Zero tolerance for accents

[Gob]

Pupils at a West Midlands school have been banned from talking or writing in their Black Country dialect.

A letter sent to parents of pupils at Colley Lane Primary School in Halesowen said it was introducing a "zero tolerance" approach.

Staff have been criticised for thwarting attempts to keep the Black Country heritage alive.

Head teacher John White said the letter was only meant in the context of classroom teaching.

Speaking on BBC WM, he said: "If children are using certain phrases, that can be confusing for them because when they come to spell that word, they are not saying it in standard English and that can hold them back."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bi ... m-24941692

[Daisy]

Bloody YamYams, that accent should have been banned years ago

[Lord Jim]

They sound like The Village Idiot that Hyacinth and Richard ran into in a Keeping Up Appearances episode, where they are out looking for a country home...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well yeah (sorry if I said this elsewhen) but these folks are at least utterly non-understandable which is probably a blessing. What cracks me up is when Australians and New Zealanders talk about buying/building houses on various wonderful cable TV shows (Location Oz or The Block NZ).

"Ah yer, the ladies like a big dick out back. They like to sit on the dick and watch the sun go down. Nothing like a nice wooden dick"

What on earth do antipodeans say when they really do mean 'dick'? Dock? Duck? Dack? One thing's for sure, they can't blood well say "deck".

[Sue U]

What on earth do antipodeans say when they really do mean 'dick'? Dock? Duck? Dack? One thing's for sure, they can't blood well say "deck".

"Penis"?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Oh sorry - I meant "Dick" as in Richard

[Lord Jim]

Nothing like a nice wooden dick

I frequently have a similar experience with my Mother-In-Law and her Spanish accent...

The other day she came out of Jimmy's room and told us she was going to put some fresh "shits" on his bed ....

Tati found that hilarious....

[Jarlaxle]

My father in law's English is perfect, but he never lost his heavy Cuban accent...it can be interesting.

[Lord Jim]

My father in law's English is perfect, but he never lost his heavy Cuban accent...it can be interesting.

It's funny you say that...

I've been telling The Queen Mum for years that she sounds like a female version of Ricky Ricardo...

[Scooter]

And how much enforced celibacy have you enjoyed as a result?

[oldr_n_wsr]

My grand mother used to switch between english and german all the time. That's how I picked up the language (although due to lack of use I have forgotten much).
Even in english, her "V's" became "W's", "T's" became "S's" and visa versa.
I remember gorcery shopping with her and she said she needed "win-ee-are". And I'm telling her to speak english and her insisting she was and keeps saying it's "win-ee-are" . So we're looking all around and finally she finds the bottle of "win-ee-are. It ended up being vinegar.
I miss grandma (and grandpa).

[Gob]

Council chiefs did not know a Cumbrian teacher had been told to lose her accent and sound more southern by bosses at the school where she works.

The union NASUWT claims the unnamed woman was given the objective by the west Berkshire school in which she works, following a comment by an Ofsted inspector.

Today, a spokeswoman for West Berkshire Council revealed they were unaware of the incident until the News & Star broke the story.

Efforts are being made to identify the school, but she added: "These colleagues are an asset to our children's learning, and the variety of accents and dialects they bring adds value to the diversity in ways of speaking that schools celebrate."

A spokesman for Ofsted - the Government body responsible for assessing the standard of education within schools - said that, if true, the allegations are unacceptable.

"We would be happy to look into this matter if we are told the name of the school,” he said. “Inspectors comment on the standard of teaching at schools.

“Negative comments about the suitability of regional accents are clearly inappropriate, and should form no part of our assessment of a school's or teacher’s performance."

The union has so far refused to name the school or the part of Cumbria where the woman is from, as she does not currently want to be named.

[Lord Jim]

And how much enforced celibacy have you enjoyed as a result?

The Queen Mum is my Mother-In-Law...

Lady Kelly was born and raised in Reno...(half Irish half Latin...she has something of a temper...)

[rubato]

Television is rapidly erasing regional accents across the US.

yrs,
rubato

[Andrew D]

No one else in the UK speaks standard English, so why should they?