0:00--Diverse cultures, different traditions, dozens of accents, in Britain, a lot of affection for regional quirks but as Polly Boiko reports it could hamper your job prospects if you don't lose your local lilt.
0:12--No matter where you go in Britain you'll hear a regional accent.
There's Cockney from London's East End,
0:19--What you're trying to tell me is this Monica bird, she sort of like didn't go a...is that right?
0:25--In Wales, speech tends to be breathier,
0:28--... Oh you plank you missed it.
0:33--Up in Scotland the accents more guttural,
0:36--You ever tried voice recognition technology?
-No.
-They don't do Scottish accents.
0:41--And in New Castle there's the famous Geordie accent,
0:45--Still people that come in genuinely believe that they can be the next...--and it's kind of sad, you know?
0:51--But over in Buckingham Palace the manner of speaking is described as plummy,
0:57--So much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history.
1:01--The Queens english is known as received pronunciation or RP and according to a leading academic brits with strong regional accents experience discrimination.
So are under pressure to posh up their speech in order to climb the career ladder or just make a better impression about themselves.
1:22--Britain might be a diverse multicultural society and there's a strong awareness of the problems surrounding racism, sexism and ageism but according to experts, accentism here is the last taboo.
And in a country where class is still so divisive, where it's not just money and education that stratifies people but also the way they talk, according to many, accentism is just another word for classicism.
1:53--Well, I think it goes back to British society.
It is a class based society.
I think it's still a class conscious society and I'm not trying to oversimplify matters but I think if we hear a very regional accent, there is the temptation to automatically say "ah, working class".
2:10--Caroline comes from Huddersfield in Yorkshire. She grew up with a strong regional accent.
2:15--So you have to talk in long vowels. So I would've used to talk like that. You'd say "I don't know", "I'm from home" and say things like "phone" and "no".
2:26--But as Caroline got older, went to university and moved to London she found she'd changed the way she spoke.
But it's something this London-based Yorkshire lass has come to regret.
2:38--I found that it's maybe disrupted my sense of who I am at times and when I go home and speak to people from home and they'll say "oh your voice has turned posh" I feel a bit detached from them.
2:52--But the question is, when will British culture and the establishment be more inclusive of those with regional and working class accents.
Three of the UK's top jobs are held by men who attended Eton and then Oxford.
They speak the Queen's English.
They've been accused repeatedly of not speaking the same language as the rest of the country.
Polly Boiko, RT London
[News anchor with RT:]
Diverse cultures, different traditions, dozens of accents in Britain, a lot of affection for regional quirks. But, as Polly Boiko reports, it could hamper your job prospects if you don’t lose your local lilt.
[Polly Boiko, reporter with RT:]
No matter where you go in Britain, you’ll hear a regional accent. There's Cockney from London East End:
[Cockney:] “What’re tryin’ to tell me is that this Monica bird, she sort uh’ like di’n’t go a bandle on this dressing up [?]”
[Polly Boiko:]
In Wales speech tends to be breathier:
[Welsh:] “Crossin’ over [?] there 'e comes! Oh, you plank, you missed it.”
[Polly Boiko:]
Up in Scotland, the accent is more guttural:
[Scots:] “Ever tried voice recognition technology?” “No.” “They don’t do Scottish accents.”
[Polly Boiko:]
And, then, in Newcastle, there's the famous Geordie accent:
[Geordie:] “The people that come in genuinely believe that they can be the next—and it’s kinda’ sad, you know?”
[Polly Boiko:]
But over in Buckingham Palace the manner of speaking is described as “plummy”:
[Received Pronunciation, or RP:] “So much of this visit reminds us of the complexity of our history.”
[Polly Boiko:]
The Queen's English is known as Received Pronunciation, or RP, and according to a leading academic, Brits with strong Regional accents experience discrimination. So they're under pressure to posh up their speech in order to climb the career ladder or just make a better impression about themselves. Britain might be a diverse, multicultural society, and there is a strong awareness of the problems surrounding racism, sexism, and ageism. But according to experts, accentism here is the last taboo, and in a country where class is still so divisive, where it's not just money and education that stratifies people but, also, the way they talk. According to many, accentism is just another word for classism.
[Alexander Baratta, linguist, University of Manchester:]
I think it goes back to British Society; it is a class-based society. I think it is still a class-conscious society, and, I'm not trying to oversimplify matters, but I think if we hear an very regional accent, there's the temptation to automatically say “Aah! Working class.”
[Polly Boiko:]
Caroline comes from Huddersfield in Yorkshire. She grew up with a strong regional accent.
[Caroline Moors, London-based Yorkshire]
So, you have to talk in long vowels. So, when you—when you’re not used to talk like that, and you say, ‘I don't know. I’m from home.’ And say things like ‘phone’ and ‘no’. Um. Yeah.”
[Polly Boiko:]
But as Caroline got older, went to University, and moved to London, she found she changed the way she spoke. But it's something this london-based Yorkshire lass has come to regret.
[Caroline Moors:]
I found that it's maybe disrupted, you know, the sense of who I am. At times, you know, when I go home and speak to people from home, and they’ll say, “Oh, your voice has turned ‘posh’.” Then, I feel a bit detached from them.
[Polly Boiko:]
The question is, When will British culture and the establishment be more inclusive of those with regional and working-class accents? Three of the UK Top jobs are held by men who attended Eton and, then, Oxford. They speak the Queen's English. They been accused repeatedly of not speaking the same language as the rest of the country.
Polly Boiko, RT, London.
