Accentricity

By Sadie Ryan

What's Accentricity about?

Why do we love some accents and hate others? Why do we talk differently in different situations? Does learning a new language really teach you to think differently? In this linguistics podcast, I examine how the way we talk connects to who we are.

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Accentricity episodes:

07.26.2023
Élaina's Story
In this episode, Élaina tells the story of her relationship with her family’s languages: those that were passed on to her by her parents, or those that weren’t.
08.26.2022
Special episode: “Really this girl ought to be going to something better”
Over the past few years, as well as making Accentricity, I’ve been working on the Manchester Voices research project at Manchester Metropolitan University, with Rob Drummond, Holly Dann, Sarah Tasker and Erin Carrie. As part of this work, we used...
10.04.2021
Special episode: Talking About Voices
As well as making Accentricity, I work on the Manchester Voices project at Manchester Metropolitan University, with Rob Drummond and Holly Dann. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we ran a podcasting course and competition for schools called Talking About Voices. This...
09.27.2021
Anna and Sadie's Story
My mum, Anna, is Polish. But she’s not from Poland - she was born in Edinburgh, and has lived there for most of her life. How can someone who is completely Scottish also be completely Polish? And why does the...
09.12.2021
Lisa's Story
Lisa loved living in Hamberg, so when her boss asked her to move across Germany to Bamberg, in Bavaria, she wasn’t sure she could do it…
08.30.2021
Helen and Sam's Story
Helen’s friend Sam never quite felt at home in the country he was born in, America. He left in search of a place to belong, and found Berlin. But after nine years spent there, is Berlin home to him? What...
08.17.2021
Claire's Story
Claire is learning to speak Doric, a variety of Scots that comes from the North East of Scotland. But when she speaks it, it makes her husband, who grew up with Doric, feel uncomfortable. In this episode, she tries to...
08.01.2021
Charles and Alejandra's Story
Charles’ aunt, Alejandra, was born in Chile but has been in America for almost 30 years – more than half her life. When you’ve been away from a place for so long, it can be hard to maintain a connection...
07.21.2021
Maria's Story
Maria Dokovova has been living in Scotland for ten years, but she doesn’t have a Scottish accent. How would her life be different if she did?
07.04.2021
Veronica's Story
Veronica Juliana Schmalz moved from Argentina to Sicily when she was eight. She didn’t know anyone and didn’t speak the language. Now she is fluent in six languages. But what was that journey like?
06.20.2021
Don't Forget To Tell Them That You're Polish
What’s it like to navigate the rocky terrain of school in a brand new language? In this episode, we hear from Leon and Julia, two young people who moved from Poland to Scotland and had to do just that.
06.06.2021
Series 2 Trailer
We’re launching series 2 on the 20th of June! Here’s what you can expect to hear…
03.01.2021
Introducing: The Sounds of Integration guest series
A few months ago, we were invited to work in collaboration with the podcast Refugee Voices Scotland, and make a guest series for a new podcast called The Sounds of Integration. We decided to make a series on the theme...
08.27.2020
Bonus Episode: Learning To Talk, One Year Later
It’s been about a year since I released episode 4, Learning To Talk, where I met seven kids at different stages of their linguistic development, from newborn Harris to four-year-old Ronan. I enjoyed making that episode so much that I...
06.22.2020
Fake Accents
There’s something about hearing your own accent does wrong that sets your teeth on edge. But why does it bother us? Why are some accents so often done badly? And what is Tom Cruise even doing in Far and Away?
05.25.2020
Bonus Episode: The Best Thing I've Learned About Language part 2
This is a bonus episode featuring some of the amazing people I’ve taught this year at the University of Glasgow. Some are people who are new to linguistics, and some are now pretty seasoned researchers who are about to start...
05.11.2020
Bonus Episode: The Best Thing I've Learned About Language part 1
This is a bonus episode featuring some of the amazing people I’ve taught this year at the University of Glasgow. Some are people who are new to linguistics, and some are now pretty seasoned researchers who are about to start...
03.30.2020
Multilingualism is not a Curse part 2
Why is it that despite all of the evidence that using multiple languages is good for you, multilingualism is still sometimes treated with suspicion? In this episode, I examine the concept of verbal hygiene, and how the policing of linguistic...
03.29.2020
Bonus Episode: Learning to Talk , One Year Later
It’s been about a year since I released episode 4, Learning To Talk, where I met seven kids at different stages of their linguistic development, from newborn Harris to four-year-old Ronan. I enjoyed making that episode so much that I...
03.16.2020
Multilingualism is not a Curse part 1
Having more than one language is good for lots of obvious reasons, but also some which are not so obvious. This is an episode about multilingualism: why it’s a blessing and not a curse.
03.02.2020
Learning to Talk
How do babies learn to talk? In this episode I explore how they go from little howling machines to little sentence builders in the space of a couple of years.
02.17.2020
Singing Voice, Speaking Voice
A lot of Scottish singers perform with an accent that doesn’t sound much like their speaking accent – but why is this? And is it changing? In this episode I look at the role of Scottish accents in the Scottish...
02.03.2020
More Than One Voice
We all have more than one voice. For some of us that means using multiple languages, for some it means making tiny adjustments to the way we speak – often so tiny that we don’t notice them ourselves. What do...
01.20.2020
Making Assumptions
All ways of speaking are linguistically equal, and none is better than any other. But the way people talk about language, you’d never guess that was the case. This is an episode about linguistic prejudice, and why it’s stupid.
01.05.2019
Series 1 trailer
The first full episode will be released on the 26th of January.

What's Accentricity about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Accentricity episodes:

Élaina's Story

Special episode: “Really this girl ought to be going to something better”

Special episode: Talking About Voices

Anna and Sadie's Story

Lisa's Story

Helen and Sam's Story

Claire's Story

Charles and Alejandra's Story

Maria's Story

Veronica's Story

Don't Forget To Tell Them That You're Polish

Series 2 Trailer

Introducing: The Sounds of Integration guest series

Bonus Episode: Learning To Talk, One Year Later

Fake Accents

Bonus Episode: The Best Thing I've Learned About Language part 2

Bonus Episode: The Best Thing I've Learned About Language part 1

Multilingualism is not a Curse part 2

Bonus Episode: Learning to Talk , One Year Later

Multilingualism is not a Curse part 1

Learning to Talk

Singing Voice, Speaking Voice

More Than One Voice

Making Assumptions

Series 1 trailer