Practical Thoughts

Life Should be Easy

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

What is neutral accent?

We have all heard people in our ITES and BPO industry talk about having a neutral English accent. I always thought the way NDTV anchors speak is what all of us call this "neutral" accent.

But recently a thought has been running in my mind. Neutral accent, according to me is really farcical. English is supposed to be spoken the way British folks speak. American accent, Australian accent, Scottish accent are all accepted but Britain is really where modern English was really born.
When it comes to India, the way Mallus speak English is totally different from the way Bengalis speak. North Indian accent is different from any other regional accent.
So what is neutral accent really? Its also an Indian accent, without accent modifiers coming in from the above regional accents.

But in my opinion, if someone wants to speak English with a neutral accent, he should be speaking the way Hugh Grant or Tony Blair speak and not like Pranoy Roy or Vikram Chandra.

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