http://www.englishforums.com/English/EnglishAudioSpeechPronunciation/Forum22.htmBritish, American, Scottish accent or using super-fantastic-high-tech software, we'll help you with pronunciation.enXMOD (Build: 3607.32596)http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanTellOnesSocialBackgroundAccent/jlbgp/post.htm#840639Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:30:28 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:840639Anonymous0http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanTellOnesSocialBackgroundAccent/jlbgp/post.htm#840639http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments22-840639.xmlPerhaps to a certain extent, but accent is much more a pointer to geographic region. Very well educated (upper class) people will usually speak standard (or 'Oxford' English), but some people are proud of their origins and will keep the local accent - especially if they are Scots or Irish. I think a lot depends on where they went to school - my wife was brought up in Scotland, but early on went to an English school and had to go to elocution lessons to learn how to speak 'properly'! But I don't think that would happen now. Some accents are perceived to be 'worse' than others - Birmingham, London, Liverpool accents are considered to be 'less educated' than say Yorkshire; a West Country (Devon,...http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanTellOnesSocialBackgroundAccent/jlbgp/post.htmSat, 04 Jul 2009 16:27:23 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:806138bonjour_Rosemary1http://www.englishforums.com/English/CanTellOnesSocialBackgroundAccent/jlbgp/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments22-806138.xmlHello, yesterday my friends and I had a rather interesting chat concerning the issue of accents in the UK. We all know that there are many different accents in the UK. I can recognise some local accents, such as Liverpool and Yorkshire. I understand that accents vary from geographical areas to generations. People can tell that someone is well-educated by the way one speaks (terminology). Yet, much more than that, it seems to me that most British can instantly tell someone's social background when they hear s/he speaks. Why is that? One time I met two people who have different accents, but my friend said they both went to public schools (well I'm aware that going to public schools doesn't necessary mean one is from upper class...