Reader Letter: We need pride in our accents

One reader thinks it's a shame when people lose their Norfolk accent. What do you think?

Why is it that our Norfolk accent/dialect seems to be only acceptable when in use in our county and anyone who was born here and wants to progress in their career has to lose their Norfolk accent and learn to discipline themselves only to speak correct English, whatever that is, especially when they leave Norfolk?

The same problem does not seem to happen to people from Scotland and Ireland, for example when outside their own communities speaking naturally in their own dialect and people always seem to make an effort to go out of their way to understand them if their dialect is strong but if you had a Norfolk accent the reverse happens and you are often perceived as a country bumpkin with a straw in your mouth out of a comedy show.

I often wonder if it is something to do with the county of Norfolk itself having an ancient image of being flat, backward and rural with nothing seemingly being done to correct this image.

Some visitors seem to think that people living in Norfolk do not have gas, electricity or running water and still lead a sleepy rural lifestyle compared to them.

We should be proud of the way we speak just like the way our friends from Scotland and Ireland are proud and we should take the same aggressive attitude they take to people who make derogatory remarks about their own accents. They are proud of where they come from and so should we be in Norfolk.

London regards us as a dumping ground with cheap houses and the north does not even know we exist.

Do you agree with our reader? What do you think about the reputation of the Norfolk accent? Let us know in the comments below or write to us at edpletters@archant.co.uk