British pronunciation: then vs now

[mungouk]

There has been some discussion here of the (now very outdated) British "received pronunciation".  

 

I just enjoyed watching a documentary which might be of interest to teachers,  and/or which you might want to use as stimulus material in class if you want to discuss accents or class structure in the UK.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcrcyYGXo2o

 

Timeshift is an acclaimed British social history documentary series produced by the BBC. This particular programme, "Pay Attention Britain!" is about how the WWII propaganda unit became the Central Office of Information, which went on to produce "public information films" which many of my fellow brits will remember ("Charlie says...", "Green Cross Code", etc.)

 

For those curious about Received Pronunciation, and their students, the first 15-20 mins will be of particular interest since they switch between archaic (black and white footage) and modern pronunciation. 

 

As a counter example in the programme, design critic and posh bloke Peter York (in the red/white striped shirt) demonstrates that even 12 years ago, there were still isolated upper class people speaking as if they were related to the royal family. ?

 

 

 

 

[Flickserve]

Only six months ago, I met an art gallery owner in Hong Kong who spoke like that posh bloke. My accent followed his and he got quite curious to where I came from. 

 

I used to like watching those old English productions that were endlessly repeated on BBC particularly Hammer House of Horrors with Peter Cushing or Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock Holmes.

[mungouk]

David Niven! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7pNGFY064c

 

[Jim]

Funnily enough, always thought of the cat in "Charlie says..." when I heard a Beijing accent in full flow.

[DavyJonesLocker]

13 hours ago, mungouk said:

which many of my fellow brits will remember ("Charlie says...", "Green Cross Code", etc.)

 

 

I preferred him as Darth Vader. Looked a bit camp in the green cross code ?