Eish!!!

I was listening to one of our local music stations today, and it struck me (not for the first time) how many competition promos and ads we have that make use of fake American accents. A lot of young South African TV presenters and celebrities, mainly black people, also talk with these phoney American accents to be cool.

I can understand adopting American culture to a point, like when you get local hip hop groups and slam poets that take an American cultural paradigm and then make it their own by bringing in aspects of their own local languages, culture, ideas and musical forms - and out of this whole mish mash comes something new and fresh.

But this whole adopting of the American accent thing, especially when you've never set foot in America - I just don't get it. What's wrong with our own ethnic African accents? Why do you have to be a pseudo-American to be cool? Frankly, I find it annoying.

While on the subject of language, another thing that irritates me is the number of white people who phone in to radio talk shows, or write letters to the editor, and send in letters to radio and TV stations to complain about how black news readers and reporters "butcher" the pronunciation of the English language. So what if we don't all speak the Queen's English - why can't we be more tolerant of the fact that we live in a multi-cultural society and we all pronounce certain words differently? It's not like the white news readers are any better at pronouncing black words and names.

Comments

[Laurence Caromba]

"While on the subject of language, another thing that irritates me is the number of white people who phone in to radio talk shows, or write letters to the editor, and send in letters to radio and TV stations to complain about how black news readers and reporters "butcher" the pronunciation of the English language. So what if we don't all speak the Queen's English - why can't we be more tolerant of the fact that we live in a multi-cultural society and we all pronounce certain words differently?"

I agree with you, in the sense that good English has very little to do with accent - which varies wildly all across the world - and has far more to do with correct grammar, good vocabluary and proper sentence construction. That being the case, people who can not construct a sentence properly do not belong on air, period. These are highly sought-after jobs, and it's ridiculous to give them to people who can't do them properly when so many hopefuls are waiting in the wings. This isn't really a race thing: English first-language speakers typically have a worse command of the language than second-language speakers, if only because they have not rigourously drilled the various grammatical rules. A good command of English, regardless of whether it's your first or second language, should be the first requirement for a broadcasting job.

[Walton Pantland]

I don't believe in 'correct' forms of language. What is crucial for me is whether some one is able to communicate clearly and articulatly, rather than what for of the language or accent they use.
And the more their accent says about them - where they come from, their background etc., the more interesting.

[Rethabile]

1. "I agree with you, in the sense that good English has very little to do with accent - which varies wildly all across the world - and has far more to do with correct grammar, good vocabluary and proper sentence construction"
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I don't know about some of that, Laurence. It does have little to do with accent, but also with "correct grammar" and "proper sentence construction."

The idea is to say something meaningful inthe way that you would say it to your family and friends, especially in multi-cultural societies.

For, what is correct grammar? What is proper sentence construction? Everybody knows what they are, based on a certain standard, the standard in question being British-sounding English.

In his book, "Black English," Vintage Books, page 33, J.L. Dillard uses a striking analogy to illustrate the folly of this: He says, "It is possible to characterise a peach as a deficient apple; in fact, it's the only conclusion you can come to, if you judge the peach by the apple's standards." How true!

2. "This isn't really a race thing."
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I want to believe you, but unfortunately it often is.

[oso]

I think a large part of it comes from trying to be different. I live in San Diego, California where there is a large SA expat community (almost entirely white) and not only do they hold onto their accents 20 or 30 years after emigrating, but they even over-emphasize them to stand out.

[Laurence Caromba]

"I don't believe in 'correct' forms of language. What is crucial for me is whether some one is able to communicate clearly and articulatly..."

Sorry, but this is a ridiculous statement. Communicating effectively requires some degree of standardisation. If you just make up words or recreate the rules of sentence construction as you see fit, you might be able to communicate with a high degree of precision to people who also know your special secret language, but your ability to communicate with a general audience. This is not to say that languages should be rigid and inflexible: it would be ridiculous to expect newreaders to speak the English of Chaucer or Beowulf. The point is that newsreaders should reflect the language as it stands today, not be a driving force for change.

[Walton Pantland]

'correct language' is the simply the form of the language that communicates most effectively to your audience. I was never suggesting making up a meaningless language, just that it's possible to make a lot of sense without speaking the Queen's English.