Cherry Tree Primary School, in Basildon Essex, has become one of the first primary schools in the country to offer its pupils elocution lessons. The movement started after the Essex accent grew to nationwide, and even international, as reality show The Only Way Is Essex grows in popularity.
Cherry Tree Primary schoolchildren has been taught over the past year to ditch their Essex accents and use “posh voices” during weekly lessons from a private tutor. TOWIE has even brought new words into the English vocabulary, such as reem (cool) and jel (jealous), which are being used nationwide. Teachers state that it is not about losing their Essex accents, it is more about learning to use proper English, therefore aiding reading and writing skills. One was quoted as saying “We had lots of youngsters writing ‘sbort’ instead of ‘sport’ and ‘wellw’ instead of ‘well’.
Each elocution lesson lasts 30 minutes, and involve exercises and feedback from the tutor. Elocution lessons have tremendously grown in popularity after the success of OScar-winning film The King’s Speech, where King George VI overcomes the burden of a stutter with therapy sessions.
Essex without an Essex accent? “shuutup!”
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