Faithful followers will remember our London Talks stall at last year’s Festival of Communities at Queen Mary University, where we handed out hundreds of tiny badges with London slang words. As we were observing how much people enjoyed those words, discussed and rated them, and came up with more iconic dialect words and expressions CaitlinContinue reading “Get ready for REAL TALK East London merchandise!”
Category Archives: MLE
‘Black British English’ as a label for ‘Multicultural London English’
I was lucky to have caught Ife Thompson, a proud ‘Brixtonian’, last week. As a full-time criminal defence lawyer and community organiser, she is extremely busy. Ife is the founder and director of the charity Black Learning Achievement and Mental health (BLAM UK), which focuses on Black history, racial wellness and advocates against anti-blackness andContinue reading “‘Black British English’ as a label for ‘Multicultural London English’”
East Ender with a ‘bookworm’ accent
I met Afroza on one of the recent hot summer days, but we stayed cool in a coffee shop basement. Afroza grew up in Bow in a large Bangladeshi family of eight siblings and now lives in Shoreditch with her family. Afroza would call her accent ‘a bit Cockney, a bit posh’. It’s the latterContinue reading “East Ender with a ‘bookworm’ accent”
‘I don’t need to pay to go to Nigeria, I just go to Peckham’
Another great interview I did was with Mariana and Nieves, who, like Andy and Eileen, live on the Cressingham Gardens estate in Tulse Hill. Mariana moved to Brixton from Nigeria when she was 18, and Nieves, now a pensioner, is originally from Manila in the Philippines. The two are neighbours and friends and Mariana helpsContinue reading “‘I don’t need to pay to go to Nigeria, I just go to Peckham’”
Sounding ‘more London’ at school
I met with Alina shortly before Christmas in Hays Galleria near London Bridge. She is a young South Londoner, who grew up and lived most of her life in Southwark. She would call her own way of speaking ‘standard London, close to Standard English’. She says her dad, who was a stay-at-home dad, ‘has gotContinue reading “Sounding ‘more London’ at school”
South London girl in the East End
Samantha is one of our students at Queen Mary. She commutes in from Croydon. Her parents are from Jamaica and originally spoke Patois, so this is the language she grew up around. ‘I feel like a lot of sentences and phrases I say may not sound grammatically correct, but that’s just what I am usedContinue reading “South London girl in the East End”
Growing out of a Pakistani accent
During one of my days in the office, I met with Fajar, one of our first-year students, at QMU. She grew up and still lives in the East End. She is of Pakistani origin and has never really been to the north, south, or west of London. Fajar likes the ‘posh accent’ from the newsContinue reading “Growing out of a Pakistani accent”
LONDON TALKS 