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Original poster

Do you correct your DC's accent?

172 replies

Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 30/03/2019 09:58

We live in East London, and DS (4) goes to nursery for 10 hours a day, 3 days a week. He hasn't picked up a massive accent, but he is dropping his Ts pretty consistently (or pre'ey consis'en'ly as he would say).

He has just asked to watch the Go Je''ers, and shown me wha' a lo' of grapes he's go'. Am I wrong to keep correcting him? No' tha' it's working anyway Sad.

I came from Dublin, so it's not that I speak like the queen anyway, but...what is wrong with the letter T?!

OP posts:
hugoagogo · 30/03/2019 11:10

Nope but they take the piss out of mine.HmmGrin

llangennith · 30/03/2019 11:11

Not pronouncing letters in or at the end of words is not a 'regional accent', it's sloppy speech.
I corrected my DC's speech and by the time they were 11 or 12 they wanted to speak properly for themselves.

You don't need to have a word with nursery or anyone else, just keep correcting at home.

MiraculousMarinette · 30/03/2019 11:11

My DD took to speaking with American accent. We live in NW England. She sounds like Sandy from Spongebob, it's ridiculous. I just tell her she's to stop or else I'll just ignore her.

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Childcare & nursery
IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 30/03/2019 11:12

South London girl here. My mum always corrected my speech, so that I pronounced 't' etc. I still have a London accent but I also pronounce words correctly. I don't buy that both are correct English, just different. Imo 'th' is not supposed to sound like 'f'! So yes I would definitely correct my child's pronunciation but I don't think it would affect their accent. No one is ever in doubt as to where I come from originally - some accents just never leave you 😁

Ohyesiam · 30/03/2019 11:17

i had my kids in the West Country and found that they picked up accents in preschool that they dropped in school.
Now they are terms they do a more local accent mixed with the obligatory patois with friends, but sound more rp with us and in more formal situations.
One learned phonics really easily, the other less so

wrongnamechange · 30/03/2019 11:18

I always correct my children’s pronunciation or if they get words wrong they are 7 and 5. I have been doing this since they started to speak in clear sentences. However, obviously, I would never correct them with ridicule - just a quick “not fink, think” for example. My mum did it with me and to be honest it did me a massive favour. I’ll probably get flamed for this I’m aware.

tinkywinkyshandbag · 30/03/2019 11:19

I'm from Yorkshire but don't live there anymore and my children have the poshest accents ever as do most of their friends. They correct me!

Naijamama · 30/03/2019 11:21

I wouldn't. You might find they start to try to correct your accent too if it's different. I say this as someone who tried to correct DD's lovely Northern Accent, but now find her picking me up on things I say differently in my accent.

WyfOfBathe · 30/03/2019 11:25

I’ll probably get flamed for this I’m aware.

Why would you 'get flamed' for agreeing with 90% of the other posters on this thread?

amusedbush · 30/03/2019 11:27

I'm in Glasgow (originally from Edinburgh) and nobody around here pronounces Ts. If I ever hear Scottish people pronouncing them on TV or something it sounds really awkward and knobbish Grin

3ChangingForNow · 30/03/2019 11:35

Why does this thread make me icky all over?

FiveLittlePigs · 30/03/2019 11:36

I grew up in East London and when I'm very tired my accent is more pronounced so I drop "t"s, say "ef" instead of "th" so it's souf lundun, free hour drive, bu'er etc. I once told a colleague I was "born in soufend" and she said, " I would never have guessed" Hmm

Leefygreen · 30/03/2019 11:37

I'm from the west Midlands but moved to the North East as a teenager. DD had mostly a similar accent to me before starting nursery as she spent most her time with me or my family, she now has a geordie accent. DS had one pretty much from when he started talking because his dad has a very broad accent, you can also DD2's geordie accent now she's started talking. I've never really corrected their speech because most people they know also sound the same and It's more based on opinion that something is being pronounced wrong

CarolDanvers · 30/03/2019 11:37

I certainly do. We are in West London and dd especially is picking up a slight accent. I pretend not to understand and just keep saying "sorry, I can't understand you" till she says it properly. She knows what I am doing and laughs but changes it.

nevernotstruggling · 30/03/2019 11:40

I correct the dds on glottal stops. Otherwise they sound proper janner as do I after 15 years.

Nuffaluff · 30/03/2019 11:42

Yes I do.
My two talk posh as we live in Bucks, unfortunately. Think along the lines of, ‘mummy, please can I have a banana, please.’
Yes. Two pleases.
So, whenever I can, I try to influence them with my Leicester flat vowels. I think it’s very important they learn to talk proper.

Dramatical · 30/03/2019 11:44

If I ever hear Scottish people pronouncing them on TV or something it sounds really awkward and knobbish

Guess we are all knobs here Grin

nometal · 30/03/2019 11:51

I'm in Glasgow (originally from Edinburgh) and nobody around here pronounces Ts.

Not even in Milngavie?

areyoubeingserviced · 30/03/2019 11:52

I was born in South London, but I don’t have a London accent. I would say that my accent is pretty neutral
I don’t like London accents tbh. However , I love regional accents.
My dcs have neutral accents and are quite well spoken. However, they watch a lot of American tv so say elevator instead of lift and trash instead of rubbish. Drives me mad

AllCaughtUp · 30/03/2019 11:52

I would correct it.
My daughter has started saying ‘narrr’ instead of ‘no’ Hmm
I am northern, but have live further south and therefore my children have more southern accents. I find it annoying when our northern family visit and correct their perfectly fine accent into northern dialect. Eg, telling them it’s wrong to say ‘mum’ when it should be ‘mam’.

Talcott2007 · 30/03/2019 11:52

Oh God Dh and I were just talking about this today - DD is at nursery full time and is sounding more an more like Mick Jagger by the day! I'm originally from the Midlands but no one can work out where I am from as apparently have developed no accent - no idea how it happened but I'm told I should be on the BBC regularly. DH is French so although totally fluent speaks in English with an obvious French accent. DH hates the local accent and is very put out that DD isn't speaking English like me. I do lots of reading and talking with her and correcting the pronunciation so she is hearing it the 'right way' but u fear it is a losing battle as she exposed to so many different accents day to day! How on earth to you change her accent? On the plus side I guess her French pronunciation is apparently flawless whereas my French apparently sounds to French native ears like I'm a Belgian Farmer Confused

Tavannach · 30/03/2019 11:54

I correct glottal stops. I didn't think I would but I just find it grating, and I wonder about how it affects reading as well.

ijustdontunderstandher · 30/03/2019 11:56

Me and DH are from Birmingham and our DS’s are raised in Devon and they’re starting to sound like little farmers. I don’t correct them because they’ve got there accent due to where they’ve come from, and I’d rather they have that accent than our horrible brummy one. Poor DS1 learned to talk in Birmingham so dirk has a bit of a brummy twang, he does sound funny sometimes

ChodeofChodeHall · 30/03/2019 11:56

It's never occurred to me to correct my DC's accent. This probably means they sound like I do, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. We are from South London and sound like we are from South London.

moosesormeece · 30/03/2019 11:57

I can't imagine DH and I will ever do this. He's from the souf east, my accent is sort of a middle class west midlands mashup, and we live in Scotland. So we'd both be "correcting" to different things (barth/bath for a start!) and whichever one won out we'd be condemning our child to stick out like a sore thumb.