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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:
sparkling123 · 30/03/2019 18:37

Awww @Greyhound22 I love the bc accent! It does get stick, but it's a nice gentle accent. Why can't we just have our accents and be left be without people making assumptions about us.

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 30/03/2019 18:44

@greenpop21

I love accents but would always correct mispronunciation

So, where would be the line exactly??? Accents are all due to people saying words a little bit differently.

Boulezvous · 30/03/2019 18:46

My DD 18 has always struggled with teeth, not teef, bath etc. But I actually think it's a speech defect as she genuinely finds it hard to say u less she's consciously try to make the effort.

Funnily I find her accent a bit embarrassing as she sometimes sounds really posh and we really aren't. My family have commented that both of my DC have posh accents and I'm not sure why. We are very middle of the road and not private schooled or anything. It's funny really.

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Sleephead1 · 30/03/2019 18:46

I'm from Newcastle but wouldn't say I have a really strong accent a few people have told me my accent is mixed and think I've lived somewhere else but I havnt. Lots of people here including some of my family have much stronger accents. I would prefer my son to have a accent like mine than very strong. My husband's accent is strong but he also says words that are just wrong ( but common here) which i don't really like and would correct my son if he copied. I saw something from his teacher about him being well spoken so I was pleased about that but I don't think you can stop an accent but can correct on pronouncing words wrongly

LarryGreysonsDoor · 30/03/2019 19:14

DH is from the midlands but has spent his adult life in the south. The only hit of midlands is that he says a short a, bath as opposed to barth etc. His sister who never left their home town is broad midlands.

My dad is broad West Country, think the farmer in Hot Fuzz, my mother is Surrey. I have her accent despite growing up in the West County.

Your accent does change as you get older and I think it is a shame when local accents and dialect get changed.

I’m a teacher and we are told by one of the literacy schemes we follow to correct local dialect. I refuse.

How on earth do you say water without the R? Wateh?

W-aww-uh

FuzzyShadowChatter · 30/03/2019 21:05

I used to when my kids were little, though it more trying to get them to speak more locally than like me, except for the th-fronting. More than a few people made a comment on how they talk including a very rude pediatrician who went on about the "odd cadence" my kids apparently speak in with the mix of local and my accent so I became a bit sensitive and overly worried about it. They still get asked now where they're 'really from' now and then and my daughter has classmates who refuse to believe she was born and has lived here her whole life. I just try to support them as best I can and try not feel guilty about it.

My spouse and all our kids do th-fronting and just cannot hear the difference between teef and teeth. No amount of saying it back to my kids or the tips and tricks like having them stick their tongue out to feel the difference made any difference. Oddly, when my son was accessed for auditory problems at 9, th/other fricatives was the only issue they didn't test. It seemed they while they were concerned about him hearing all the others, they didn't expect him to hear those.

Chocolateisfab · 30/03/2019 21:54

Haven't lived in Newcastle for 30 years but people still know that's my origin!!

Chocolateisfab · 30/03/2019 21:54

I haven't lived in Newcastle for 30 years but people still know that's my place of origin!

Fudgenugget · 30/03/2019 22:00

I live in Sarf Lahndon and my DD (12) has a very neutral accent. I am somewhat disappointed she doesn’t sound MORE like a local.

I have a mixed South Midlands and London accent. DB takes the merciless piss. Grin

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 30/03/2019 22:01

I cannot abide the American accents that my DC picked up from TV ( not so much DS but DD used to watch i Carly and Victorius . I had to tell her "No , dont use the 'Sam' voice or 'Cat' voice . Use your voice " )

My DC are as Essex as you like . I love their accents ( different to DH and I )
Though he says bu'er and wa'er .

amusedbush · 30/03/2019 22:14

There is nothing even remotely normal about that.

Well, it is in every area of Scotland I’ve lived in. I hope being a rude dick on the internet makes you feel happy 🙃

Thesnobbymiddleclassone · 30/03/2019 22:21

I correct DDs.

Tha. Ms. To phonics and sounding letters out, some words come out with a northern twang like grass and bath and I hate it!

We're from Kent so say them differently and I prefer it the way we say it.

Originofstars · 30/03/2019 22:32

Sorry op but I'm having a giggle. I can hear him asking you if you're going ou, or ou' ou' Grin

AngeloMysterioso · 30/03/2019 23:19

I have an RP accent, so people are often surprised when I tell them I’m from Essex - “you’re so well spoken!”

I’m certain that it’s helped me progress through interview stages at more than one job- people can be snobby, if you’ve got the “right” accent it sadly can and does make a difference to their perception of you.

Dramatical · 30/03/2019 23:27

Well, it is in every area of Scotland I’ve lived in. I hope being a rude dick on the internet makes you feel happy

Im not being a rude dick by pointing out 'bo'll ah wa'er' is not the normal way Scottish people say 'bottle of water'

Some people in areas may say this, but it is by no means a standard Scottish way to talk.

Dramatical · 30/03/2019 23:27

*some people in some areas

Hermagsjesty · 30/03/2019 23:28

I absolutely definitely wouldn’t correct my kids’ accent. Personally, I don’t think a regional accent is any less valid than an R.P one. I don’t think any one way of talking is correct and I think a regional accent can be an important part of a child’s identity. Maybe when they’re older (much older) there’s room to encourage them to soften their accent in certain circumstances (tea with the queen...?) but I’m not even convinced about that.

Ginger1982 · 30/03/2019 23:33

Hmm, I live in Scotland and pronounce all my 't's and would hope DS would too once he can talk properly. It's a bit lazy not to and, at the risk of getting my head blown off, probably considered a bit low class. Maybe I'm a snob, who knows, who cares? Each to their own.

DS has learnt the word 'water' yet pronounces it with a cockney accent despite every other word being said in a Scottish accent 🤷🏼‍♀️

poglets · 30/03/2019 23:33

Yes. When an awful YouTube American accent begins to creep in then I remind them of the other way to say it. Oh, and I turn off the WiFi.

RomanyQueen1 · 30/03/2019 23:40

We corrected bad English but not the exact accent.
You can tell our dc are from the NW but not which area.
You could pin point it if I'd have allowed them to say Bokkle.

BillyAndTheSillies · 30/03/2019 23:59

Another East London here. DS(3) has a local accent. The only person he got it from is me and maybe some of the staff at nursery.

DH and I both grew up here, he has a really neutral accent and I know DS's accent has surprised him.
We are in a part of east London where a lot of people have moved to from other parts of the U.K. and it actually seems unusual to hear a "local" accent apart from the older generations.

I don't correct DS because my accent has done me no harm either educationally or professionally - although I know when to dial it down. And maybe because to me it sounds natural and a mimic of how I sound?

BringOnTheScience · 31/03/2019 00:05

We had fun when our DCs were young. I'm a Northerner with flat a sounds, while DH is a Southerner with long a sounds. We live in a long a area.

So the DCs say glarss, parth, etc. But they say 'bAth' my way because I always did "bath time". Plus a favourite bedtime book called "Big Red Bath" was read only by me.

I can't wait for the confusion on a future partner's face when one of my adult DCs says they want a 'glarss' of wine in the 'bAth'!

PleaseFormAQueue · 31/03/2019 00:10

Glad it's not just me!

Sashkin · 31/03/2019 02:15

Oh god, try moving to North America! I let “airplane” slide, but sorry I’m not putting up with “wadda”.

DS2 “whadoo?”

Me (RP accent): “what do what, darling?”

DS2 (pointing to water bottle): “whadoo?”

Me: “oh, war-ter!”

I have an Irish colleague who moved over here a year before us, and her four year old says “aw, man!” when she’s told no. High time they moved back, IMO.

Dramatical · 31/03/2019 08:34

I'm confused, as always, by the addition of an R into these words!