Wednesday 6 February 2013

"English, Mother******, do you speak it?"

Parents have been sent letters from a school urging them to stop their children using phrases such as 'ax' in place of 'ask' and 'innit, blood'.
Nelson Mandela Primary School warned against 'problem' phrases and criticised children using pronunciations, such as 'free' and 'butta' instead of 'three' and 'butter'.
The letter spells out 11 'incorrect' phrases. 'I ax him' and 'I shanked 'im, fam' were blacklisted, and parents were reminded that 'yous' should not be permitted because 'you is never a plural'.
Well, goodness me!
Carol Walker, Nelson Mandela's headteacher, defended the letter, saying: 'We would like to equip our children to go into the world of work and not be disadvantaged.
'We need the children to know there is a difference between dialect, accent and standard English.
A welcome thing, surely?

I might have slightly amended some details there. How naughty of me.

But could you imagine the almighty fuss that the above would cause, if it wasn't targeted at white working class children?
at

22 comments:

  1. @Marcherlord16 February 2013 at 12:23


    Sounds like this....
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Not

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  2. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 12:24

    "I shanked him" is prison talk for stabbing someone. I'd be a little more concerned than just the language.

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  3. geewiz6 February 2013 at 12:27

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrzpoUjJ_0g

    A classic

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  4. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 12:58

    sheeeeeeeeeeee - it! Naw hoo da hell iz gonna tek care o' ma bidness den Mmm? Muthafukah!

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  5. Paul6 February 2013 at 13:02

    Nelson Mandela Primary School? WTF?!!

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  6. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 13:05

    Bunny

    On a serious note the headmistress is to be applauded, ensuring that her charges have a fighting chance of being able to write properly and have opportunities in life is what people in charge of primary schools used to do. Well done that woman.

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  7. John Pickworth6 February 2013 at 13:56

    The kids don't care... they're not going to be starting on the bottom rung at ASDA are they? No. They'll be gansta-rapping superstars, Liverpool strikers (the footballing kind natch'), WAGS, winners of the X-factor, drug dealers or guaranteed replacements for the ageing Ant 'n' Dec.

    I applaud the effort but fear we missed this boat a long time ago.

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  8. Macheath6 February 2013 at 15:16

    Bunny, you're right.

    One has to admire the woman's courage; while sensible people will praise her, this is a red rag to aspiring Class Warriors and - although they would never consciously admit it, preferring to hide behind accusations of elitism - to the thousands whose well-paid jobs in the North-East depend on the continued existence of the inarticulate masses.

    Julia, surely you're out of date; Nelson Mandela School would by now have been renamed The Mary Seacole Community Learning Experience.

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  9. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 16:14

    Well done that Headteacher. It is part of her job to raise the aspirations of her pupils and indeed their parents hopes as well.

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  10. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 16:35

    Hmmmm - It springs from what most would see as worthy and sensible ideals, but some parents seem to be "a bit unsure" - one is quoted as seeing it on first glance as "extreme" ... and we even have a "famous Essex Girl" saying: ‘I think it is ridiculous that kids so young are being forced to act a certain way. 'Both me and my sister have never had any sort of elocution lessons and it did not do us any harm.'
    and then the er "capper" "However this angered local MP Angela Smith, who said: 'Who is going to adjudicate? Who is going to say slang, dialect or accent? And which one is right and which one is wrong?'

    Best of Luck with that Sisyphean task you appear to have taken on Headmistress Carole Walker - simply trying to encourage the use of proper spoken and written English - well, judging by all the support you are getting you might find yourself opting for something a little less difficult and more achievable instead ere long - moving Mount Everest one metre to the left for example ...

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  11. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 18:04

    Life Rule No 1:
    Avoid any school, road, estate or institution named after a hero of the Leftoons. They're unerringly and irredeemably shite.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 18:13

    Bunny,

    @ the later Mr Anonymous, it seems that Carole Walker has the support of the parents, which after all is the important thing. Probably has the support of most parents (baring the Jeremy Kyle aspirants) in the area really.

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  13. dak6 February 2013 at 18:29

    'you is never a plural'

    Eh? It is. "You" is the second person plural form of the personal pronoun. It is, of course, also the singular form.

    I think what she meant was that there is no plural form of that pronoun.

    If one were going to be pedantic, one should at least ensure that one's pedantry stands up to scrutiny.

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  14. John Pickworth6 February 2013 at 20:33

    ... one should at least ensure that one's pedantry stands up to scrutiny.

    *sigh*

    I know what you mean. I'm nearing that age when it's becoming increasing difficult to get my pedantry to stand up for anything. Or anythings even.

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  15. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 20:36

    Stonyground says:
    Oddly, I always though that saying yous was a geordie affectation, how has it managed to spread to London? Pronouncing TH sounds as F has been a London tradition as long as people in Hull have pronounced the word door as doe and prawns as proens.

    Sorry to be OT, but I thought that you might like this story:

    http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Police-officers-reprimanded-parking-car-disabled/story-18067812-detail/story.html#axzz2K8gVvZqi

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  16. Anonymous6 February 2013 at 21:30

    I can't speak english either,..... I'm a Scouser.

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  17. staybryte6 February 2013 at 21:34

    Some of you lot have missed the point a bit here. The real story's about Teesside, Julia's done a wee bit of hypothetical juxtaposition...

    Which is a mouthful in any language, slang or dialect...

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  18. JuliaM7 February 2013 at 05:34

    "Sounds like this....
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Not"

    Oh yes!

    "A classic"

    LOL!

    "On a serious note the headmistress is to be applauded, ensuring that her charges have a fighting chance of being able to write properly and have opportunities in life is what people in charge of primary schools used to do. "

    Oh, I fully support her! I'm just pointing out the fact that, had she been at any other school...

    "Julia, surely you're out of date; Nelson Mandela School would by now have been renamed The Mary Seacole Community Learning Experience."

    Good point!

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  19. JuliaM7 February 2013 at 05:38

    "Best of Luck with that Sisyphean task you appear to have taken on Headmistress Carole Walker.."

    Oh, I hope she does persevere - if the parents support her, maybe she will (Bunny is right, that's the key), but if they are persuaded to turn on her by the publicity, she's doomed.

    "I'm nearing that age when it's becoming increasing difficult to get my pedantry to stand up for anything. Or anythings even."

    ;)

    "Sorry to be OT, but I thought that you might like this story"

    Oh, indeed! That puzzled me a lot. Since when have police been able to compel a newspaper not to speculate on reasons for the shooting?

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  20. Hogdayafternoon7 February 2013 at 07:42

    and in my schooldays Richard the Third was merely refereed to as `Dick the Shit` >sigh<

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  21. Woman on a Raft7 February 2013 at 08:53

    Mercy, but that link goes to one about a Tesco car park.

    Their gaff, their rules....but surely they aren't shooting people for overstaying the time?

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  22. JuliaM7 February 2013 at 09:32

    Ah! Got my tabs mixed up :)

    ReplyDelete