Anti-elocution lessons on the rise

  • Breaking
  • 19/05/2014

Voice coaches in England have noticed a rise in "anti-elocution" lessons as more people try to sound less posh.

Private school students have been advised to dumb down their eloquent accents to help them succeed in the real world.

Eighteen-year-old Roisin Logan is taking "anti-elocution" lessons to learn how not to sound posh.

She says her naturally well-spoken accent has caused others to judge her negatively.

"I've just had random people [ask] 'Oh, are you posh? Because you speak posh.' And I'm like, 'No, I'm not,'" she says.

"I'm no more privileged than anyone else. Just because I've had a private education doesn't mean that I am necessarily rich or well off."

Voice coach Christine Hubbard says she gets around two requests every month from the likes of social workers, doctors and even barristers who want to dumb down their accents to help them relate better to their clients.

Ms Hubbard believes speaking with the traditional Received Pronunciation is going out of fashion.

"Even the Queen has what we call a little bit of 'estuary' creeping into her voice these days. And even some of the, shall we say, better-spoken presenters on television have lost their extremely didactic way of speaking."

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source: newshub archive