What is an accent? An accent is a flavoring to your speech that influences the sounds of words and sentences. In Birmingham you might hear "lake" sounding close to "like", and In Ireland you might hear "this" sounding close to "diss".
Accents are related to social groups: Birmingham, say, or upper class. Everyone has an accent, and no one is accent-free. And for every accent there are groups of people who react badly to it. These reactions are the result of prejudice —an unreasoned jumping to conclusions.
Everybody has prejudices about accents. I certainly do. I have held prejudices about other people's accents. But over the decades, my experience of working with people from a wide range of backgrounds has led me to give up these prejudices. However, I still have prejudices that I find difficult to control.
Academics tell us that no accent is superior to any other. But the reality is that the wider world likes the idea of simple rules which tell us what is right and wrong. We like to judge our colleagues on the basis of these rules. If you break these rules, you are somehow to blame.
Jacob, Member of Parliament, remembers when he first stood unsuccessfully for election in Fife, Scotland, "I gradually realized that whatever I happened to be speaking about, the number of voters in my favor dropped as soon as I opened my mouth."
And some people change their accents to sound more refined (文雅的) when talking to people outside their immediate circle of family and friends.
Sky News ran a report recently in which an 18-year-old woman was trying to sound less posh (上等人的), that is speaking non-standard English, because she didn't like random people telling her that she must be rich and from a privileged background.
Lastly, it's worth being reminded that people can have an accent and still be recognized.
Beautiful coral reefs (珊瑚礁) in Thai seas have been gradually worsening due to global warming that causes coral bleaching, in addition to certain human activities without proper control and environmental consciousness. Recently, researchers from Thai university Chulalongkom have created 3D-printed coral reefs modeled on the nature of real corals called Innovareef to accelerate the recovery of the coral reef ecosystem.
Innovareef corals are coated with calcium and phosphate nutrients (钙磷营养物) that corals need to thrive and consist of flat surfaces. The reefs' holes serve as habitats and hiding places for many sea animals. Artificial reefs also make use of hydrodynamics technology to enhance their resistance to tidal forces and ensure that they stay in place. Finally, the PH (level of acidity) of the selected type of cement used for the reefs is close to that of seawater, and the design concept is that of Lego, easily assembled (组装) and disassembled blocks that are easy to transport and fix.
"The Innovareef is not too large. It's light-weighted and can be carried by anyone thus saving transportation costs. You can simply put it at any desired location in the sea and then dive down to put all the units together to complete the Innovareef. Not even five minutes afterward, fish and several ocean creatures start to come in to survey and make it their new habitat, leading to biodiversity around the Innovareef. More importantly, the research data indicates that the settlement and growth rates of planula on the Innovareef are better than those on other artificial reefs,"said Associate Professor Dr. Nantarika Chansue at Chulalongkorn University.
Innovareef is the hope for the effective recovery of natural coral reefs. Now the team is focused on adding more details so that the new structures look more like natural reefs. For the future generations of Innovareef, the team will develop a more specific design for each sea species in the area.
My problem started after I went to a boarding school. I was only 14, and at first I missed my family a lot. I often called them and cried on the phone. But after two weeks, I found I enjoyed being with my classmates at school.
I had many friends who were boys. I thought of them as my best friends – but only friends. I never guessed my friendships with boys would become a problem.
Then, three months later, my friends told me that some teachers and girls said I was hanging out with boys all day long in order to get attention from them. Seven months after that, the head teacher Mr. Wang asked the class to choose some students to join the Student Union. I thought I could win for I was doing well in school. I'd already won prizes for the best math and English exams. A week later, the list came out and it didn't include me. I was sad.
Mr. Wang came to me and said, "Don't be sad. I know you're excellent! Maybe. You're a little distant from the girls in our class. They don't know much about you, so some of them didn't choose you. It doesn't matter. Do your best to get along well with everyone and I think you'll make it next time."
A 24-year-old Ethiopian runner Shura Kitata won the men's race in the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon, crossing the line in 2:05:41.
Kitata finished second in the 2018 London Marathon behind the world record holder Eliud Kipchoge. However, this weekend, Kitata won the Virgin Money London Marathon and thanked fellow Ethiopian, Kenenisia Bekele for his win when he talked to a reporter from the BBC. Kitata said Bekele was helping him for the race and advised him how to run. He trained hard for the same course in this way. Fortunately, he won the race for his hard training.
Kitata showed his excellent performances including victories at the 2017 Rome Marathon and 2017 Frankfurt Marathon title victories, where he finished separately with the times 2:07:30 and 2:05:50.
Kitata was born on a family farm in central Ethiopia, not far from the capital of Addis Ababa, and has four sisters and three brothers. As a youngster at school, he learned quickly about his country's marathon history. The names Abebe Bikila, Kenenisia Bekele and Derartu Tulu left a deep impression on him. They seemed to be everywhere t—textbooks, news-papers and on the radio so that even before he started running, he knew about the marathon, and thought it very thrilling.
He loved sports and began running at primary school. When he performed well, he just rode the wave. Kitata took part in his first marathon five years ago in Shanghai, finishing third in 2:08:50 and soon joined an elite training group in Addis Ababa.
Now he appears calm to join the ranks of great Ethiopian marathoners. He is a famous sportsman, like the ones he read about and heard so much about during his childhood. He said it would be a great joy to add his story to the stories of those who came before him.
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