Accents - do you kno'h' wha' 'a' mean?

[amazingtrade]

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1118779_teen_quits_over_salford_accent

I am in two minds over this. I have a very slight manc accent but its more of a generic northern accent and I never drop my T's etc. This thread ins't really a debate about the girl because without hearing her speak it would be impossible to comment but it has triggered a debate in my mind.

Now I am very proud of my routes too which is exactly why I don't want to sound like the Oasis brothers. In my job most my customers are southerners (massive amounts of people from the south east and Cornwall/Devon) and I think they may have trouble understanding me if I was trying to explain technical things if I had one of the worst Salford accents I have heared.

I can actually see this shops point because I sometimes have trouble understanding people from Salford and I only live a few miles away. Incidently most people I know from Salford don't have a strong accent at all so I have find this proud of my routes thing an excuse.

I have nothing against accents at all but in the UK we live in a diverse country where people move around a lot. If people cannot understand the accent it will make life hard.

I think this girls employers were a bit harsh on her and they was probably a more subtle way of doing it.

My point is I love accents and it is what makes the UK special BUT if it becomes so strong that only people in the local area understand it you can't complain if employers make comment.

Now for a twist, if the girl had an Indian or even European accent I bet her employer would have not dared to pass a comment.

To me a manc accent I don't even notice but I do notice a common accent and I think there is a difference. It is the same in Liverpool, most people their have an liverpool accent but some of them sound almost well spoken with it and others sound common.

 

[mr cat]

without knowing the area at all - she does look a bit of a chav imo...maybe they thought she was just a bit common..?

I think the same kind of thing would probably happen in newcastle at a dept store like fenwicks...I used to work there myself as a dishwasher - and when I applied to work on the shopfloor - I didn't get it either...

makes you wonder why/how she got the job in the first place...

 

[spica]

accent's are other peoples

 

[Neil]

She sound OK to me - check the video on AT's link - bit of youthful hesitancy but perfectly understandable. The first image does her no favours!

 

[DavidF]

Sounds ok to me too.....

A bit of twang but thats ok.

Agreed the first image is not to encoiuraging but in the video I'd say she comes over as a pleasant enough young wench.

So long as the grammar is there and not this fashionably wrong stuff ......

I don't see a problem.

 

[lAmBoY]

I think she comes across as very personable and friendly. She is from the wrong side of the Pennines though

 

[amazingtrade]

it all goes wrong when she says she speaks like everybody from Manchester. Err no she dosn't! Her accent isn't actually that bad and there are far worst, I certainly would not have critised her for it.

However a lot of people from Manchester are actually well spoken and it would be hard to tell they were from Manchester. Of course she might be putting on a 'posh' accent because she is being filmed.

She certainly doesn't come across as a Salford chav though .

I've always found accents funny though, my grandma has a bit of an east Manchester accent, my grandad had a northern accent but all their children actually are well spoken even though they were bought on a council estate (not a rough one).

I just don't see this "I speak like this coz I is from a Manchestoh' estate init" as an excuse.

I don't know the Salford area that well (I only know the part I went to university in) but I would say Irlam is one of the better parts of the city. Salford is actually a city in its own right if people are confused, it is a city within Greater Manchester.

 

[Czechchris]

We probably do not have all the facts. Sometimes people are quick to attribute their failings to prejudice, when in fact there are other reasons for their dismissal. It is easier to point the finger and claim discrimination (religious, racial, regional etc) than admit one's own mistakes.
Methinks there is more to this than we have heard so far.

 

[Neil]

The article gives the impression she left rather than was dismissed. I think the management advice re treating customers is rather amusing and is in essence correct, if a little ill-advised.

 

[DavidF]

The article gives the impression she left rather than was dismissed. I think the management advice re treating customers is rather amusing and is in essence correct, if a little ill-advised.

The impression I got was she was dismissed.

 

[SCIDB]

The impression I got was she was dismissed.

Hi,

All the news articles said she had quit. I do think there is more to this than meets the eye. It seems that she had hit her weekly sales targets.

If they didn't like her accent, why did they employ her?

SCIDB

 

[DavidF]

Hi,

All the news articles said she had quit. I do think there is more to this than meets the eye. It seems that she had hit her weekly sales targets.

If they didn't like her accent, why did they employ her?SCIDB

May be because they coudn't NOT employ her for that reason....?

 

[amazingtrade]

Who would know though?

I mean if I was conducting an interview and the person used a lot of slang surely I am legally allowed to say you're dialect was not appropriate for the job? What I would not be allowed to say is you're from Salford and sound too common.

 

[SCIDB]

May be because they coudn't NOT employ her for that reason....?

Hi,

Sounds daft. Why could they not employ her because she's from Salford? Her voice sounds nore than ok. Interesting! If that was the case.

She past two interviews to get the job. If she met the job spec there should be no problems. If she wasn't as good at the job
then there would be cause for concern.

I still have the feeling that there is more to this than meets the eye.

We will have to see what happens.

SCIDB

 

[DavidF]

Who would know though?

I mean if I was conducting an interview and the person used a lot of slang surely I am legally allowed to say you're dialect was not appropriate for the job? What I would not be allowed to say is you're from Salford and sound too common.

It sounds me like her face just didn't fit.

Ive seen it happen before.

 

[DavidF]

Who would know though?

I mean if I was conducting an interview and the person used a lot of slang surely I am legally allowed to say you're dialect was not appropriate for the job? What I would not be allowed to say is you're from Salford and sound too common.

Slang is an entirely separate issue to dialect though.

 

[mr cat]

ok, she got the job based on merit and subsquently met her targets...dialect or not...

however... I'm guessing the person who moaned etc wasn't the person who interviewed her in the first place...goto a dept store like fenwicks, the lasses there are so snobby and up themselves it's unreal...a lot of them have rich blokes and they look down on us normal people...