En este blog se pretende que los lectores aprendan inglés de una manera diferente. No lo enfocaremos exclusivamente al aprendizaje del inglés británico stándard (RP) o del inglés americano. Se pondrán vídeos, canciones y textos en los que se podrán apreciar los diversos tipos de inglés de los países de habla inglesa de todo el mundo. Además, se pondrán ejemplos de cómo preparar actividades a través de estos vídeos, canciones y textos.
The United Kingdom is probably the most dialect-obsessed nation in the
world. With countless accents shaped by thousands of years of history,
there are few English-speaking nations with as many varieties of
language in such a small space.
Here is a list of the most important types of British English. While
this is not a complete list by any means, it will give you an overview
of the accents and dialects most often discussed on this site and
elsewhere.
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation, or RP
for short, is the instantly recognisable accent often described as
‘typically British’. Popular terms for this accent, such as ‘The Queen’s
English’, ‘Oxford English’ or ‘BBC English’ are all a little
misleading. The Queen, for instance, speaks an almost unique form of
English, while the English we hear at Oxford University or on the BBC is
no longer restricted to one type of accent.
RP is an accent, not a dialect,
since all RP speakers speak Standard English. In other words, they
avoid non-standard grammatical constructions and localised vocabulary
characteristic of regional dialects. RP is also regionally non-specific,
that is it does not contain any clues about a speaker’s geographic
background. But it does reveal a great deal about their social and/or
educational background.
Cockney
Cockney represents the basilectal end of the London accent and can be considered the broadest form of London local accent.
It traditionally refers only to specific regions and speakers within
the city. While many Londoners may speak what is referred to as "popular
London"
they do not necessarily speak Cockney. The popular Londoner accent can
be distinguished from Cockney in a number of ways, and can also be found
outside of the capital, unlike the true Cockney accent.
Midlands English
The
Midlands is renowned for its distinctive dialects from the
Derbyshire drawl to Nottingham's no-nonsense style of talking. Despite
the fading of old traditions and huge shifts in how we communicate
globally, it appears that dialect and accetns are still going strong in
the Midlands. Much of the dialect developed in rural communities and in
the industrial heartlands of the region. Mining communities in
Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire were renowned for their
use of dialect. At a time when regions are losing some of their
traditional dialect, the East Midlands is keen to retain its cultural
identity and linguistic style.
Northern English
These are the accents and dialect spoken north of the midlands, in
cities like Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool. Related accents also found
in rural Yorkshire, although there are some unique dialect features
there that I won’t get into now.
Welsh English
It is spoken fluently by over half a million people
in Wales, that’s over 20% of the population. It’s called Cymraeg, and
is a language with entirely regular and phonetic spelling. Its place
names may look complicated but once you know the rules, you can learn to
read and pronounce Welsh fairly easily. Its Celtic language is closely related to Cornish and Breton and is
one of Europe’s oldest living languages; the Welsh we speak today is
directly descended from the language of the Sixth Century.Welsh is a living language, used in conversation by thousands and seen throughout Wales.
Come to Great Britain and get ready to adventure into a nation where diversity is massive and mostly when it comes to accents!