Accents
Getting together and expressing about accents was a lot of fun!
So much we hadn’t even thought of about languages and accents…
The short poem on the right, was written before the session… Thanks TLab
Here is a summary prose that came from the group’s expression on 19th April, 2020….
It’s intriguing that so many countries and so many languages… and even if speaking English it all sounds different
Why is that?
Amazing that we are born neutral and then you learn language and accent as you grow upÂ
What you hear, who you are surrounded byÂ
It can be a blend of 2 different languages, be based on family and education E.g. Scottish and English – It may have 2 twangs…Â
Working at the ABC early on they wanted announcers to say it as is… standardized a way….phonetically correct. Â
Sometimes we lose our accents…How? Some people don’t lose their accents…Â
Perhaps it how the tongue rolls… and develops. Certain sounds can’t be said…Â
A dialect is like an accent…Â you can tell where someone is from by their accent…Â
What would happen if you lived with a French family for years, would you begin to sound like them?
A dialect are words that are foreign to others…Â
Is it Kay or is Key… Scottish say Key, Kay said it’s OK, call me Key, LOL
We have Kath and Kim… No one talks like that – or do they? Yes they do in Birmingham!
Vowels are mixed up and it creates different sounds, different pitch.
Depends on how we use our teeth, tongue, breath – the sounds change…
It is extraordinary…Â
Are we getting better at picking up the language through the accents?
When someone has an accent I don’t say where are you from… often people feel they are saying it wrong… because they know they sound different…Â
This can be difficult for foreigners…Â
Some accents are easier to mimic than others… and some can’t be detected.Â
Standard language is the common in the language…Â
Some languages are so difficult because they don’t have letters in their language e.g.  L’s and R’s….Â
Wow! Let’s just appreciate the nature of language – just amazing…Â
Twang in language can give you away…Â Culture creates a sound a language
Irrespective of the accent, in English we can still understand it. Some languages however, pronunciation can change the meaning…
Tone, Inflection upwards… How amazing how languages evolved…Â
How and why??? Amazing there was only one language when humans started to speak…Â
Now there are about 7900 languagesÂ
And 173 countries… So what does that say!Â
Yet there are so many languages that are being lost…Â
dialects are being brought back… so the language is not lost.
When people are hypnotized they can wake up speaking French…How does that happen…
So intriguing… Â Â
Accents are emphasis,
Where is it?
Where does it come from?
What does it say?
Emphasis…
a ‘sound’ with attitude
a sound with emotion
a sound with culture
such an array…
He has an accent!
WHAT DID YOU SAY?
I CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU,
A LITTLE LOUDER IF YOU MAY
He has an accent…
I love what you say,
So much to discover,
Brings light to my day…
As I stand in amongst it,
the different sounds, do swirl,
the clues to many journeys,
My heart does whirl…
My chance to feel,
the depth of what life brings,
In the sound of the accents,
a time to dance and to sing…
Where are you from, what do you say?
I’d love to learn more about your life, your way…
TLab 12.04.21