AEI        Do you speak English?                   Updated 27 June 2006

I was on the verge of asking that question this morning when I rang a National Health Enquiry Line.  The young woman who answered my call spoke with such a garbled accent that I just did not understand what she said at first.  Whether it was me getting used to he voice, or whether her speech improved, I do not know, but later into the conversation I began to understand her quite well.

Today's news quoted a university vice chancellor telling a reporter that before too long British Universities will be full of European students.  He told the reporter that his university was under an obligation to accept the most literate and intelligible students that met the remaining entrance-criteria, and that New-EU-Member students far outshone the indigenous applicants.  I fully believe what was said.  Let me quote a personal story:

A little over a year ago I called into a Nottingham City Council office and was served by a 20-year-old black girl.  I immediately assumed that the lass was a second or third generation immigrant.  I am going to mention the young lady's name as I believe she deserves a citation.  Damola Bolard had the speech that, to me, was angelic. She spoke properly, reasonably slowly, and her enunciation was close to perfect.  I had to be rude and enquire what school she had attended.  I thought that maybe there was some money in the family and she had gone to one of the better-grade private schools.  I was disabused when she gave me the name of a black Commonwealth city and told me that it was a state school that she attended.  I do hope that Damola keeps her beautiful speech as young people tend to lapse into the speech-patterns of those around them.  I saw this with an Italian au pair who worked for a while for one of my daughters.  Every sentence was finished with a "you-know".

I know the older generation always report that "The Country is Going to the Dogs". And at just turned 80, I fall into that category.  There appears to be a natural law regarding spoken language.  Look at the French language with the number of unsounded letters.  Those letters must have been spoken at some time in their history, our language seems to be going the same way.  We have already lost the "k" in a number of words, and the  "p" in "pneumonia" being another example.  But to my ears the silencing of the letter "t" in many words today is just too much.

But as the 'Damola principle' shows: all is not lost.  Listen to some of the better-educated Germans speaking our language, their speech is not just excellent, it is superb.

New England (USA) speech by and large is good.  I have heard it said that USA TV and radio producers try and get New Englanders for their new readers.  As I said above, "all is not lost".  But I suppose all empires become decadent, but they do leave some good things behind them.  And I suppose that statement applies to us.

If only the Indians would speak English in a way that I could understand, I would be content that most call centres are now based in Hindustan.  That country will become a world-leader, and its educated population will all speak English