Accents are a strange thing. Especially if you come to England as a foreigner, and are suddenly faced with the whole range of them and all of their implications.
In Poland, you can pretty much speak with one accent- Polish. You would never really be able to tell what region of the country people come from, judging just by their accent.
The onle exception might be Warsaw but then that's just because most of the 'capital people' consider themselves to be better and try to sound posher and cooler than the rest of us. An attempt which generally fails and gives pathetic results, to be honest.
But in England (or Britain in general) it seems to be completely different. I was astonished to find out that you can pretty much tell everything about your speaker- the region of the country they come from, their social backrground, their education, their job and social position- judging just by their accent. It's incredible. And sad and in many ways.
You're one of the few countries where 'classes' are still very much present. One of the few countries where one is forced to establish a connection to one of the classes and consider himself to be a member of it. Obviously this comes in the full package with hating/looking down on other classes.
You are the only country where people have invented words like 'chav', a phenomenon which I was rather shocked about.
But then it's not just about using the word 'chav' it's also about the way you pronounce it. Careful, or you might end up being assigned to some group yet again, even against your will.
We've had countless discussions and arguments about this in Oxford. Sitting at the table you suddenly hear people arguing:
'No it's not 'France' (with the short 'a'), it's Fraaaaaaaance'
'Don't be ridiculous. It's hilarious how you say 'graaaaaass' when it's obviously 'grass'.
'Marika, you learnt English as a foreign language, how would you pronounce it'
'Ehm... graass? And Fraance?' I try to balance out between the two thus causing general confusion in the hall.
'She said it in the southern accent!' starts one of my speakers.
'No you plonker, it was quite definitely northern' the other one replies.
And so on.
Next time Im just going to put on some ridiculously strong Polish accent.
But then I already do realise where it's going. I have to admit, as much as I wanted to, I've not managed to escape being assigned to something. I've not managed to avoid going one way or another. I've picked up an accent which I cannot supress anymore. My foreigner's neutrality is thus gone Im afraid.
'Your accent has become so posh' says my ex (who came from Stoke-on-Trent) with strong disgust in his voice. 'I absolutely hate your vowels. How can you say 'graaass'? Revolting.'
Having been told for the past two years that the Southern and posh accent is an evil thing (my ex came from Stoke and thus genuinely detested it), I have to admit I feel ashamed.
2008-01-04 @ 20:35