I realise that I am now a 'senior citizen', an old fogey from long lost times, however I do miss some of the old days.
For example I was watching the TV the other evening, BBC1 to be precise when the presenter announced the programs for the rest of the evening.
The only word I understood was eerm!
No disrespect to the young lady (whoever she is), but I have never been able to understand what I assume to be a Broad Glaswegian dialect at full bore!
Back in my day (I'm really sounding like my parents now), the BBC presenters all spoke with what was known as "Received Pronunciation"(aka 'Queen's English' or 'BBC Pronunciation') I do wish it had remained the norm.
I did write to the Beeb just out of mischief, their reply was "...although we will not be actioning the complaint for which we thank you, your concerns have been passed to programming managers for their attention".
------------- Knowledge is recognising that a tomato is a fruit: experience is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Well as another "old fogey" I actually prefer the variation in accents, and there have been few I haven't been able to understand. I have heard some old broadcasts recently, and to me the "posh talk" just sounds silly now. Always makes me laugh.
I prefer variation in accents - we arent a country full of people who talk like they have a plum in their mouth so neither should our media be. The more you hear broad accents the easier they are to understand so over time itll be less of a problem for people, especially as more and more people live far from where they were raised, combined with multiple accents on media, will dilute them anyway.
Your opportunity to be a BBC presenter shouldn't be decided by whether you have the kind of upbringing that makes you sound like Royalty :-)
Quote: Originally posted by Mitchamitri on 03/10/2022
I prefer variation in accents - we arent a country full of people who talk like they have a plum in their mouth so neither should our media be. The more you hear broad accents the easier they are to understand so over time itll be less of a problem for people, especially as more and more people live far from where they were raised, combined with multiple accents on media, will dilute them anyway.
Your opportunity to be a BBC presenter shouldn't be decided by whether you have the kind of upbringing that makes you sound like Royalty :-)
The presenter should present so that all the audience can understand.
I find that a Geordie or Glaswegian understands what I say yet their replies are gibberish to me. Language should be the basis of reciprocal communication
We were taught to speak coherently at school, it became even more important when I became a Radio Communicator.
Always remember in training hearing "wye eye dya ken".......only the receiving operator's name was Peter!
------------- Knowledge is recognising that a tomato is a fruit: experience is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Though it's important not to confuse an accent (how you sound) with good diction (what you actually say) I think.
I'm really pleased with the rise in standards that the wider range of accents has allowed. But, then, I have to say, I have never heard an accent on a TV presenter I havent been able to understand.
The more regional accents are shown on TV the more people understand them.
When all is said and done the presenters on the One Show (or whatever) wouldn't get the job if people couldn't understand them, and although that prog isnt my "thing" it would be a lot less interesting if Jermaine Jenas, Alex Jones, Ronan Keating etc were replaced by a bunch of people who uniformly sound like a tired Gyles Brandreth. Saturday Kitchen would run out of chefs as well :-)
I always laugh when they show old Pathe News or BBC stuff. The presenters were so frightfully posh!
It always seems false to me but I guess one had elocution lessons at ones public school!
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
Quote: Originally posted by starcraft on 03/10/2022
And the constant nodding when interviewing :)
There is a reason for that. You may not realise, but those shots of the interviewer nodding are shot after the interview has been finished (usually) and used for editing purposes.
Many interviews are filmed on a single camera, so that will be kept on the interviewee and then turned to film the interviewer asking the questions, probably after the interviewee has left. The whole lot is then edited to produce a smooth running interview.
Quote: Originally posted by 664DaveS on 03/10/2022
I always laugh when they show old Pathe News or BBC stuff. The presenters were so frightfully posh!
It always seems false to me but I guess one had elocution lessons at ones public school!
I couldn't agree more! It just seems so false and ridiculous, and I find it hilarious. Go back to that, you must be joking! They'll be having radio presenters wearing dinner jackets again next.
I certainly won't be trying to talk like that on my Hospital Radio show tonight.
Quote "I find that a Geordie or Glaswegian understands what I say yet their replies are gibberish to me. Language should be the basis of reciprocal communication"
On that basis your inability to understand them is as much your responsibility as it is theirs to make you understand. :-)
Ken Bruce is on the radio, he's from Glasgow. Personally I'm a big fan of Grogor Fisher's Rab C Nesbitt!!!
It's really important I think for society to get used to accents and not judge by them - I have a Somerset accent that gets much broader when I speak to my "Old squad"; and there's a stereotype on the accent that we're all "thick". It's a form of racial bias in a kind of way I think.
I like Ken Bruce, one of my favourite presenters, and I also used to watch Rab C Nesbitt.
I always think of my own accent as "neutral", but I remember when I went to live in Norfolk for a few years one of my workmates nick-named me the Chinese Cockney. Where he got the Chinese bit from I've no idea, as there's nothing in the least Oriental about me. I don't talk Cockney either! I come originally from North London, but I have lived in several places throughout East Anglia. I supposed it was fairly obvious that I wasn't originally from Norfolk and my workmate couldn't figure out where I was from. They did have a tendency to think of anywhere south of Cambridge as being "London" though.
I'm not saying go back fully to Queens English on media, just modify it like Ken Bruce has done, he's perfectly clear with just a hint of accent.
As I said, I'm ancient. Back in time my native Suffolk dialect was thrashed out of me during schooling. The teachers saying we must speak for all to understand. We also wore ties back then ;)
------------- Knowledge is recognising that a tomato is a fruit: experience is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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Topic: Remembering the BBC
via mobile 03/10/2022 at 11:37am
