to be miffed that dd2's teacher says 'anyfink'?

[kittywise]

dd2 came home the other day saying that her teacher had said 'anyfink' and 'that wasn't right was it'?

I said that it wasn't right.

She's a primary school teacher fhs. She should be able to pronounce words properly

It's just wrong for a teacher

But it's not 'our own language', Onagar.
I don't think you'll find it in the OED.

You shouldn't really have to reassure your child coming home from school that they are speaking correctly and the teacher is wrong.

Nothing to do with accents or snobbery.

What a strange notion that wanting the teacher of your child to speak correct English is snobbery

I went to a curriculum evening for parents of Reception children where the teacher said (and I quote).'We involve phonics in everyday activities so they don't know they are learning anyfink'. She then went on to say that in numeracy 'We may send them away to collect free plates so they can understand that the number free means free objects'....?!?!*
My child is learning his first phonics to learn to read and his teacher can't or doesn't say them correctly. Whether its a regional accent or not it is still wrong. YANBU.

happypiglet: that's shocking

how on earth will they learn the difference between free and three if the teacher's voice doesn't differentiate?

i do think that's worse than anyfink.

the only fink allowed should be Ratfink, imo.

it's not snobbish either, it's correct English and when you're learning to read using phonics these days, it's sooooo very important to know that "th" is "th" not "ff"

Funnily enough, my health visitor has just called to see if I'm still worried about DS's th/f issues as I mentioned it at his 2 year check...7 months ago!!

happypiglet I would be seriously worried

YANBU - she should say 'owt' instead.

I can't actually hear any difference between the th/f sound, dh assures me that I pronounce it correctly but I struggle to hear the difference.

When I hear the word three it sounds exactly the same as the word free. Yet when I say it I can feel my mouth making a different shape when I say the different words. It is tricky when I listen to ds reading as I don't know if he is pronouncing it correctly.

At least 1 teacher and 1 TA speak like this in DS2's Reception class in our school - I have had speech therapy for my eldest (5) and have been told he may never use 'th' correctly because of where we live!!! Needless to say I am tryin my hardest to make this not so......laughingly the school referred me...!!

thats 'trying'... clearly......

Oh no are we all going to live in a world where all our children are going to say f instead of th!!?? the world will probably end you know, we're all doomed! and I for one am already thucked....

maybe it is pedantic...as long as when my DS1 spells 'sing' as 'sink' and 'three' as 'free' in his spelling homework he gets a big fat tick....... any way time to bow out...

/th/ is notoriously difficult for non native speakers to enunciate, I teach my (Italian) students to do it by holding a mirror in front of them and making them stick their tongue out between their teeth. Maybe you could suggest it to this teacher?

It's another example of the jamieoliverisation of our world, unfortunately, and it's not only in London and the SE that it's prevalent.

Havent read the whole thread but it would irritate me too.
It would also irritate DS, who corrected a neighbour by patiently explaining

'No Ben, it isnt Na-alie, Its NaT-Talie'
Said neighbour is his best friends father and was describing his own wife Ooops.

I was both AND proud- my nagging paying off!
We too are in SE and the 'normal' accent here is the glottal stop. Annoys the life out of me, just as it did my mum when I insisted on adopting it aged 12!

I used to be a teacher. I've never had a very thick Sheffield accent but as an 11-18 English teacher, I've always tried to speak 'properly' in the classroom. Saying a word properly means that you can often spell it properly. However, whilst we northerners say 'bath', southerners do say 'barth' - a difficult one. As a teacher, I'd get the map of England/British Isles out and discuss the whole accent and dialect thing, emphasising the historical contexts and language developments - but make sure you know the difference between accent and dialect! (Think 'bonny' = pretty in Newcastle but fat in Sheffield!)

There is a huge difference between local vernacular and mispronunciation.

My family is from the Romford area and speaks with broad Essex accents - but we pronounce all our consonants, do not use glottals, and never substitute TH for FF or VV. Personally, when I hear it, it makes me wince. It just sounds so common and so lazy and so thick.

Regional accents and dialects are fine - although sadly on the decline as more as more and more kids are adopting some kind of uneducated patois so that it's hard to tell where they come from.

If I were a head teacher I'd never employ someone to teach children who could not pronounce their words properly.

yabvu

YANBU - I would find this very irritating. I don't see it as an accent issue but lazy speech. Would feel the same if she said "innit". And it isn't snobbery - it's respect for the English language.

YANBU. I changed my DD's school for a variety of reasons and was delighted to find that her new school picks them up on annunciation.
I agree that there is a difference between local dialects and 'lazy speaking'.

My son is awful and often say's the way I speak is 'cool, because not only does he have a local dialect, incorrect pronunciation, he also uses the gangster/street vernacular.

'wos fu dinna mum..'

'Grilled Gammon and Home-made chips darling.'

'awrite, wicked innit, get us a glass u watter mum.'

Bless...

My DH said "anythink" and "nothink" etc when I first met. It wasn't long before I corrected him . His mother still says "anythink" etc so that it obviously where he picked it up. It now annoys both of us to here any of the DC use this.

Re "barth" instead of "bath". I had this conversation with a colleague from the north (live in SE). He said there was no "r" in "bath" and therefore "bath" was correct. I asked him how he pronounced "vase" as there was no "r" in vase .

ROFL at all the comments like

"Would she have been reading aloud from a Horrid Henry / Just William type book, with added 'voices'? "

as if a teacher, a member of the professional classes, could not possibly be from a lower class background, and with an accent to match, there just must be an "innocent," ie compatible with middle-class vapours, explanation for this . . . this outrage!

Hey, I've got a theory.

The teacher is planning a surprise Christmas performance of "Pygmalion" for the parents, and was reading the part of Eliza out loud because none of the children knew what a real Cock-er-ney is supposed to sound like. As they have all been driven from your local area by a baying mob with pithforks.

How's that sound?

I've not read the whole thread as I am very pushed for time right now, but personally I think yanbu...

Because, simply put, this isn't so much about accent (which is acceptable) but about it being the completely wrong word!

Presumably, the teacher means 'anything'

It's a real bug bear of mine and my own mother says 'anyTHink'. She pronounces it 'properly' (so I hear the th rather than an f) but it's just the wrong damn word!

It's not an accent. It's ignorance.

Ha ha, love the OP's notion that living in the South East gives one a 'neutral' accent . I bet I, and others with a northern tinge, would be able to place her straight away.

As for finding the different pronounciations of 'bath' and 'barth', FGS, it depends on where you were brung up, dunnit?

at BalloonSlayer