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Post by Stammerhead on Mar 16, 2023 17:25:05 GMT
Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse has said she struggles to understand the accents of people from the north of England. Mabuse, who speaks five languages, admitted she has to "really concentrate" when making conversation in the UK. She added that fellow Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood helps translate when an accent is "too strong". Mabuse grew up in South Africa but now lives in Germany. Speaking to comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster on their Off Menu podcast, the 41-year-old said: "The thing is, you [Britons] all speak differently. "Every time I'm in the country I really have to concentrate. "Some people I just don't know … I'm just like, 'Are we speaking the same language?' "There's a lot of accents here." Mabuse was then asked if she struggled with contestant AJ Odudu's Blackburn dialect during series 19 of the dance reality show back in 2021. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes. But there have been quite a few people from the north, so I'm always asking Craig. I'm just trying to understand … but it's not easy." She added fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood sometimes acts as a translator for her when they interact with some people from the north of England. "I really struggle with people that come from the north. "I'm like, can you please translate at this point? It's so strong, I just don't understand, really. I'm being honest." Mabuse can speak five languages: English, German and three South African languages including Afrikaans and Setswana. She said that she often accidently slips into German during broadcasts: "It's happened quite a few times. "Plus I have that South African accent, so it's a mess. It's a complete mess." Mabuse lives in Germany and has appeared on their version of Strictly called Let's Dance. When the dance competition airs on BBC One every autumn and winter, she commutes to the UK every week for the live shows. She joined Strictly in 2019 as a professional dancer, before becoming a judge alongside Head Judge Shirley Ballas, Revel Horwood and Anton Du Beke. www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64980687
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Post by Flying Monkeys (Flying/Monkeys on Mar 16, 2023 17:52:44 GMT
As someone from the north, I'll have a conversation with her about how I struggle with African accents.
Watch the leftie idiot crowd explode.
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Post by Stammerhead on Mar 16, 2023 18:10:34 GMT
As someone from the north, I'll have a conversation with her about how I struggle with African accents. Watch the leftie idiot crowd explode. What about Africans with Northern accents?
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Post by Flying Monkeys (Flying/Monkeys on Mar 17, 2023 7:51:56 GMT
As someone from the north, I'll have a conversation with her about how I struggle with African accents. Watch the leftie idiot crowd explode. What about Africans with Northern accents? I can't understand these northern accents.
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Post by yggdrasil on Mar 17, 2023 13:21:42 GMT
Always find it odd that for such a small country e have such a massive range of accents. Some Geordie and Scots can be very impenetrable when speaking fast. Mind you, I get the same with conversing with many an African or Indian doctor in the NHS.
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Mar 18, 2023 4:27:19 GMT
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Post by pathfinder on Mar 18, 2023 22:22:09 GMT
I think the reason why there are so many different accents in little tiny Britain is 2000-plus years of immigration. First there was the original indigenous people of Britain. The Stonehenge builders. Then about 2500-years ago. There were waves of Celtic people moving in. Then about 2000-years ago. There was the Romans. The Roman Empire. Then about 1500-years ago. There was the Anglo-Saxon migration. Then about 1200-years ago. There was the Viking migrations. Daneland. Now called the East Midlands. Then about 1000-years ago. There was the Norman conquest. And the introduction of Norman-French into Britain. After that things pretty much settled down for the next 800-years. As far as migration of people coming into Britain. Starting in the 19th century. There were waves of people migrating to Britain from the far corners of the British Empire.
I'm not going for exact dates. Or, time periods.
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Post by Flying Monkeys (Flying/Monkeys on Mar 18, 2023 23:53:00 GMT
I think the reason why there are so many different accents in little tiny Britain is 2000-plus years of immigration. First there was the original indigenous people of Britain. The Stonehenge builders. Then about 2500-years ago. There were waves of Celtic people moving in. Then about 2000-years ago. There was the Romans. The Roman Empire. Then about 1500-years ago. There was the Anglo-Saxon migration. Then about 1200-years ago. There was the Viking migrations. Daneland. Now called the East Midlands. Then about 1000-years ago. There was the Norman conquest. And the introduction of Norman-French into Britain. After that things pretty much settled down for the next 800-years. As far as migration of people coming into Britain. Starting in the 19th century. There were waves of people migrating to Britain from the far corners of the British Empire. I'm not going for exact dates. Or, time periods. Biggest factor for me is that Britain used to be made up of many different countries, each with their own language - language itself is the origination of an accent. So it's no surprise there are so many accents - it would be like making Germany and France one country, which adopted a single language, but then wondering why some spoke the language with a French accent and some spoke the same language with a German accent.
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Mar 19, 2023 7:10:28 GMT
I think the reason why there are so many different accents in little tiny Britain is 2000-plus years of immigration. First there was the original indigenous people of Britain. The Stonehenge builders. Then about 2500-years ago. There were waves of Celtic people moving in. Then about 2000-years ago. There was the Romans. The Roman Empire. Then about 1500-years ago. There was the Anglo-Saxon migration. Then about 1200-years ago. There was the Viking migrations. Daneland. Now called the East Midlands. Then about 1000-years ago. There was the Norman conquest. And the introduction of Norman-French into Britain. After that things pretty much settled down for the next 800-years. As far as migration of people coming into Britain. Starting in the 19th century. There were waves of people migrating to Britain from the far corners of the British Empire. I'm not going for exact dates. Or, time periods. Biggest factor for me is that Britain used to be made up of many different countries, each with their own language - language itself is the origination of an accent. So it's no surprise there are so many accents - it would be like making Germany and France one country, which adopted a single language, but then wondering why some spoke the language with a French accent and some spoke the same language with a German accent. Until recently, Europeans didn’t migrate much beyond their regions keeping their dialects localized and unique.
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Post by Flying Monkeys (Flying/Monkeys on Mar 19, 2023 7:12:56 GMT
Until recently, Europeans didn’t migrate much beyond their regions keeping their dialects localized and unique. Indeed - why leave the relative safety of your village for the unknowns over the hills?
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Mar 19, 2023 7:19:24 GMT
Until recently, Europeans didn’t migrate much beyond their regions keeping their dialects localized and unique. Indeed - why leave the relative safety of your village for the unknowns over the hills? And some folks couldn’t get out those villages fast enough.
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Post by Flying Monkeys (Flying/Monkeys on Mar 19, 2023 8:23:56 GMT
Indeed - why leave the relative safety of your village for the unknowns over the hills? And some folks couldn’t get out those villages fast enough. "didn’t migrate much beyond their regions" "couldn’t get out those villages fast enough" Which is it?
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Post by Stammerhead on Mar 19, 2023 11:49:45 GMT
Biggest factor for me is that Britain used to be made up of many different countries, each with their own language - language itself is the origination of an accent. So it's no surprise there are so many accents - it would be like making Germany and France one country, which adopted a single language, but then wondering why some spoke the language with a French accent and some spoke the same language with a German accent. Until recently, Europeans didn’t migrate much beyond their regions keeping their dialects localized and unique. During WW2 my mum worked in a factory where the workforce was mainly London women overseen by non conscripted men from around the country. Her foreman was from Newcastle and it was the first time most of the women had ever heard a Geordie speak so they loved asking him questions just to hear that strange accent.
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Post by PaulsLaugh on Mar 19, 2023 12:16:08 GMT
Until recently, Europeans didn’t migrate much beyond their regions keeping their dialects localized and unique. During WW2 my mum worked in a factory where the workforce was mainly London women overseen by non conscripted men from around the country. Her foreman was from Newcastle and it was the first time most of the women had ever heard a Geordie speak so they loved asking him questions just to hear that strange accent. My dad’s cousin married a Brit war bride from Northern Scotland he met wherever he was stationed. She didn’t have much of an accent left by the 1960s, but us kids would get to speak in her “native tongue” sometimes and she’d use all kinds of words we never heard. She would say heed for head.
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Post by yggdrasil on Mar 19, 2023 14:49:08 GMT
During WW2 my mum worked in a factory where the workforce was mainly London women overseen by non conscripted men from around the country. Her foreman was from Newcastle and it was the first time most of the women had ever heard a Geordie speak so they loved asking him questions just to hear that strange accent. My dad’s cousin married a Brit war bride from Northern Scotland he met wherever he was stationed. She didn’t have much of an accent left by the 1960s, but us kids would get to speak in her “native tongue” sometimes and she’d use all kinds of words we never heard. She would say heed for head. That would be "heid"
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