BE PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE

Accents are fascinating things that make every country and even individuals, unique. Recently speaking with people from home in the UK, it has led me to think about how amazing they are.
If you visit a country and listen to the indigenous accents you will most likely be enthralled by them. If you listen to a foreigner’s accent, it can tell you a lot about their origins before they have even told anything.
I have been told by a few people that after six months of living in this country that I am slightly picking up a general Namibian accent. But is there only one for the whole country? Surely not? I have tried and failed at distinguishing accents from different places here, but to me and my ears, they all sound the same. Of course the languages differ but the accent – should this be singular or plural? – never seems to change. Many locals here have said that Emily and I have a strong similarity yet we pronounce our words with no alikeness whatsoever. I am from Northern England whereas she is from the Southern part. Another thing I don’t understand is that some people think I am Irish – how strange.
In the UK, you can drive less than 100km and come across a city full of people with outrageously different accents to the previous. The ‘lingo’ can also change dramatically (although this is not only in the UK) with cities using words the previous one cannot understand that have different meanings.
We should all be proud of our accents as it tells people a lot about us. In the past, I have thought that I sound common and uninteresting with my Lancashire accent but I have learnt to speak freely and proudly with my ‘indigenous lingo’ and everybody else should too.
Jess Christiansen •