Your comments

Sarah, Lancashire
I grew up in Lancashire but have spent most of my life living in the midlands and the south west. I'm very proud of my Lancashire accent - even though it has mellowed slightly. So much so that when I go back to my home town sometimes I cannot understand the locals. Lancashire must have one of the most varied county accents - each town has a different distintive accent - so much so that sometimes you can place people's origins within a 5 mile distance. Even the early movement of people from the countryside into the towns seeking work in the industrial revolution didn't seem to disipate the strong differences between each town. Not only does it contain many distinictive ways of pronouncing words (especially the vowels) but Lancashire has a dialect where sentances and grammer is different or other words are substituted. At school our teacher pointed out that we all asked for "me book" back rather then "my book" and as you may have noticed I've just used then rather then than! something I have to check and correct in every report I write at work. Microsoft haven't come up with a Lancashire grammer checker yet!

Harpreet Singh from Birmingham
Coming from India 3 years back, I have a mix of Indian, American (due to my education) and Birmingham accent. I used to feel awakward due to my different accent but working in a call centre, I realised, people tend to forget your accent quicker than you think and they focus more on the content of your conversation. Also, its so weird/funny how British born Asians make fun of my accent and name me "Freshie" with a "freshie accent" and find it hard to accept someone with an Indian accent. And, again, I do tend to lose my confidence a bit when someone picks on the accent time and again (and imagine, mine is not a typical Indian accent at all, so God help those poor lads working in Indian call centres)... and the amazing thing is that when I speak to people outside UK, they think my accent is too British (they havent met someone with a typical British accent I guess).... but I think I still have an edge over many natives when it comes to written English or use of professional/formal English, I do lose out on slangs/cockney rhymes and gangster dictionery though! But its ok! Doesnt matter!

ronald. surrey
i love the english accent , being born in the Philippines in which we speak primarily an american twang, it is something new to me. The accent itself denotes a "posh kind of thing "

Tim in Vancouver, Canada
My family moved to Canada when I was a child and our English accents which were fairly non-regional formed a big part of our identity as British Canadians. Since then, I have lived in both countries on and off (mostly in Canada) and speak with what Canadians would call a crisp but mostly Canadian accent and what people in the UK would call a Canadian accent. For a long time, the fact that I can be so easily assimilated into Canadian culture and seemingly have nothing to distinguish me from an eighth-generation Canadian - not that there is anything wrong with that - bothered me for a long time. I realise now that there is there is a lot more to a cultural identity than how you speak. I will say that when I have been in the UK for a while and my accent sounds more to the right of the pond than to the left, people seem to perceive me as being more interesting but less one of them. This seems to be in line with the pre-conceptions on accents mentioned in your article.

Pete Regan from Lancaster
During my first year at uni (Oxford Brookes) I shared a house with 4 girls (one Russian and one French). For most of the first term my English housemates had to translate anything I said to them! On the other hand, whenever I visited family I'd get stick for 'talking posh'! I've recently moved back to Lancaster after having lived in Oxford for 10 years, and I often surprise myself and close friends with my wildly fluctuating accent! I just hope I settle back into the Lanky twang soon!

Nicola Hargreaves from Bolton, Lancashire
People are forever commenting on my Boltonian accent and often like to say the words i say for themsleves. Even when i went to uni in Liverpool the scousers commented on it! Can you believe that? I am currently working in Sydney, Australia and sometimes it's very difficult to get people to understand me over the phone! But i love Bolton and my Bolton accent and as proven of years of not living there, will never shift it either!!! Tara Cock sparra!

Dee from Glastonbury (brought up in Durham)
I've lived in Somerset for twelve years now and have not lost my own, northern accent (affectionately known as "pit-yakker"). However, when I heard myself interviewed on Radio 4 a couple of years ago, I was completely horrified at how thick and stupid I sounded, regardless of the big words I used. I regard myself as articulate and intelligent...but I'm obviously prejudiced against my own accent! I also find, living in Somerset, that very few people speak with a West Country accent any more. Those who do tend to be either older (over 50) or very rural, brought up on isolated farms or in very small villages. Although many of my friends here have what would be perceived as a Somerset accent, it's actually a generalised "southern" accent that they use - my stepchildren being a case in point. An 18-year-old of my acquaintance has one of the broadest accents I've heard - but when she started imitating her grandfather, I only understood about one word in four!

Nadia from New York City
Hello all. This is an interesting discussion. In the US, we don't really recognize the various British accents...they basically sound the same. Anyway, it's really true that if you have a Southern drawl here in the States, you're perceived as intellectually inferior. I mean it follows pretty logically considering that if George W. sounds like that, it doesn't leave much hope for other Southerners, right? In any case, New York accents are the best!

Ben Thomas Wellington NZ
Accent does not bother me particularly, with the possible exception of Australian! What bothers me far more is sloppy and pretentious English - the type of person who thinks it is 'posh' to say "between you and I", and similar solecisms, usually with a 'refined' voice.

Anna Roberts, New Zealand
To quote Lis Eastham "Whilst the use of 'ain't', 'innit', 'I done it' and other such phrases are surely a function of upbringing, education and opportunity, none of these phrases can be said to be expressions which can be directly attributed to regional dialect - they are common in society where the individuals are brought up apparently not even being taught the basics, let alone the finer rules of English which the purists aspire to." Agreed. There is exactly the same distinction here in New Zealand. Well educated people would never say "init" or "I done it". You'll get children with very Kiwi accents (as in I'm frum Noo Zulland) never using "I done it", because they've been educated; and you would find children who speak modern RP/standard NZ hybrids who often resort to "I done it" when they haven't been taught properly.

Sophie from Suffolk
What about the people with no particular accent? I was born and brought up in France by a mum from Leeds and a dad from Italy, moved to Yorkshire, spent some time in Durham,went to university where I was spoilt for choice in terms of different accents and am now based in Suffolk. I am constantly asked where I come from, and told it is impossible to pinpoint it to anywhere in particular, and certainly not to France. Could be Welsh, could be Swedish, could be 'posh', could be ?... It seems my accent and the way I speak have become a melting pot of expressions and intonations which are constantly fusing with any different accent I meet. It does strike up conversations and when it comes down to it, I quite like not belonging to a certain category!

Alex London
Estuary english is so strong now it it has the power to influence all pronounciation for the future

Jeanette Majewski, Notts
We have been influenced by the media not to pass negative judgement about various accents e.g, how the BBC have taken aboard employees with regional accents from all over the UK over the years. However, there is still this discrimination over accents, causing flaws on who we are. Our accent is a large part of our identity and people should never forget this. On the other hand and in my experience, do not be fooled or agitated when someone takes the 'mick'. This happened to me. I'm from the East Midlands, Mansfield and I was teased by people from the South but they were only kidding! I have learnt not to be embarresed by my accent as it is in the 'middle' as much as I live location-wise and alot of Southerns tell me they like it. I'm very good at impersonating accents from all over the UK but sometimes this gets me into trouble when people think I'm making fun of them. The truth is I only do an accent because I think it's great. Quite strangely though,I interpret various accents into my every day speech in which i have no explanantion for, they just get spoken.

Ann from Childwall, Liverpool.
Proud of where we come from not always proud to admit it! What we say or how we say it, what we drive/wear/live in, where we holday/eat/shop..... BIG give aways aren't they? Liverpudlian born and bred I hate having to apologise for where I come from and the way that I speak.

Rachel from Liverpool
Scouse is BOSS

Robyn from Hull
I think the Hull accent is ok but it can be better, there are some places that are worse or better!

Lianne Vass, Hertfordshire
People should be accepting of all accents

Nadia from Nottingham
I was brought up in Sussex and then spent 10 years in Yorkshire. It is so true that Southerners are encouraged by media to perceive the Northern accent as second rate and the speaker stupid. At the age of 18 I was institutionally biased against the Northern Accent, I would crack up every time I heard a Barnsely or Bolton Accent. After 10 years I'm used to it, but would not wish to speak like it myself. I think it would still disadvantage me in my chosen profession. The hardest accent to understand is the mix of Indian or Pakistani with the Yorkshire accent. I really can't make out what each word is and where it finishes. Check out ASDA in Dewsbury if you don't believe me. . .I do like listening to regional accents, it all adds to the rich tapestry of culture, and it is pleasing to see gradually more acceptance of regional accents and fair exposure to these through the media.

Alf Berrington - Liverpool
Coming from Liverpool I never considered my accent to be too harsh. I was brought up in the north suburbs of the city, Neterton / Bootle / Litherland and in my teen years I certainly had a definite "scouse" accent. Over the years, with working in an office environment, I lost the harsh side of my accent and now have a softer twang which, I have been told, can sound "posh". Not posh by, say, a home counties kind of "posh" but "posh" for my area. Away from the area I am told I have a definitely noticeable accent but not a harsh one. However, I do think the "scouse" accent has dropped to a gutter way of speaking where the younger people run a lot of words together and, sometimes, are very incoherant. I suppose this is what is called regional variation. Personally, you can keep it. It comes across as a very lazy way to speak and loses all understanding, especially when the speaker ignores basic english proper pronunciation. I blame this on the education system and the wide variety of American programmes we are now bombarded with. When I went to school it was drummed into each schoolboy and girl how to pronounce words and in which order to use them in. That all seems to have gone by the wayside and wonder where regional accents will eventually end up.

Bobbie Ingram from Newton Stewart
At school, we were made to feel that our Scottish dialect was inferior and the teachers corrected both our pronunciation and the local terms that we used. I am from West Lothian originally and now live in Dumfries and Galloway. Here in Wigtownshire, there is a range of glorious local accents and people are proud to use them. I never tire of listening to them and am making a point, more and more often, of using my own dialect and not conforming to the expected RP. As they say in France, vive la différence !!

Rosanna, Buckinghamshire
From a foreigner's point of view I would like to say that it's a pleasure to hear RP.

Rosie, from North London
Up until I went to an independent school in Hertfordshire 5 years ago, I had a really strong North London accent, which, due to the influences of my friends, has been softened. However, I'm well proud of my North London "heritage" and the accompanying accent. I still don't pronounce my Ts (I say "liaaal" instead of "little") and say, "well" i.e. "that was well good", and "innit" on occasions when Im with fellow North Londoners. However, with school friends, my accent does soften. However, at school people think I'm common, and at home people think I'm posh!! I think it's important to be able to adapt your accent to the place where you are, not change your complete dialect, say from brummie to geordie, but when I'm with N. Londoners, I speak their "language" because I think it's important to put people at ease, and I don't like people to think I'm really posh just cos I go to private school. Primarily, my accent is North (or should I say Norf?) London, and I'm proud of it. Some people say it's a dead accent - not distinct enough to be east end, but not "well-spoken" enough to be anywhere like St Johns Wood. But I think it's a nice blend of hardcore places like Tottenham and Wood Green, and the suburbs like Barnet and Hampstead. Rock on North Londoners!!

Des Wilkinson from Withington ,Manchester
Ive lived in London for 8 years though from Manchester,I am 46 and proud of my Mancunian accent though some Londoners say I speak too ''softly'' as most Londoners are ''loud'' No doubt they would excel in being ''fruitsellers'' on the market stalls !!

Sara from Worthing
Although I have lived in Sussex for over 27 years,I was born and raised in Bristol and still have a marked accent. This is always commented on by every-one I meet. I also have a rich and varied vocabulary which I think is much more important than any perceived accent.I never mind when people are ungrammatical or use slang as long as they use as many words in our wonderful and diverse language as possible.

Jon from Southend/ Streatham
Although as a 1980s child I cannot claim genuine historical experience, to me the standard of spoken english has improved in the past 30-40 years and particularly in the last ten. The theory I have is that racial integration has encouraged everybody to adopt a more comprehensible tongue in order to interact. Also immigrant communities in the 1960s brought with them a far more polished appreciation of the english language than the indigenous population, and hence most inner London areas are more of a base for Standard English (SE) and even RP. Where I live now, in Southend on the Thames Estuary, the traditional Essex accent has notably declined.

Ben, Hampshire
I speak with a Hampshire accent which properly comes out when I come home from college in the holidays and work on the farm.'Inside out' has got me thinking that people I know locally may be part of a dying (but proud)rural breed.Sadly only one of my friends my age (17) speaks like I do

Jan Brown from Rotherham
I am currently researching attitudes towards the Yorkshire dialect and would be very interested to know how it is perceived by 'Southerners' (as well as everyone else of course!)

Boisseau. Sussex
Estuary English is just lazy English. It is ugly and carries with it a 'loutish' feeling. Proper dialects are quite different, provided they are not so pronounced as to be unintelligable. Why is received English suddenly so unacceptable?

Mina, Essex
I speak 'estuary English' and I've hated it all my life. It sounds so common all the time. I've tried to eradicate it to speak 'proper' but when I'm angry or passionate about something it creeps back in. I'm trying to stop my son talking the same way!

Bill Fraser from Glasgow
Any thick accent or affectation is unattractive including the versions of Estuary based on Scouse. Local accents not pronounced lazily should be favoured and cherished

Zoe, Teesside
I'm a student at Oxford and pretty much the only person in the entire university to have any kind of northern accent. The students are not so bad but people on the street/taxi drivers/shop assistants and the like think their role in life is to ridicule me everytime I speak. Because they are so superior, coming from the south and all......

Penny from London, but brought up in Cornwall
I suspect I'm horribly average here. I love listening to an Edinburgh accent, Somerset or Cornish accents. I really find Northern Irish accents grate for me as does a Birmingham or Geordie accent. Perversely, Most actors adopt an all-purpose west country accent rather than a Cornish one which drives me nuts!

JR Cookstown
I like all the accents and think there should be *more* Brummie accents on the BBC. There is however one voice I hate - Denise van Outen.

Sue McNeil from Aberdeen
We're definitely judged by how we speak. Americans love my RP accent, because it's a sound they've heard many times before. Scottish people seem unable to understand the RP accent, or perhaps they choose to find it difficult because of the connotations of 'BBC English'.

Commane from London
Estuary english is nothing more than a cockneyfied RP, its rife - everyone and their dog now speaks it.

Marie M from Dronfield
Accents and dialects are part of our cultural heritage and I'm glad to hear more of them in the media rather than just RP

Lis Eastham - Milton Keynes (brought up in Sussex)
Having seen the article on this morning's 'Breakfast', to me it seems obvious that whilst race or regional dialect is not particularly a decider, the nature of the use of English certainly is. The comment made by the Professor of Linguistics at Leeds that people are prepared to be 'speech-ist' is also interesting. Race certainly cannot be changed, politics and religion can and are changed dependant on the thoughts and beliefs of the individual but speech can be changed without necessarily affecting the innermost beliefs of the individual. A modulated accent certainly seems to be more attractive than some of the harsh inflections that are heard. The biggest difference between the thumbs-downers and the thumbs-uppers was that the thumbs-uppers use traditionally grammatical English whereas the thumbs-downers (in the main) used 'lazy' English. Whilst the use of 'ain't', 'innit', 'I done it' and other such phrases are surely a function of upbringing, education and opportunity, none of these phrases can be said to be expressions which can be directly attributed to regional dialect - they are common in society where the individuals are brought up apparently not even being taught the basics, let alone the finer rules of English which the purists aspire to. Is it coincidence that those individuals seem to be the ones with the harsh voices? It should however, be noted that accent, whilst probably being affected by education, is not indicative of intelligence or knowledge. The extremes are spread across all sectors! Persons with the 'Queens English' RP accents can be 'as thick as two short planks' and have apparently restricted knowledge of the world they live in and conversely people who have been brought up to use 'lazy' English can be highly intelligent, interesting people whose awareness of the arts, politics and other general knowledge is significantly above average. For the sake of interest I would say that I use upper-middle southern English (if there is such a thing). I could certainly be picked up on certain aspects of my use of English, however I speak han-dl not hen-dl or an-dl and would never be heard saying I ain't or I done it. My use of English has a few Americanisms thrown in - this is because I spend much of my working day speaking with Americans and they don't understand plain English!

Gideon from London
Nothing wrong with RP. On the World Service, it is what many expect. Better than mockney anyway.