Re: Sse [Closed topic revisited]

[BobK]

Re: Sse [Closed topic revisited]

Sorry to resurrect this old topic (https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/pronunciation-phonetics/18129-standard-scottish-english-sse.html), but it slipped through the net all those years ago (or perhaps I wasn't around at the time).

It remined me of a lesson I gave based on a BBC news podcast. I had prepared it, and identified a short interview with a Gillie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . His accent was far from SSE. I found it hard to understand, and warned my student not to worry about it. In fact he (the S) found it easier to understand than a more standard received accent; particularly he found rhoticity (he was Spanish) a great help.

I agree with Tdol that there's little prospect of an industry-wide standard; and I, certainly, would not be equipped to teach a regional accent. But if I were Director of Studies at a language school (most unlikely ;-)) I wouldn't ask a Scottish teacher to attenuate their accent.

b

 

[Tdol]

Re: Sse [Closed topic revisited]

Interesting that a characteristic that can make it harder for native speakers made it easier for this learner.

I reopened the thread.

 

[birdeen's call]

Re: Sse [Closed topic revisited]

Interesting that a characteristic that can make it harder for native speakers made it easier for this learner.

I find it rather natural that rhoticity helps a learner understand a native speaker. It's just one silent letter less. Most learners, at least in Poland, start their learning process in a public school, where there is very little talking. They learn words by reading them, so they have to imagine their pronunciations instead of just learning them. I've heard many accusations, made by Polish learners, that English English speakers speak unclearly, and I believe non-rhoticity is one the main reasons for this. Actually, many Polish learners tend to accuse all native speakers of mumbling, which is probably because native speakers fail to pronounce words as those learners imagine they should be pronounced. Still, in my experience, non-rhotic accents are more difficult for us.