Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

A good friend in the UK, Aussie born but bred/raised in SA has a lovely accent - very obviously SA.

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

Yeah a watered down SA accent might be OK but the usual accent is worse than Liverpool or Bristol and thats saying something.

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

Jad, you're English I take it? Have you acquired a slight Aussie accent yet?:p

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/11/geordi...cents-4178764/

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

You really have a BIG chip on your shoulder Mr Perfection. Slagging off your fellow countrymen too. :thumbdown:

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

:confused: Who said it was watered down?

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

Funny how people love to whinge about accents. People seen to think that an English accent is some sort of world-standard when it has been watered down a lot this last 20 years. What has happened is that a new sort of standard English has come to prominence. And it's funny how the broad traditional Australian accent is always assumed to be a bad thing when there are lots of quite nice accents down under - the Adelaide accent can be very pleasant etc (go to Adelaide airport and listen to the announcements!)

It is a matter of fact that there are well spoken people in Australia and in SA.
The teens and students I know are delightfully well spoken (background helps probably) and could actually be perceived as better spoken than some of the teens who grew up in the Thames Estuary.

I'd say to people who are worrying about the way people speak - you need to widen your social circle. It's the same people who complain about their lives - have a look at it (and widen it!)

As long as someone can be understood in an international context that is the acid test for me - and unfortunately there are a lot of English people - I speak of my own countrymen - that struggle in the international workplace - (and even in London). There is something to be said for homogenising an English accent so maybe its a good thing we are moving away from RP - we are levelling the playing field.

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

Wha thee ona-bout nah? Thee bet thy asn' t' a bloody clue wha am ona-bout as thee lad? :lol:;)

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

Come back when your kids are teenagers and come home talking in whatever the current 'speak' is. I can probably guarantee you won't like it. :D

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

:goodpost: Ain't that the truth!

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

OMG.......

It's sad that the nice Aussie accent is going and being replaced with all this pseudo American valley stuff if that's what it's called. It's all sooooooo dramatic, squeaky, like and that's just the guys ha ha. Plus they all sound so flipping jolly all the time, said the English Eeyore :)

It is interesting how the Aussie and American accents have changed over the years. If you watch any old American movie there isn't much of a strong accent there. Then since they've started putting emphasis on different parts of the word sometimes you have to convert it like you would do a foreign language! The problem is having been here a while now I have to stop myself thinking certain words the Aussie/American way and even blurting out the occasional one....eeek! I still refuse to say darta, pro-ject and yo-ghurt but then when you think about it English is so quirky and the way we say words!

Saying rooter is my fav when they are all routing....

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

:lol:

I was not talking about my own children, I was talking about adults - and when I did refer to children - I was talking about how impressed I was.

Why would it worry me? Children have always picked up words and phrases. My parents used to hate the endless word 'stressed' as in "I'm so stressed out" - to them it was an abuse of that word. In any case, my children are already picking up primary school chat.

As long as they can be understood internationally, as adults, I am not bothered. If they are employable across the globe in any place where English is spoken that is enough.

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

Australian words don't bother me - there are variations in English as used in the UK. Bath - baaath..Baf....etc

I think the American Valley thing is a sort of teenage phase - dominated by the country that outputs the most cultural shows/TV etc.

Years ago, kids didn't have a teenage phase - they went from being children into the workforce.

Now we have teens and an extended education - now well into people's 20s - plus access to constant peer pressure throughout that time on social media it is inevitable that a teen culture will emerge. See my post on the luddite topic!
Also TV has gone very tabloid this last 15 years or so.

What I've noticed is that some teens and early 20s grow out of it very quickly
(around the time they enter the workforce) - it also depends on what influences they have in their life - if their life has been one round of TV and suburban life it would be harder to grow out of.

It's one of the reasons we send our kids overseas every 2 years to learn another language - it shows them there is more to life than the immediate one they have day to day.

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

I don't think Melbourne claims to have any nicer accents than any other city - it's is a bigger city - it is a cosmopolitan city. It is a place where lots of things happen and where people meet to do business all over Asia-Pac/ global - like Sydney. If anything the bigger the city, the more of a suburban/region accent. So you get the greek accent. Sometimes I think I can detect a mass Melbourne accent, and a mass Sydney accent - not sure.

When in Rome...I often go into a bit of tradie talk - when in the CFA, when out and about. I know tradies who went to the best schools in Melbourne - you'd never guess - but then even in the UK - there are people who use Estuary by choice.

I spent quite a lot of time in my 20s in the UK having to mix with a complete range of people- and I believe that you simply have to get on with people sometimes. Having a mouth full of marbles may not always get you places.
And sometimes marbles gets you places, (and don't you forget it!)

Have to admit, I have met some very well spoken people in Melbourne but in Australia - you do meet that specialist, or professional person etc who still does sound very Australian.

I've said it before- of course Australia has a class system - but I reckon day to day people iron it out - so people tend to not want put people offside- that is one thing about Australia that IS quite egalitarian. There is a time and place. People (new migrants?) seem to like the idea of Australia being classless - and so others might naturally love to rubbish that as absolutely absurd - the reality, I think, is that in Australia the *idea* of being Egalitarian is more important than observing class strictly. It's just a form of social manners really.

Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
 

There's a word for that... Strewth. ;)

I agree with Badge too. Good posts Badge. :thumbup: