My uncle wants me to move to the North of England (I currently live in London and was born here). The thing?

Question

is, each time I go there I get cutting remarks. Even when I was a little girl, I used to get adults saying things like, "I can't understand these Londoners". I used to play out on the streets up North and one woman had said to her daughter, "come away from her (meaning me). I won't have you playing with the likes of her". I would really like to move, but now I'm in my 30's and still worry I'll be put down because of my London accent. What do you think?

I lack assertiveness as well.

Answer 1

If you really want to move, do it. You already have a social network knowing your uncle and the people around him, so I am sure that people will accept you.

Try and get involved in the local community. In this way people will get to know you and not judge you based on a little thing like a London accent. People are also more used to hearing different accents today as people relocate much more today than they used to twenty years ago.

Good luck!

Answer 2

i become born in London and lived there till my early 40's. I now stay in a Midlands village and performance been right here for 6+ years. My accent hasn't ever been a difficulty ~ although i do not evaluate I have 'a London accent.' at the same time as as a baby I went to stay with my grandparents in Northumberland, with the exception of 'loving the close by accent,' there have been under no circumstances any reports of issues that i'm able to undergo in concepts over dialect - or something else. i imagine maximum parts of the united kingdom are exceedingly cosmopolitan, and adequate wide-spread television is watched for human beings for use to at least one yet another. best of success. Sash.

Answer 3

I think you worry too much. I have travelled about, living between towns, villages and cities. I have a really mixed accent and most people can't make out where I'm from. But because I'm a decent person people soon warm to me. You come across as someone who is very caring, maybe too caring. Don't ever be put off from doing things for fear of ridicule. If you really want to move then do it! Moving is always tough no matter how many times you do it. I've lived up North and they are a strong bunch of people. They don't mince their words and it can be misconstrued as being hostile. If you take it on the chin and be nice then it will eventually settle down. Don't let a bruised ego choose the path you lead. That woman who ridiculed you may have been scared of the reputation that Londoners have of causing trouble and was worried that you might be a bad influence on her daughter. Most parents can relate to that, as it is basically a mother wanting to protect her child and give them a good upbringing. It may have been a bit overprotective, rude and unnecessary, but that woman saw you as a threat and was scared, (even though you're probably a lovely person)! People like her fail to take into consideration that London is a big city and with so many people living there it will have a high crime rate. It is totally unfair to put people into boxes simply because they live in a certain place. At the end of the day, we are all individuals! I've met good and bad people all over the country.

Why are you worried about an accent though? Presuming you are a nice person, there shouldn't be a problem. My ex moved down South from a rough area of Liverpool. He took a bit of stick the first couple of months he lived here. But he made light of it and got on brilliantly with everyone pretty quickly. On his induction at work, someone made a nasty remark and my ex shouted, 'Quick! Everyone hide your wallets and your mobile phones, the scouser's entered the room!' It made everyone laugh and people dropped their guards and changed their attitudes towards him after that. In fact some people apologised to him for judging him without knowing him first! People are always hostile if they they feel threatened. Usually this comes from not having knowledge about things, (fear of the unknown). Everyone is guilty of having preconceived ideas about people, because of their background, religion, skin colour, even residency. It is unfounded, and if you do move, your new neighbours will soon realise this too. I lived in Belfast and was apprehensive about moving there because of what I had heard about it. But I went with a good attitude and an open mind, (if a little on my guard lol)! When I got there I found that most of the people were lovely, decent, hard working characters. I loved their attitude to many things, like loyalty to friends and family, being decent to others, etc. I expected people to be all rough and tumble, war on the streets, people waiting for me to walk home so they can shoot me in the back of the head, etc, etc. Within a week a felt pretty awful about having these ideas. There is trouble everywhere you go and no place is perfect and nobody has a right to judge anyone or anything without knowing the facts, (which is why I don't vote lol).

Just remember... it is easy to be horrible to someone who is nasty but it's harder to be nasty to someone who is nice to you. So if you don't give people a reason to pick on you, then why should they? It may take a bit longer to settle in, but it will happen. Don't take it personally if people give you digs to start off with, just make light of it and they'll soon get bored. Also, if you do move, there's always the option of moving back if you aren't happy. I think that if you gave it a go, then you might be pleasantly suprised, (it would certainly boost your confidence). If it turned out to be a bad move, you could always look back on it and say, 'that was a waste of time but at least I had the bottle to give it a go!'

Answer 4

There's really only one question:
What advantage is there for you to move to the North - will you have a better standard of living? Or better prospects? if you can answer yes to either question, then go for it.

I have worked 'up north' (manchester) and have never had a problem with local accents, other than the occasional light hearted remark. These days regional accents can be heard on all sorts of TV & radio programs, i find it hard to believe that there would be any serious sort of problem with having a non-local accent.

Answer 5

Complete tosh - people in the north are much more friendly and used to having loads of you southerners descend upon us as it is much nicer to live up here. So what if someone can't undrstand you, you probably will take time to get used to Northern accents too. You will be welcome up North - we don't bite!

Answer 6

Society has changed so much now, since 20-30 years ago, people are much more used to diversity now. Try and take up new activities/join local groups. Those people who do continue to insult are not worth it, don't let them get to you as you know you are worth so much more.

Answer 7

be yourself the people who matter won't care what you sound like, (although I do tease my friends I just never take it to far), live where you want. don't let some backwoods wooden toothed uneducated people tell you what you can and can't do or live. people have fought to hard for equal rights for everyone. don't let someone take it from you. every forefather who fought a man like hitler who wanted to stop some people from living like they wanted. fought for you to be able to stand, look that person putting you down in the eye and say, " at least I let you live as you want where you want. I wont take that from you. please don't even try to take it from me. our fathers fought some of the most corrupted men in the last 200 years side by side. I just want to share the same land with you not take it from you."

Answer 8

times change you may get some riddiule but soon get accepted northeners arnt that bad