Omg Emily. Valleys girl in London here and honestly thank you for putting all of this into words and articulating some fantastic nuances and the madness of how someone can seemingly be impressed by the ability to say Llanfairpwll one minute (even though they'll never know if you got it right!) while trying to pull you down with a comment on your animal-relations the next!
I went to uni in Bath and felt I had to "make an effort" with my accent, the same when I started my first job in London. And always feel I need a chip on my shoulder to laugh off all the "bants" because really what is the alternative. And the Welsh can laugh at ourselves.
But sometimes, in England especially, it can be exhausting. Even more so after a six nations like this one lol.
Thoroughly enjoyed this, and glad your accent has found it's way back! X
omg, another POWELL. hi!!! thank you so much for your kind words! you're so right, we do really know how to laugh at ourselves. it's definitely a learned art. let's not talk about the six nations. *cue adam jones's sad face*
I loved reading this Em. Everything you write is so you, I literally read it with your wonderful Welsh voice in my head 🌼 although I lack the same pride for Essex that you have for Wales, it’s crazy to me that people think telling me ‘wow you don’t sound like you’re from Essex’ is a compliment!
thank you lovely lady. SO glad to hear my voice is coming through in the words, too. and you know what, you can be the essex pam to my south wales gwen.
completely relate, west midlands accent that got very different in london, now my accent is all over the place and it's anyone's guess how a word will sound when i say it
Hard relate to this, Em. I ‘lost’ my accent, I ‘found’ it again, I chameleoned my way into a US accent, an Aussie accent and eventually some kind of weird i-don’t-know-who-the-eff-i-am-anymore kind of voice. When I first moved to London I was asked if I grew up with electricity and if I’d ever seen an indoor toilet. Having now returned to my Yorkshire voice (more or less), it was very satisfying to be in a meeting a few years ago (the only woman in the room, btw) and see the look of horror on everyone's faces when they heard me speak and realised they’d hired a working class northerner to write for them 😂
Hi Emily, I just finished reading this at the recommendation of your grandfather. I definitely enjoyed it and was enlightened as well; always a fine combination. It was interesting to read about the assumptions that arose (very similar to what many experience here in the States), how you navigated them, and the way you held on to your identity and your pride in your origins. Anyway, thanks and I'll be looking in again.
Omg Emily. Valleys girl in London here and honestly thank you for putting all of this into words and articulating some fantastic nuances and the madness of how someone can seemingly be impressed by the ability to say Llanfairpwll one minute (even though they'll never know if you got it right!) while trying to pull you down with a comment on your animal-relations the next!
I went to uni in Bath and felt I had to "make an effort" with my accent, the same when I started my first job in London. And always feel I need a chip on my shoulder to laugh off all the "bants" because really what is the alternative. And the Welsh can laugh at ourselves.
But sometimes, in England especially, it can be exhausting. Even more so after a six nations like this one lol.
Thoroughly enjoyed this, and glad your accent has found it's way back! X
omg, another POWELL. hi!!! thank you so much for your kind words! you're so right, we do really know how to laugh at ourselves. it's definitely a learned art. let's not talk about the six nations. *cue adam jones's sad face*
Hiya! You're very welcome - and yes a learned art indeed!
Haha exactly 💚
I loved reading this Em. Everything you write is so you, I literally read it with your wonderful Welsh voice in my head 🌼 although I lack the same pride for Essex that you have for Wales, it’s crazy to me that people think telling me ‘wow you don’t sound like you’re from Essex’ is a compliment!
thank you lovely lady. SO glad to hear my voice is coming through in the words, too. and you know what, you can be the essex pam to my south wales gwen.
completely relate, west midlands accent that got very different in london, now my accent is all over the place and it's anyone's guess how a word will sound when i say it
long live all the accents we accidentally made 😭
Hi Cat! I’m in Miami, FL and ChatGTP recommended your account - loving what I’m reading. Happy to be a subscriber ✨
Hard relate to this, Em. I ‘lost’ my accent, I ‘found’ it again, I chameleoned my way into a US accent, an Aussie accent and eventually some kind of weird i-don’t-know-who-the-eff-i-am-anymore kind of voice. When I first moved to London I was asked if I grew up with electricity and if I’d ever seen an indoor toilet. Having now returned to my Yorkshire voice (more or less), it was very satisfying to be in a meeting a few years ago (the only woman in the room, btw) and see the look of horror on everyone's faces when they heard me speak and realised they’d hired a working class northerner to write for them 😂
Hi Emily, I just finished reading this at the recommendation of your grandfather. I definitely enjoyed it and was enlightened as well; always a fine combination. It was interesting to read about the assumptions that arose (very similar to what many experience here in the States), how you navigated them, and the way you held on to your identity and your pride in your origins. Anyway, thanks and I'll be looking in again.