Dropping her T’s

[Stick0rTwist]

My daughter has just gone into Yr1 and is an articulate child, relatively smart with a love for reading.

We moved her to a new school in the new year and have noticed since then she has started dropping her t’s when saying many of her words, like water, better, bottle, little etc.

This gets corrected consistently at home as although we don’t speak the queens English (and are not snobbish by any stretch of the imagination) we would prefer her to speak properly and not get into bad habits speech wise.

Over the summer holidays she was fine, but I’ve noticed in the two days she’s been back her speech has reverted back.

So here’s the AIBU - would I be unreasonable to mention this to her teacher? Or would I sound like a massive snob 🙈

Sounds dramatic but it’s even making me want to move her school again as this was not a problem at her old school at all. Its been a direct result of moving school as it started the week we moved.

You are not correct, @Thursdayschild2025 . There is such a thing as speaking properly. It's not about accent, it's about communicating clearly.
BTW, your long and tedious post that @NorthenAdventure quoted contains errors.

People pick up the accepts of people around them and there is little you can do about that. I picked up the t-dropping from my husband cos his mum is a Londoner and it drove my posh parents mad, but what annoyed them more was the rising inflection that I picked up from a pe teacher at my secondary school. They always corrected me but it's too well ingrained now. You can correct her at home all you want but if all her friends speak like that she will always slip back into that and for all you know maybe her teacher speaks like that.

No it won’t. Accents affect pronunciation not the written word. The RP accent has a non-rhotic R for example which is quite different to other accents ….but i’m sure they all learn how to spell the same.

There is no “proper accent”. All accents are governed by their own rules and are systematic. You are uneducated about language development.

No more so than if the King is communicating to someone who is not a king.

What makes one type of English more correct than another?

Says who?

I think this is one of the most condescending posts I’ve ever read on MN! What a load of snobby, self-righteous waffle!!

@HundredMilesAnHour If his south London accent was consistent, it would be fine but it isn't. That's what I meant by he rolls into it every now and then. I know people who are also born and raised in Tooting and they don't do this.

I've also worked in Paris in an office but with people from all over France and beyond and there was a lot of snobbery/sarcasm about accents.

@PaxAeterna , @MasterBeth , I didn't say anything about 'proper accent'. The King's English generally means correct usage and grammar.

@Spookygoose , it's also inarticulate.

Dropping t’s is feature of regional accents. You don’t understand the difference between grammar and pronunciation. Your ideas are based on snobbery basically rather than any linguistic knowledge.

@PaxAeterna You don’t understand the difference between grammar and pronunciation. I do.
My ideas aren't based on snobbery, and they are based on enunciation not pronunciation.

'I've also worked in Paris in an office but with people from all over France and beyond and there was a lot of snobbery/sarcasm about accents.'

I agree, but not nearly to the same extent as in the U.

...the U.K.

Look at the non-rhotic R in the RP accent that you admire so much. The dropping of Rs might sounds inarticulate or sloppy to the ear of those with other accents. .But it is not, it’s rules based itself and simply a different way of organising sounds.

@PaxAeterna , I have not expressed any admiration for RP. You are making things up.

I'm sorry my facts got your knickers in a knot 😅 (I'm not sorry at all, actually and find your attemped self-righteous condescending snobbery quite hilarious 😂)

Thanks heaps for quoting me and making sure my post remains at the end of the thread though - I do want that to continue.

I would prefer my post remains as one of the last ones on the thread since I articulately, effectively and quite correctly pointed out that the attempted snobbery of the OP is so much ridiculous burbling.

I'm sorry my facts got your knickers in a knot 😅 (I'm not sorry at all, actually and find your attemped self-righteous condescending snobbery quite hilarious 😂) Then why say it?

Why for the love of life do you keep using such OTT pompous sounding language? It makes you sound like a bit of a snob (oh, the irony of your post in pointing out snobbery...)

It amused me, are you actually trying to POLICE my comments now? You are hilariously over entitled 😅😂😅

Oh dear, I'm sorry you think standard, common language is pompous and OTT, but your lack of education is really not my concern, nor is your reverse snobbery about perfectly standard language.

Just making sure we don't forget that the OP is completely, utterly and irrefutably wrong :)

Ha. Lack of education. So educated in your replies with your cheap wit.

I am perfectly well educated to degree level, thank you.

I find the hysterical burbling of those who have nothing of any relevance to add reasonably amusing, and clearly I can easily continue to swat these mosquitoes away ad nauseam.

However, I simply don't have the time to keep responding to these yappy ankle biters, so I will have to go for now. If I have the time, and the inclination, I may return later to put them back in their place.

So bye for now, cheers for the chuckles and remember - if you agree with the OP's opinion on this topic, you are ill educated and parochial. If you continue to double down after being properly schooled you are also small minded and ignorant. Hope this helps :)

Regardless of whether you’re right or wrong, you are one of the most irritating people I’ve ever come across. I hope this helps :)

@Thursdayschild2025 , your hysterical burbling is not amusing. Bye.