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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

279 replies

kittywise · 12/10/2009 07:07

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

OP posts:
TheMitsubishiWarrioress · 12/10/2009 19:31

There is a massive difference between a 'speech impediment' and incorrect use of the language though. So someone with a lisp might say 'thorted', but to say thor ed would not be ok.

It is easy to say we are making a bigger thing than needs be about a lot of issues, but if we lose sight of them. I personally think the world would be a blander place for it. For me personally, it reflects my overall philosophy on life, to dress presentably, speak correctly, treat people with the dignity and respect they deserve and to generally give as much of myself to life as I can at all times.

corriefan · 12/10/2009 19:33

YABU. In the grand scheme of things it's no biggie. It wouldn't bother me and I don't fink it would affect my child's language development. Is she terrible in every other aspect?

ermintrude13 · 12/10/2009 19:35

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Regional accents include differences in how words are pronounced as well as grammatical variations. And few people on this thread seem to recognise the difference between accent and dialect: Standard English is a dialect which the vast majority of us - villified 'nuffink' teacher included - all speak in various accents, at least in public, whether or not we have a regional or gender/class-based dialectic in our homes and communities.

In my studies of sociolinguistics I remember reading a great deal of fascinating research about the particular dialectical variations which elicited shrieks of 'laziness!' and 'just plain wrong!' from the shocked public school kids from the home counties or indeed the uptight children of aspirational parents who'd had elocution lessons. They were mostly to do with class differences.

If you don't want to bring up a raving snob, I think the 'everyone is different and says words differently and it's rude to comment on that' approach would be better than telling a child that someone in loco parentis is Wrong.

BalloonSlayer · 12/10/2009 19:38

I know a lot of people who have pronounced anything as anyfink.

I see it as an issue of pronunciation.

Once in a while I have seen someone who writes anything as anythink, and that I am about as this means it is an issue with getting the word totally wrong.

If the teacher has written "anyfink" or "anythink" then I think there is cause for concern. However, I doubt that she could have got through her BEd without ever having to write the word "anything" in an essay, and given that it would have been corrected in no uncertain terms had she got it wrong, I think this is unlikely.

As someone in possession of a very good degree in English, of which I am very proud, and a rather gorblimey accent, of which I am significantly less proud, this thread has dismayed me somewhat.

deleting · 12/10/2009 19:41

I think it is a biggie. She's a teacher. How can she expect the children to spell words correctly when they're not saying them right? One of the main reasons we changed schools for ds was because the teachers couldn't speak properly! Half of them couldn't even spell or say his name properly (and it isn't an unusual one). After a while he was even saying it wrong!!

notunique · 12/10/2009 19:41

There are plenty of teachers who by your definition do not speak properly. I know plenty of tutors/ lecturers in college who even use "them" when they mean "those" and similar grammatical errors. I notice it and if I am being honest, it grates me and I notice it more here than where I was before in the South.

Should we make elocution a compulsory part of teacher's training then?

star6 · 12/10/2009 19:42

I understand the difference between dialect and accent. I have done quite a bit of research and university level study in linguistics and psycholinguistics.

And I don't think you'd be bringing up a snob to tell her that it's not the way it should be pronounced. You wouldn't want her going on a job or even university entrance interview thinking that's the way it is pronounced. I do agree, however, that it is important to say that people speak differently...etc. and to respect everyone regardless of how they pronounce words.

happypiglet · 12/10/2009 19:44

Hate to leave this really interesting thread but going out now!!!
I understand that the teacher may know how to spell the word correctly even though her accent (or dialect or whatever) means she says it 'wrong'. But I still have concerns about the fact that she is teaching my child to read and spell these words..... but yet 'sounding' them wrong... but hey ho not much I can do about it......BUT still think OP is NBU!!!

star6 · 12/10/2009 19:45

I think so, notunique
and you're right about the spelling balloonslayer. Young children in particular learn to spell by hearing and recording sounds in words.

BalloonSlayer · 12/10/2009 19:49

So should I report DS's teacher to Ofsted because at the end of last term her note said "Hope you all enjoy your holiday's" ?

Do you know that teachers will only correct, what is it?, three spellings per page so as not to discourage children.

I hate that. It's far more important than pronunciation. Pronunciation/elocution are not on the national curriculum as far as I know.

Teachers have a lot to worry about, a lot to teach.

Now they are supposed to speak like Hyacinth Bucket as well.

You could petition parliament, I suppose, that no lower class person should be allowed on to a PGCE or B.Ed until they had passed the required level of RP, along with the C-grade English and Maths. Or perhaps you think they should do away with the English and Maths bit, after all as long as they speak naicely that's all that matters.

junglist1 · 12/10/2009 19:50

Here we go again. I love these poncey threads, I might be common but I judge people on the way they treat me. This is so precious it's unreal. I think you should tell your child it doesn't matter how people speak if they're nice? I can't believe a child would even come out with that

PoisonToadstool · 12/10/2009 19:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ermintrude13 · 12/10/2009 19:53

Would love to know what deleting's son is called - must be pretty special to justify changing schools.

Telling DC that teachers are wrong to pronounce things the way you don't pronounce them is indeed encouraging snobbery. It's also paranoid - your kids will speak like you at home, loosen up to some form of dialect with their friends and hardly start pronouncing one word differently just because a teacher uses it. Lighten up.

junglist1 · 12/10/2009 19:54

at teachers having to speak like Hyacinth Bucket

BalloonSlayer · 12/10/2009 19:54

It is an accent, in the East End of London. If everyone in your family and social circle speaks in a certain way then you do too.

Are you saying that people from that area should not be able to become teachers? What a very . . . erm . . . strange opinion to have.

notunique · 12/10/2009 19:55

I agree Junglist that I would consider the child impolite if he/she had mentioned it to the teacher. However, in OP's case, she only told her dm.

corriefan · 12/10/2009 19:58

I agree it's accent, it's immediately recognisible as a Southern thing. Up here you wouldn't hear it no matter how "lazily" they spoke. They'd say "owt", which is actually more succint if you think about it!

TheMitsubishiWarrioress · 12/10/2009 20:02

at petitioning parliament... or banning lower classes from becoming teachers...as if the upper/middle classes all spoke eloquently.

None of the teachers in my DD's school are either upper or middle class and they all have local accents, it is very much a local state school with a real mix of 'class' pupils, and none of them are like 'Hyacinth Bouquet' or speak 'naicely', but to hear them speak with clarity at school events is nonetheless very pleasing.

corriefan · 12/10/2009 20:03

Slightly OT but I also think we judge people in terms of class by their accent more than anything else.

deleting · 12/10/2009 20:04

ermintrude, it's a REALLY simple name and not uncommon at all, that's why I thought if they can't even get that right, what chance has he got. Wasn't the only reason we changed schools. Couldn't give a monkeys how people speak when they're not teaching.

sugardumpling · 12/10/2009 20:04

agree BalloonSlayer, I get so when people presume I'm thick because of my accent, I find that extremely ignorant. But ho hum am kind of used to it now so I just take the piss.

star6 · 12/10/2009 20:05

sorry, obviously I meant I agreed about the spelling with deleting not balloonslayer

star6 · 12/10/2009 20:07

yes corriefan, people do.
I don't think teachers who speak in such a way should be reported to ofsted.. that's quite extreme..

BalloonSlayer · 12/10/2009 20:09

How dare you not agree with the lovely ME, Star!

{angry]

  • yes, couldn't work out how you agreed with me then contradicted me
BalloonSlayer · 12/10/2009 20:09

oh bugger those curly brackets that look straight after two glasses o'wine