Accentricity

How do babies learn how 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. 

‘And finally there’s just this sort of awakening moment where you realise there’s no way I can tell these stories - wee Central Scotland stories - and have a false accent.’ – Dave Hook

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 you do?

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.

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 podcast, I examine the eccentricities of language and identity; how the way we talk connects to who we are.