EY Y02 L23 Accents

  1. There are many places in your home country that have a strong regional accent. Name one. Tell me a word, phrase or intonation that is different?
  2. If someone asked you ‘What is your accent?’, what would you tell them? Do you like your accent? Why?
  3. Tell me about a colleague, family member, person on TV or someone you have met who you find very hard to understand because of the way they talk?
  4. Are there any minority languages that are only spoken in one region of your country? Tell me about one of them - is that language thriving or dying?
  5. As English learners, we have to adjust to many different accents* when doing examinations, lessons or listening activities. Which accent or accents do you find it easiest to hear? Has there been a teacher or an accent which you have found really hard to understand?
  6. If you were from Kansai and moved from Kansai to Kanto would you drop your Kansai accent? If you moved from Kanto to Kansai and had a Kanto accent, would you adopt a Kansai accent? Why?
* New Zealand, Australian, British, Scottish, Irish, South African, General American (standard US accent), East US (e.g. Boston, New York), American South (e.g. Texas), American West (e.g. California), Canadian etc.

Question 1

I think my home area has a strong accent. It is famous for its "rolling R". A phrase that is common is to call fish and chips "greasies" because they are often very oily.

Question 2

I have a very mixed accent which I have learned to change as I need. My parents are from the north and south of England. Their hometowns are famous for strong accents - which I had naturally learned to speak. I also have a New Zealand accent and a generic accent because I have lived outside of NZ for many years.

Question 3

I have always found the Scottish accent very hard to understand, despite my hertiage being from the Highlands of Scotland.

Question 4

New Zealand is very ethnially mixed and has many different languages. The native language is Maori but it is rarely spoken, even by people with Maori hertiage which is a little sad.

Question 5

I have always found Australian and most British accents easy to pick up. I had an Indian professor at university which I found impossible to understand due to his very strong accent.

Question 6

I would adjust my accent to my surroundings, although I may not always adjust it because it will depend on who I am with.

Tough Vocabulary

- English - - Japanese -
generic 汎用的
heritage 遺産
ethnically mixed みんぞくまじり