El 18/08/09 en el diario de circulación gratuita The London Paper, apareció una columna escrita por un lector, Sert Fetti, que trata cómo hablan los adolescentes en general.
Les copio aquí el texto.
THE URBAN YOUTH TALK NANG, INNIT
Recently I met up with my 14-year old-cousin who, since starting secondary school, has somehow managed to morph himself into Ali G. His accent is now largely indecipherable to his family, much to their annoyance. During our time together words like “nang”, “sick”, “marvin”, “yard”, “blud” and “innit” kept rolling off his tongue.
This got me thinking about accents, language and my cousin’s new-found love of speaking – what I like to call “urbanese”. Does the way youngsters in London speak really say anything about them?
Programmes like The Catherine Tate Show and Little Britain poke fun at kids who’ve adopted this urbanese accent, depicting them as anti-social and unintelligent.
Personally, I’m not “bovvered” with the way some of our kids speak today. I admit, it can sound peculiar but I also think it shows creativity. According to many, a “proper” accent is the one that carries the most social prestige, and that’s how we should all be speaking. This is the pronunciation taught in schools and used by newsreaders, but why should it be classed as superior?
Everyone has an accent. Surely it’s what you say, not how you say it. I’m sure most of us are guilty of doctoring our accents depending on the company we’re in. Perhaps by speaking urbanese youngsters are just trying to conform to what is now the majority accent in their peer group.
Does a person’s accent really indicate how intelligent they are or their ability to do a job properly? Let’s suppose you have a vacancy in your company. Candidate A is experienced, qualified, bright and, on paper, perfectly able to do the job, but speaks urbanese. Candidate B is less experienced, skilled and qualified, but speaks “properly”. Who would you employ? I’m guessing that, although most of us wouldn’t admit to it, we’d probably discriminate against Candidate A.
It seems that people stereotype and make judgements based on accents. So should we be encouraging youngsters to smarten up their speech or should we forget snobbery about accents because urbanese is just a natural evolution of a London accent?
Only time will tell how future generations of Londoners will speak. We’ll just have to wait and see... innit!
Sert, 25, from east London, runs a website
La nota se puede encontrar aquí.
Showing posts with label The London Paper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The London Paper. Show all posts
Friday, 2 October 2009
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Urban Tribes
"Shoot me, Mirta"Este artículo que les copio (porque no está online) salió el día 21 de agosto de 2008 en el diario The London Paper, en la página 8. Es sobre tribus urbanas y su categorización. También da el website donde uno puede hacer el test pero las preguntas son muy localistas, pero si están interesados, go on, give it a try. Al final del artículo hay descripciones de algunas tribus y yo les agrego la lista de todas las demás.
POLLS LISTS TRENDSETTERS' 'GANGS'
YOUNG URBAN TRIBES FIGHT OVER FASHION
BY ALEX STEPHENS
Yuppies, Tweenies and Sloane Rangers move over - it is time to introduce the Trendies, Indie Scenesters and Blingers.
After questioning more than 80,000 people across the UK, social experts have identified 26 different "tribes" that young people fall into.
The categories, ranging from Emos, who are sensitive types with floppy fringes, to Indie Scenesters, whose uniform is Converse and skinny jeans, have been listed on the website www.findyourtribe.co.uk as part of an online quiz. Visitors to the site are placed in a tribe after being questioned about their lifestyle.
The quiz has been created for Channel 4 by research agencies Crowd DNA and Voodoo. The results will help brands to understand customers.
WHICH TRIBE ARE YOU?
BHANGRA MUFFIN: Your accent is half Asian, 25 percent urban and 25 percent English. You bought Shilpa Shetty's perfume. You wear Iceberg jeans and Rocawear.
BOY RACERS: You know what a Pug, Scort, Onion and Cossie are. You can perform doughnuts, handbrake turns and burn-outs. You haven't indicated since 2002.
BLINGERS: You think Mr T was under-dressed and wear your bling on your D&G sleeve. People ask you if you're from the US because of your New York accent and you take this as a compliment.
CRAFT KIDS: Your house could be in the 1950s. You prefer to wear clothes you have made yourself and would love to be studying History of Art and Central St Martins.
EMOS: You have dyed black hair brushed over your face to protect you from the cruel world. You seek solace in poetry and music.
GET PAID CREW: You devote your life to getting rich and aspire to having an empire.
GRUNGERS: Your god is Kurt Cobain. Your bleached blonde hair is the same length as your girlfriend's and your jumpers have thumb holes in.
SKATERS: Your motto is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". You're happy if there's concret to grind, trainers to ruin and rock to rock to. You regularly video your own stunts - but would run a mile if you saw the police. You don't want no trouble.
INDIE SCENESTERS: You know all the major players in the indie scene. You're always moving on to the next thing once everyone joins in.
STREET RATS: You're always ducking and diving, trying to make a few quid. You hang on park benches, drinking and getting in the face of any innocent passer-by.
TRENDIES: Your look is more important than life itself. You buy Vogue and Glamour, mainly just to carry around and remind the plebs of your social standing. You aspire to be a fashionista and worship at the skinny feet of Gwen Stefani and Kate Moss.
Ok, es algo sarcástica la descripción, pero es divertida y da una idea de algunas de las que hay.
Las otras tribus son:
HIPSTERS
CLUBBERS
PC WORLD
TECHIES
TOWNIES
RAHS
CHAVS
SPORTS JUNKIE
TRACKIES
DIYERS
SMART URBAN
INDIE KIDS
MOSHERS
GOTHS
SCENE KIDS
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Words and Phrases
The London Paper (no está online los fines de semana) es uno de los cuatro diarios que se reparten gratis en Londres.
Todos los días publican una columna escrita por lectores. Y esto que copio es una escrita por Jon Armistead y es muy interesante para quienes quieran tener una idea de algunas frasecitas que se han puesto de moda y de las cuales él se queja.
Aquí la copio y lo que está en bold es lo que quise destacar, o sea, originalmente no aparecen en el texto.
Su columna se titula:
Language is a fluid thing that is constantly changing to fit our times and one of the many amazing faculties of the human brain is that as speech is updated, so too is our understanding of these changes.
For a good while now “basically” has been used as the new “erm”. For example, we will often hear someone who has been asked a question reply with a drawn-out “basically” – before stringing along some nonsense that they pass off as an answer (i.e. “Basically, I don’t know where she is”).
Other people say “erm, basically” before embarking upon an answer. This renders them wither clever or ignorant: clever because they are buying themselves a few more seconds to compose their new words, or ignorant because they are effectively saying “erm” twice. People who say “erm” twice are generally struggling for the answer due to ignorance.
“Eerm” can also be used to catch a person’s attention, and is often employed by someone who does not know the name of the person they are addressing. It is worth noting that when “erm” is used in this fashion, other less necessary words may be withdrawn. I often see this usage in the work place. Someone might say: “Erm; got an issue.” What they are trying to say here is “Excuse me, I have a problem with my computer. Can you help me, please?”
Some say “sorry” when in the past they may have said “excuse me”. This can be witnessed on the Tube when someone wants the newspaper that is on the shelf behind you. The speaker will reach over, saying “Sorry, just paper thanks.” The word “just” is whispered; the word “paper” and “thanks” are mouthed (the “ks” are audible).
There are those who employ a “literally” where an “is” will suffice. One of my friends went through a phase of saying “blatantly” (e.g. “It’s blatantly freezing”).
Some words have seeped in from America, such as “kinda”. There are people who say “smart” instead of “clever”, “cookie” instead of “biscuit” and “people!” or “guys!” instead of “excuse me, everybody!” “I was like” seems to have become the new “so I said”.
In summary, the “erm” that became “basically” is the new “excuse me”, while “sorry” has also replaced “excuse me”, “problems” are now “issues” and both men ad women are “guys”.
Todos los días publican una columna escrita por lectores. Y esto que copio es una escrita por Jon Armistead y es muy interesante para quienes quieran tener una idea de algunas frasecitas que se han puesto de moda y de las cuales él se queja.
Aquí la copio y lo que está en bold es lo que quise destacar, o sea, originalmente no aparecen en el texto.
Su columna se titula:
SO BASICALLY, ERM, IT’S OUR LANGUAGE
Language is a fluid thing that is constantly changing to fit our times and one of the many amazing faculties of the human brain is that as speech is updated, so too is our understanding of these changes.
For a good while now “basically” has been used as the new “erm”. For example, we will often hear someone who has been asked a question reply with a drawn-out “basically” – before stringing along some nonsense that they pass off as an answer (i.e. “Basically, I don’t know where she is”).
Other people say “erm, basically” before embarking upon an answer. This renders them wither clever or ignorant: clever because they are buying themselves a few more seconds to compose their new words, or ignorant because they are effectively saying “erm” twice. People who say “erm” twice are generally struggling for the answer due to ignorance.
“Eerm” can also be used to catch a person’s attention, and is often employed by someone who does not know the name of the person they are addressing. It is worth noting that when “erm” is used in this fashion, other less necessary words may be withdrawn. I often see this usage in the work place. Someone might say: “Erm; got an issue.” What they are trying to say here is “Excuse me, I have a problem with my computer. Can you help me, please?”
Some say “sorry” when in the past they may have said “excuse me”. This can be witnessed on the Tube when someone wants the newspaper that is on the shelf behind you. The speaker will reach over, saying “Sorry, just paper thanks.” The word “just” is whispered; the word “paper” and “thanks” are mouthed (the “ks” are audible).
There are those who employ a “literally” where an “is” will suffice. One of my friends went through a phase of saying “blatantly” (e.g. “It’s blatantly freezing”).
Some words have seeped in from America, such as “kinda”. There are people who say “smart” instead of “clever”, “cookie” instead of “biscuit” and “people!” or “guys!” instead of “excuse me, everybody!” “I was like” seems to have become the new “so I said”.
In summary, the “erm” that became “basically” is the new “excuse me”, while “sorry” has also replaced “excuse me”, “problems” are now “issues” and both men ad women are “guys”.
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Jokes in the ELT classroom
A veces una imagen (o un chiste, en este caso) vale más que mil palabras.
Si hacen click sobre la imagen la verán más grande.
Si les parece conveniente, conforme encuentre, iré posteando chistes, beware, no voy a mandarles un mail cada vez que lo haga, tranquilas.
Espero que les sirva.
London Lite 13/08/07
London Lite 15/08/07
London Lite 16/08/07
London Lite 14/08/07
The London Paper 02/07/07
The London Paper 05/07/07
The London Paper 09/07/07
The London Paper 11/07/07
The London Paper 17/08/07
You Magazine 12/08/07
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