning down' who they are.

That's pretty ridiculous.

edam · 07/02/2007 23:22

I mean, David Tennant doesn't play Dr Who as a Scot, doesn't stop him speaking with his own voice IRL.

SueW · 07/02/2007 23:22

Everyone should have a 'telephone voice'. That is, it's useful to be able to vary your speech to suit your audience. Just like it's useful to be able to dress up or down according to where you are going.

Itcouldhavebeenbeetroot · 07/02/2007 23:22

For some of them it would take ALOT for work - so if there are time constraints - do you jsut not give them the opportunities or do you let them try and KNOW they wil not be understood?

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expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:23

The more these topics come up, the more I despair for my childrens' future in Britain and think, 'Hey, better start now coaching them to p*ss off as soon as b/c here people judge you for dumb ass stuff like your accent'.

expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:23

He's an actor, edam, beenbeet is talking about people who are not theatre performers.

Itcouldhavebeenbeetroot · 07/02/2007 23:23

oi expat - am asking the question not judging -

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SueW · 07/02/2007 23:24

David Tennant's speaking in one accent as the Dr and another as himself freaks me out. DD says he never blinks when he's the Dr and I wondered if it's connected with his concentration - or perhaps it's just the persona he's taken on inb character.

I don't understand why the Dr couldn't have been a Scot though?

expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:25

Well, asking for opinions, then.

From me, not just no, but HELL NO.

I think this world would be a very, very sad place if we all tried to mould ourselves to fit into a box.

Itcouldhavebeenbeetroot · 07/02/2007 23:25

NO NO - I sat and listened to kids who ahd been rehearsing for a few months - and I could not understand them - is that ok?

I just don't know - as asking as an interesting debate really

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expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:25

B/c the BBC are a bunch of bigots, SueW, that's why. At least, that's my opinion. Unbiased, my ARSE.

PeachesMcLean · 07/02/2007 23:26

In defence of the OP, expat, I think that suggesting that one "speaks proper" is somewhat ironic in this context as it suggests kids learn a mock cockney, Eliza Doolittle accent.
I think people do learn to modify their accents in certain situations. I know I do...

Itcouldhavebeenbeetroot · 07/02/2007 23:26

It is not about moulding though is it - but about making yorselves understood. There was a fabulous Chinese girl, and she was great but I really could not understand a word she was saying.

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Itcouldhavebeenbeetroot · 07/02/2007 23:27

thanks peaches

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JanH · 07/02/2007 23:27

expat, Kenny Dalglish needs subtitling for the English whenever he speaks! It's not snobbishness to say that an accent so strong that others can't understand you can be a handicap.

expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:28

Nah, I don't buy it.

I'm a foreigner, and although it took some time, I no longer have any difficulty understanding any Scottish accent, no matter how heavy.

Plenty of people who didn't speak English as a first language come over and are also able to understand all the accents here.

expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:29

The BBC slaps accents on Scots at every opportunity, as far as I can make out.

It's like it's a given they won't be undertood.

Patently untrue and a lot of people up here find it a bit biased.

expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:29

Sorry, they slap subtitles, that is.

Itcouldhavebeenbeetroot · 07/02/2007 23:31

I can with some effort, sometimes, understand most accents - however if you chose to go on stage and speak Shakespeare - which for some is another language in itself - should you then modify your accent? OR think Fuck it - if you cannot understand tough titty - go out and get with the 'real people'

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PeachesMcLean · 07/02/2007 23:31

But I do think people should keep a regional accent. I've recently been in a situation (through work) where I've had to deal with a lot of very posh English people. I was soooo glad to get back home to regional accents. There was no hiding my accent with them, and I am what I am (bursts into song) but I did want to blend, rather than stick out like a sore thumb, and for that reason, probably did modify my accent.
Would certainly want to be understandable.
Having said that, I have a very different accent to my husband and one of the reasons I'd hate to live round there is because every time I open my mouth I'd stand out... I'd get a bit fed up with that...

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JanH · 07/02/2007 23:32

I bet they don't understand them all from day 1! And for those of us who don't live in Scotland at all it's very hard!

I work in a call centre and there are many strong accents, not just Scots, which are difficult to interpret; when they are giving me their names or telephone numbers or whatever, I have to keep repeating things back to be sure I've got it right.

(Mind you there are also people whose accents are OK but who gabble or mumble and in many ways they're worse )

ELOCUTION FOR ALL!!!!

expatinscotland · 07/02/2007 23:32

Every time I open mine I stick out. You get used to it.

PeachesMcLean · 07/02/2007 23:33

though Beetroot, are we talking accent here, or poor articulation?

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