By Alice Davison
Do you dislike the way you speak? If so, fear not as you are part of the vast majority of British people. According to research done by the Daily Mail, 70% of Brits feel embarrassed by their accent. If you’re part of the minority that is comfortable with the way you speak, consider yourself lucky as it’s only safe to assume that it hasn’t burdened you in any way.
To those who dislike their accents, such as myself, have you ever tried changing it? In fact, further research from the Daily Mail shows that one in five people in Britain try to make their accent “more posh” to appear intelligible. As a short-term solution it may seem like a harmless idea to increase the chances of getting that job you wanted, but can you really keep it up? Once you’re over the age of 7, chances are your accent is effectively stuck with you so you might as well embrace it. Take Cheryl Cole for example, with her extensive and expensive training, her accent is still unmistakable. Welsh blog BritishNewsWales found that 14% feel accent discrimination in the workplace.
But how am I supposed to get the job I want? As our society is becoming more diverse and similar, so is the way we speak. Changing accents may seem harmless but is subconsciously detrimental to our mental wellbeing as it diminishes our true identity. In relation to society, it over time produces prejudice, stereotypes and creates an assumption that there is only one correct way to speak.
Communication is not only vital in the workplace but also helps us understand each other and unite as a society. However, our dialect may hinder how easily we can express our thoughts. Whether that is speaking with foreigners with a basic understanding of English or someone from across the country, dialects come in a variety of shades. Unlike accents, dialects include vocabulary and grammar and within them are slang and colloquialisms.
As a Geordie, the register of my dialect is very informal and uses lots of slang. Examples of slang I hear from friends and around school daily include, “howay” and “wey aye”, which would not be understood by a standard English speaker or just anyone outside of the region. Dialects should not be deliberately disappearing out of fear of miscommunication, everyone is part of their own regional group and merely adjusting your voice to accommodate those struggling to understand you temporarily could be as simple as speaking more slowly and enunciated.
Our sociolect is our identity, it represents where you’re from and it is the first thing people notice about us when we speak. Instinctively, people make assumptions - whether those are negative or positive assumptions is out of our control. HRnews shows that 28% of the UK population feel that they have been discriminated against due to their regional accent, however, as a representative of your region you should take pride.
Received pronunciation, widely common in the south, is the norm for media such as TV and radio and people from lower social classes may feel rejected from mainstream society due to not being ‘formal’ enough. Common in many dialects, Geordie uses non-standard grammar like saying “is” instead of me and “me” instead of my. It has a reputation of being difficult to understand and uses syntax, the arrangement of words, in a way that is incomprehensible to anyone outside of the region. However, with the increase in independent local radio stations and online personalities like YouTubers, exposure to different levels of sociolect is increasingly on the rise.
Even after reading this, if you dislike the way you speak, hopefully, you’ve come to terms with it and are more tolerable of it. As there will always be a superiority complex of accents, it’s our job as a society to break down these stereotypes and fully embrace the way we speak.
How are you meant to accept the way other people speak if you can’t accept the way you do?
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