Dialects of England - Annalisa Kiely

'Alreet Pet', 'Alright love', 'Ay up'

 

What are all of these? These are just a few greetings from specific regions in England. Do any of these reflect you, or are you even aware of your regional voice? Why are there so many different dialects? English dialects are variety in regional grammar, lexis and pronunciation. A dialect such as 'Standard English' is associated with the 'Received Pronunciation' accent or in other words, the 'Queen's English'.

 

Most of us have a certain dialect which we speak and use distinctive grammar and words. They are often associated with a regional accent, such as Birmingham dialect with a 'Brummie' accent. But what happens when we start to use more than one dialect? For example, a person from Newcastle, known as a 'Geordie' moving down to East London, (where the dialect is known as 'Cockney') might have difficulty understanding why the word 'bread' is used to distinguish 'money' or why someone could be 'cabbage' instead of being 'slow'. 

 

There has been recent discussion in newspapers and magazines over the latest addition to 'Coronation Street' - Michelle Collins and her 'Northern' accent. After leaving 'Eastenders', where it's hard to find anyone who can say 'house' without dropping the /h/, Michelle arrived in Manchester with her brand new accent. However, there has been much debate as to whether her 'Cockney' roots are just too strong for her to succeed as a 'Northerner'. Michelle has to change her 'my' to 'me' and 'me' to 'us' and a lot more complicating changes! This example suggests that it is possible to learn and speak different dialect, but it is challenging and most certainly confusing, and I doubt Michelle would go back to the East End and say, 'Give us me coat!' Nonetheless, Accent is something we learn in our early lives and once learnt it is very difficult to change. 

 

Cheryl Cole might have been removed from the recent 'US X Factor' because the Americans could not understand her 'Geordie' Accent, but how is it that regions such as South East or West Midlands can understand her and they are opposite sides of the country? 

 

Peter Trudgill investigated the dialects of England and who uses them. He discovered the significance of our backgrounds and upbringing towards the way we speak and how we can form an identity through our regional dialects. 

 

English is constantly changing, and these changes may or may not spread to certain parts of the country, which leads to different dialects across England. People evolve differently, and their development and understanding of English language evolves with them. A significant influence in our dialect is our societal group which could be lower class, working class, middle class or upper class. A person can develop an individual way of speaking in a certain group and influence the language of others.  

 

 

What is American English and how did it come about?

The English language is such a widely spoken language around the world. In a majority of countries it is known as the mother tongue language.
English language can be traced all the way back to 5AD (5^th century). It was first brought over to England by German invaders. From this English has develop greatly to what it is today; Modern English. There are now millions of people speaking English as their first language and approximately two thirds of them live in America. So you ask, how?

In 1607 the first expedition to America had taken place. Virginia and New England were the first states of America to be introduced to the English language. The settlers from Virginia had a mixed range of people but they were mainly from the "West Country" like Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. The Americans developed their accent in many ways such as pronouncing the /s/ with /z/ and their /r/ strongly. However over the years their accent has changed, but there are still some similar aspects of pronunciation, such as /r/ this is still strongly pronounced by Americans, e.g. /ka:r/. This is also known as rhotic. Settlers from New England came from the east of England, these settlers have a non - rhotic feature in their speech. This is where they don't pronounce their /r/ sounds when it is after a vowel. This has changed over time significantly but there are still some areas which will have similar accents of language from the first settlers. Now all over America there are varied accents and dialects and it is hard to try and specify them into groups.

I found a site that shows the difference usage of specific words between the English Harry Potter books and the American Harry Potter books. http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/potter.html. One of the main reasons why some words had to be changed to American English was because some of the American children may not have understood certain words and they may have a different meaning. An example would be "fringe" this in English is a type of way to get your hair cut but in America they call it "bangs" also in America there is a drama series called "Fringe"

America is a superpower of the world and has advanced greatly since the world wars: technology, TV, films, radio, and music. This has influenced language greatly and there are some aspects of it that have travelled to the different parts of the world. These specific terms from the US are called Americanisms.
There are some words which are pronounced the same in both English languages but they are not spelt the same e.g. plough — plow, colour — color, centre — center, cheque — check, defence — defense, tyre — tire, ageing — aging. The first word is the British English spelling and the second is the American English spelling.
American English has become so developed that it is significantly different from British English. American English has a combination of different words from different countries (loan words/borrowings). All of these put together make up the new type of English that is used by the Americans.

To finish off this site http://dare.wisc.edu/?q=node/1, leads to the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE). This dictionary was created to show the different language used in America. It contains phrases/words used throughout parts of America that stand out and are different to Standard English. The information was conducted with face to face interviews within different communities.

Is Rastamouse Racist? Disrespectful? Or just trying to educated kids in a way that they can understand?

Rastamouse, a television programme aimed at 6 year olds and based on popular children's books. A programme about a Rastafarian skateboarding mouse, with his friends Zoomer and Scratchy who make 'Da Easy Crew' a crime fighting, problem solving, singing group of mice. Britain is a growing country and we have a growing population of different races of children being born and growing up in England. The programme appeals to all children but is it a bad influence on Caucasian children? It is wrong to allow kids to learn about different dialects and about people from different origins? What's the problem?

The same problem has been raised repeatedly, is Rastamouse racist?  The programme has been an utter success and children love it. But it is the parents who are worrying? The show has been said to make references to drugs; 'cheese' could be replacement for marijuana, or is this just parents overthinking. The dialect that is used is different to Standard English, such language as Jamaican patois, creole and pidgin. Popular language used in Caribbean countries.  Some parents are worried it will encourage slang such as wagwan (what's going on) and irie (happy) which are parts of patois Jamaican language, and that children will pick up the slang words and use it towards other children which then could be misinterpreted as racism. But is this language even slang, the lexis used within the programme is all dialect that is used in Caribbean islands, to us maybe it is slang but to them it is their language just as standard English is ours.  Although on most websites like Wikipedia it says Patois is any language that is considered non standard, I found an article by a journalist named Karl Folkes who gave 15 reasons to why Patois was a language on its own. The article included that Creole languages all adhere to linguistic standards, meaning that just as it is linguistically correct to speak standard English it is also with standard Jamaican and that the language has evolved over many years just as any other spoken language and has changed and adapted. http://www.jamaicans.com/speakja/patoisarticle/patois_language_15points.shtml

But what's wrong will allowing children to learn about Rastafarians, they will pick up the language but so will other children using it and surely young kids are unable to see things as racist or crossing the line because they all see each other as equals and by having programmes like Rasta Mouse, it encourages them to treat each other like so and teaches them that all races are equal and they will grow up to accept this. It is encouraging Afro-Caribbean patois rhyme allowing children to learn new languages and accept other races as normal.

Some people have complained about the programme being racist and disrespectful, one man said "I'd never portray a Rasta as a pig or a mouse as I don't think the values of being a Rasta are served by that. If it was a lion that would be very different, a lion is a strong symbol in Rastafarianism."  This may be true but at least they are being represented on the TV, some see the programme as a bad representation but agree that this is only the start so of course the language is not going to be perfect and of course it will attract attention.

So how can we change the perspective of children? And how can we teach people that no representation of other countries is going to be perfect because we are not that race? Everything has to start somewhere.

Jade Leman

Lawyers and their 'gobbledygook!'

Do you ever watch a programme or hear something about the Law and not have a clue what they are talking about or not know what a certain term means?

Hopefully this will give you an understanding of where the legal language came from.

Well, we British used to talk like them and yet today's language is completely different.

Lawyers today, still use historical lexis which can be traced back to the time of the Anglo-Saxons!
It is said that the Anglo-Saxons enjoyed using alliteration in their legal language – yes the Anglo-Saxons had legal language but not so much a legal profession! This is a phrase I am sure we are all familiar with 'the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth' well this phrase is from the Anglo-Saxon period. However we may still have some of their phrases but I am very glad we do not have their punishments of chopping off noses and hands! If you want to know more about the Anglo-Saxons themselves then follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxons#Law

Combined with our British English we seemed to have borrowed words from Latin, which also still exist in our lexis today. Latin phrases such as 'Ejusdem Generis' which is a rule of language about OUR language yet is named in Latin and about how to understand our law. You would think that we would have a name that is English as it is a rule of ENGLISH LANGUAGE but of course this would be too simple and Judges still express the sayings such as 'Ejusdem Generis' to this day.
It doesn't stop there with British English; we have also borrowed words from the French! Most of these words are still used today in fact a lot of our legal language is from the French including words like 'court' 'defendant' 'claim' 'sentence' 'assault' which many of these words you can probably recognise.

However lawyers don't just stop at borrowing they also do our own mixing and matching of the different languages.  It could be a Latin or French word or phrase alongside an Anglo-Saxon word or phrase for example 'breaking and entering' and 'made and signed' so wouldn't this suggest that lawyers have almost made their own language through others. However in some ways this is good as from doing this through those types of languages they have been able to come up with words to represent some things such as palimony  (alimony paid to a "pal" or unmarried partner) - which this word has only come into terms through lawyers.

 So how is it words that have been in the British English dialect for so long are only used with a certain person, in a certain profession and we do not understand them? As with legal documents written by Lawyers a lot of people have trouble understanding the words used in the documents to describe certain things or even just a phrase which only describes a word.
We have developed our language in many ways through thinking up new words and phrase, borrowing or even starting to abbreviate a lot of our words  for example 'LOL' however with Lawyers they like to stick to their historical language, traditions and old habits seem to be part of the reason they still have this language today.
 

To learn more about Legal language follow this link http://www.languageandlaw.org/NATURE.HTM - I warn you its lengthy!

By Charnelle Jarrett

Hidden message?

English Language, we use it every day and sometimes we don't even realise that for other people some words may be surprising. Did you even wonder what people for whom English is a second language think when you use the word class or peacock? Agnieszka Zielinska, who was learning English as a second language and was really shocked when heard some words for the first time, decided to find some information about that.

For us, people who speak English since they can remember, those words sound perfectly fine, because we use them on a daily basis and we know what's the meaning of each one, but people who are learning English may wonder why did you say pea cock just now. There are over a hundred of words including cock. Shocking, isn't it? What will you say about 813 words with the word ass then? Did you even notice those words hidden in class, assume, assess etc? I don't think so. Now you are probably trying to think of any words that contain "bad words" aren't you? There are actually over 1500 words that contain a swear word but have nothing to do with its meaning. What do those mean then? Why there are swear words in there? Did it mean anything bad in the past? I will try to answer some of these questions.

Let's start with the word ass then, because of the great number of the words containing it. That word comes from Greek asinus, which was fundamental of the creation of  ass and anus. The word was a taboo word since it came into use. On the other hand, the word class was never even considered as a swear word. It comes from Latin classis which means "division". What's surprising, from the very beginning, this word was used by the English as a word meaning social class or group of students, and there were no objections about that. Does it mean no one even noticed what would have happened if we took two letters, c and l? It was because the word came from the other language, which was Latin. Therefore at the beginning it was used mainly by upper class and people just accepted that.

What was the most interesting for me, was why there are two words that mean something completely different in the word peacock? I would understand that if the bird looked anything like either one, but I don't think it does. Why did someone call the poor bird like that then? The answer for that question was much more simple than I thought it would be, but somehow surprising as well. It was created by compounding po and cock. Pocock comes from Middle Eastern language and was first noticed in 1300. In English we write it in a different way because of how we pronounce it. The word peacock was first used in 1390s. I was very interested in why people did not oppose. Calling the poor bird pea and a cock? Come on, they must have said something about that. But the word cock didn't mean anything relating to what it means now until 1610. Actually, it was a common name until 1500. Before that it was a nickname for "one who strutted like a cock". For us it might sound a little bit awkward, but in XV century people didn't know that one day something that means a male bird will change its meaning into something... Well, let's say still relating to a male bird, but in a kind of different way.

 

For everyone interested in finding out their own words-with-a-swear-word, the website is     http://www.allwords.com/

Irregular plurals?

So tell me is it formulas or formulae? Sheep or sheeps? Kine or cows? Agenda or agendas? What is with all these weird plurals?

Formulae is the original plural but it seems that people are using the regular plural formulas more. Why is this?

It seems strange that some plurals follow the rule of –ies –es or -s as their endings but some stay the same (sheep) or change the vowels (feet) or change totally (kine). Following this on the internet I found out a lot of useful information that I decided to follow to see whether they do follow a rule or whether they are totally different.

The most useful source I found was en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regularization_(linguistics)as it explained where the irregular plurals came from and why they were different to regular plurals. It explained that some plurals don't change because they are proper nouns. It also explained that foreign words that are borrowed from other countries are normally exceptions to the rule. It said that some words are so commonly used that the plural becomes the singular word for example agendum is the singular word and agenda is the plural but this is used so often that there has been a new plural for agenda making it agendas.

However when I Googled irregular plurals most websites didn't explain why these were like this it was more about teaching children what the plurals were.

One link on Wikipedia under linguistic regularization took me to a link for a book search (essential introductory linguistics by Grover Hudson) which explained why there are often two ways to say the plural for example the plural of cow is kine but also cows. This book said that children often want to follow the rules so when they do not know the plural of the word the irregular ending is not used and so it becomes a regular plural like cows.

On another website it explained this further by saying that these irregular plurals become more commonly regular the more they are used. This is because we do not know what the plural is and so we automatically follow the rules. This leads to having two plurals such as formulas and formulae. The irregular plural then dies out leaving us with a plural that follows the rules such as cows. It then explained that the less frequent a plural is used the faster it becomes regularised.

After reading the explanations on Wikipedia about how irregular plurals work in their original origin it seems they are actually rules that they follow just not the English rule. This would be interesting to follow to see if this is a rule where they originated or if they are irregular in other countries as well.

By Kirsty Burnett.

Can shifting pronunciation be for the greater good?

 

ABOVE: The correct pronunciation of 'neologism'. A poster on Yahoo! Answers doesn't beat about the bush.

 

Most people know me as being a stickler for reasonably accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar, and in all honesty, to be attending sixth-form level education and simply not bothering to write in our best English in every situation just smacks of childish egotism. But I would hate for anyone to read this and think that even the most linguistically erudite folk never make mistakes. I am no stranger to diction danger.

Yes, one serious personal bugbear of mine has always been pronunciation of certain words. That said, I'm not the kind of guy to emulate the late Jade Goody by shamelessly mispronouncing terms such as "East Anglia", "scape goat" and "beautiful and talented Indian actress". It's usually the case when I'm being asked to read out a word in class that I've never come across before (and I know I'll get it totally wrong), I will normally shuffle my shoulders upwards and have a questioning intonation in my voice in a vain attempt at saving face.

 

I initially intended to revolve this research around neologisms, but figured that I wouldn't enjoy it that much if the technical terms alone proved to be a challenge. I mean, just look at that one word: 'neologism'. It's not the concept that's the issue, but focus on the last syllable – do you pronounce it as 'gih-sum' or something far ruder?

 

The brilliant work by The British Library suggests that most people under the age of 35 would use the North American pronunciation of the word 'harass', which is 'ha-RASS'. It's all about altering (or 'shifting') pronunciation, which suits the patois of the individual(s) and their social setting.

 

What I'd like to ask is this… even if it's not correct by definition; can shifting pronunciation be for the greater good? We don't want to take any meaning away from a word, but if nothing else, we can come up with more diplomatic utterances by changing the phonemes and stresses within words, thus easing our way out of the North Americans' underlying bottom fixation.

 

These days, the more politically correct way to pronounce the word 'Asperger's' (as in 'Asperger's syndrome') is 'ah-SPERJ-us'. You know, to make it sound more like a development disorder, and less like a warm gluteal sandwich you can pick up on the side of the A22. Going back to the word 'harass', if you stress that first syllable, then you'll be okay (er, providing you don't say 'harris').

 

And let's face it, even if meaning is taken away from a word, the results can leave us doubled-up. Ronnie Barker might have been ripped apart by Not The Nine O'Clock News for the reliance of spoonerisms (swapping morphemes of words in a sentence around for comic effect) in his comedy routines, but if we know that his sentences are intended to provoke laughter, then what's the harm in hearing about Rindercella being "knucking fackered" at the end of a day's cleaning?

 

Tom Channon

 

Is my eight year old struggling with English?

By Devon Puttick

 

 

Many parents have the worry of "how quick is my child progressing with their English?" "Are they above or below the expected standard?" Hopefully I can give you an insight of what to expect from your child and give you more of an understanding of their English skills.

I know that a lot of boys at this age do not have a very long attention span. Especially sitting down and writing for long periods of time; they would rather be running around playing. I can tell you this from my own personal experience from my little brother. I got him to sit down for ten minutes and write me a few sentences about school. He hated it and got became easily distracted with his surroundings. However he managed to complete his little task. I also researched on the internet on other eight year old style of writing. They both had different styles of writing one was more advanced than the other but how could I tell? I can show you.

 Firstly you need to understand the basic theory created by Kroll in 1981 for children aged around 8. They could be at a consolidation stage, which is a less advance way of writing and the differentiation stage which is the more advanced style of writing.

The consolidation stage consists of the children writing structure to be written on how they would speak rather than in a written language. They use non- standard spelling and have the habit of putting a full stop at the end of every line of writing along with repeating and using simple words; however they are able to write ideas and words independently

The differentiation stage shows that the children have the ability to write with consistence and begin using literate language as their grammar would be improving as they use punctuation accurately.

8 year olds tend to use a lot of conjunctions such as "and" and "because" if your child is doing this they are coming out of the consolidation stage  as they are using other words to not stop their writing rather than using a full stop. This is a good sign.

If you start noticing that your child is starting to use adverbial phrases rather than using simple verbs, noun phrases become more complex and also using preposition phrases this will show you  that your child is becoming more creative with their writing and is moving up. Before you know it they will be young writers able to adapt to various language styles such as writing a story using narrative structures then switching to oral structure for a character and so on.

I wouldn't worry if they are easily distracted from their writing every child is different and prefers to do different activities some are more advanced in different subjects than others. I would suggest that if you wanted to get your child more involved in English then start reading imaginative stories I recommend doing this to improve their creativity when they write as they would similar ideas from their favourite book. Introduce them to new words and explain the meaning, adjectives are more effective as they can use them when writing this enhances their vocabulary.

Books written for children

Why is children's literature so different from literature aimed at an older audience? Ashling Larkin investigates!

It's no suprise that children's literature is different from any literature written for teens or adults. They're just kids - it'll be awhile before anyone sees a six-year-old picking up a novel by Oscar Wilde. But how are their stories different from the older audiences, and more importantly, why? What differentiates a childs book from an adults book? It's quite simple, really. Young children are constantly learning. Perhaps not in the same way as you or I - but they're learning the basics, the things that adults, or "grown-ups", keep tucked away at the back of the mind, things we don't even realised we've learnt.
Some of these things include conversation, namely adjacency pairs. For a lot of people "adjacency pairs" in language means nothing although we use them all the time. When someone asks a question and you answer, that's an adjacency pair! These are often short sentances in childrens books, as a young child's vocabulary won't be as vast as someone older, but it gets the idea across.
There's also the use of repeated formulae, meaning a certain word will often be repeated. For example, "said"! It's important for a child to learn what "said" is, as they do it all the time. Said-ing, saying, speaking. Instead of varying between said, screamed, laughed, chirped, "said" is repeated constantly as it's less confusing and therefore easier to teach, which is why it's considered childish and not to mention boring if it's mentioned many times in a book made for older generations.
On the subject of repetition, we can't forget alliteration, the finest form of poetry for the young mind! If alliteration is being used in a piece of text aimed for children, chances are the sentance won't make sense. This is because children are learning how to use adjectives, verbs and nouns, so it doesn't matter if the imagery in your head doesn't look right, as long as the sentance makes sense.
Of course, it's not just aspects of language that is taught through childrens books. As previously mentioned, children are learning things they'll forget they had even learned by the time they're adults. This is because adults refer to this information as "logic". Most children's stories end with proverbs or moral lessons that we grown-ups repeat to children all the time - "Never talk to Strangers", "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me". A saying or summary of wisdom that'll stick with them, probably, throughout their entire lives, and that's what makes these moral lessons so important!
In conclusion, childrens books are basically written as a simple introduction to the big scheme of things - a blurb to the book of life! Children aren't thrown into the world knowing everything they need to for the future. It's not a matter of understanding, it's a matter of learning!

The Language used in Lying

The Language used in lying 
by Rhea Fitzpatrick

I think we can all read this and admit we have all lied in our life time, but just how obvious in our language is it when we lie? This blog will tell you how the change in your speech pattern can be detected when people are lying.

Gary Pearlman is a well known man for his webpages on how to to detect a liar. Gary Pearlman's webpage I felt was the best source I found Pearlman shows us the difference in our speech patterns and language . 

Firstly a liar may leave out pronouns for example 'I' or 'ME' which are key parts in a persons speech and they will speak in a monotonous tone. When a truthful statement is made the pronoun is emphasized as much or more than the rest of the words in a statement.They will explore the topic further and will have much more longer answers but with lack of detail. Which show the Maxis theory of where a liar will have a large quantity of words but no quality in the answers or any relevance. Words may be garbled and spoken softly, and syntax and grammar may be off. 

Also a liar will use contradiction for example "It wasn't me" instead of "it was not me", and a statement with a contraction is more likely to be true.

Speech hesitations, pausing, throat clearing, or other stalling techniques may indicate that a person is hiding the truth.
There is also the "um" filler sound, as well as the different hedges like "you know," can be indicating a lie. A liar will use these techniques repeatedly. Liars' voices can become more tense or high-pitched. The extra effort needed to remember what they've already said and to keep their stories consistent may cause liars to restrain their movements and fill their speech with pauses and mispronounce words. People shading the truth tend to make fewer speech errors than truth tellers do, and they rarely backtrack to fill in forgotten or incorrect details.

Liars use repetition a lot and keep repeating the question or they will put the question in the answer for example "did you eat the last cookie" - "no did you eat the last cookie?" this is a way to then turn the question around so the liar is interrogating.   

Other different techniques like using sarcasm or humour to avoid the the truth. By using these types of techniques they will draw the person asking the question to another subject and so the liar is then out of the conversation. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrAIErNcAeo this is a URL link to a video on How to tell if someone is lying - speech.

Overall the speech patterns and the change in language can help detect a liar, and that we use fillers to leaving out pronouns and even turning round the question to someone else. 

Commentary in the media: Katie Holloway

                                                Commentary in the media

People tend to have a negative approach when it comes to commentary in the media due to the fact that they just want to get down and focus on the game, so what is commentary and what does it involve?

Commentary is mainly used in the media, ranging from horse racing in sports to broadcasting on the radio. Unscripted commentaries are the most popular choice as they can be used at any event such as a sport event or a radio station, as they can describe and comment on the events as they happen which mean commentators must speak clearly.

 

The function of a commentary is to entertain and give the viewer or listener background information about the live event that is taking place whether it be on the racing field or in a car. The audience of a commentary can verify due to the interest of the viewer or listener and the inside subject-specific language that they have linking to the event.

 

Commentaries need to be spontaneous and clearly voiced due to the fact that it is a mirror of the process that is happening at the event, however it does not always mean that the structure of the commentary is in a random manor, as commentators can uses notes to add to the structure depending on the event because in sport events you cannot predict what is going to happen and when but in events such as a red carpet event you can predict who is going to be there and what is going to happen throughout the night.

 

Commentators play an important role in keeping viewers or listeners entertained, as they are always trying to create an atmosphere for the viewers, if event follow a recognisable pattern they might use a formulaic utterance or if an outcome of an event is exciting they will choose emotive language, however it all depends on the commentator and their choice of style.

 

The basic language of a unscripted commentary is to name people and things at the event for example at a football game the specific lexis would be for example "goal, red flag, foul, sent off" or at a red carpet event they are naming celebrities, the lexis is very field specific because all the attention of the commentators is the event they are commentating on. There is a high amount proportion of proper nouns used because the commentators need to describe a sequence of actions happening in the event.

 

Radio commentary is a lot more complete than television commentary due to the fact that the listener is far more reliant on the commentators as they may not be seeing the event live, so radio commentary needs to be more precise and clear as hesitations are very rare, and they need to keep up with the sequence of events so they can keep the audience updated and commentators need to create a bigger atmosphere on the radio to keep the audience tuned in.

To conclude it seems that commentators play an important role in the media as the provide entertainment and information to a target audience about an event that is either being watched on television or being listened to in the car.

 

Katie Holloway

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About 500 words
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Include links to sources if it would be useful.

See the Park Language Blog for links to example posts and articles in an appropriate style.

nigel greaves

NIGEL GREAVES

'There is no correct or intended interpretation of the work; it's simply capturing the sea and its character- it is purely intended to please our eyes '

Nigel Greaves is a successful and passionate artist from the coastal town of Eastbourne. Nigel studied Fine Art, Art history, Ceramics and Graphic design at Eastbourne College of Art and Design from 1963-1966. Throughout his life Nigel has been creating Art- it was only last year that Nigel opened a gallery to share his exiting work with others, it was officially opened by BBC newsreader Beverly Thompson. The gallery is located in Eastbourne behind the Grand Hotel.

The latest exhibition at the Nigel Greaves gallery is the summer exhibition which is now open and running until the 13^th of September. If you are passionate about art surely you must know about The Exhibition at the Nigel Greaves Gallery. If you're not an Art lover and you love the sea (I assume we all do) then you will love the summer exhibition- It's a must see!!!

'The work in this summer's exhibition is about seascapes, and the tranquillity of the sea. The work captures the vastness and the changing character of the sea. There is no correct or intended interpretation of the work; it's simply capturing the sea and its character- it is purely intended to please our eyes '

Despite Nigel's work being contemporary, it has a modern twist to it- this is what makes it so abstract, vibrant and let's not forget exciting. Being so passionate about his work, Nigel is tremendously meticulous which makes his work more enjoyable and emotive.  

'My main source of inspiration and influence came from the sea itself. I live near the sea- I see it every day and everyone loves the sea- it's something for everyone to enjoy. The sea is very emotive and ever changing; in terms of lighting- when it's sunny and bright the sea appears to be clear and blue. I also love to paint the sea, and I enjoyed working with different mediums to express different aspects of emotion we feel from the sea, when its cloudy its quite depressing- this is reflected through the sea, when its sunny the blue sky is reflected through the sea'

'This particular exhibition is different from my previous work because it's more blue and green, actually there is a lot of blue and green- these are very bold and expressive colours, and this alone makes it different. I have done works of the sea and the beach before however it's still different from this particular exhibition.'

 

Melissa Nhiwatiwa

2011 fashion

Show us your phone!

Show us your phone!

In today's global economy, the global population is 6,854,000,000 covering over 168 countries. More than 61% of the global population own a mobile phone to which there are around 4,180,000,000 mobile phones in use today. What about your old phones, you may ask? Around 140,000,000 of your mobile phones just end up in land fill sites or to make math easier, four phones a second are dumped in landfill sites. However, if these phones were to be recycled, 515 recycled phones could provide one home with full running electricity for a whole year.

In this article, I will look at the rising trend for smartphones such as iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones with the fall of standard phones used previously such as Nokia, Sony Erricson and Samsung who had the typical mobile features of SMS, calling and camera features. In 2008, Nokia had over 39% of the market with Samsung following second with 17% of the market and Sony Erricson holding 9% of the market. Since then the mobile industry has changed dramatically with the development of new technology for phones such as touch screen and mobile apps to access on the go using the mobile web.

Since the rise in smartphones and fall in basic phones, iPhone has conquered the UK with the market share being over 42% for the beginning of 2011 with Blackberry in second with 36% and Android with the market share of 12%. Using already established facts and using my own finds, I wanted to find out why people had these mobile phones and whether it was the phone itself they were interested in or more the offer that the network was offering with the mobile phone.

I interviewed many mobile phone owners and conducted a survey to find out why they had the phone and whether they were interested in the phone or the network and if they were or pay monthly contracts or pay as you go services. Also I asked for a rating of their experience with the phone and if they would recommend the phone to friends and family.

I found that over half the interviewees owned a Blackberry or a Samsung which many loved. An interviewee called Mae said 'I Love my phone as it has a qwerty keyboard and has cool apps for every mood'.  A minor percentage owned who owned a Nokia said that the phones alright but had nothing good to say and an interviewee called Lee could only say 'It's okay I guess but I never use it as it never turns on and it's just a rubbish mobile brand. I want a Blackberry'.

When finding out what phone they had, I also tried to find out if they were on a monthly contract or pay as you go where I found out that almost all of the smartphone users were on a monthly contract and the basic phone users were on pay as you go but their network service also came with perks. Upon finding out what service they used for their mobile phones, I then discovered that many of the smartphone users only had the phone because the network provider was offering a good monthly deal with the phone and the users were only interested in the network service than the phone brand itself.

From finding this information out, I have come to believe in my own opinion, that the only reason these smartphones are selling so well, is due to the fact that many of the phones are coming with package deals when with the network provider, so the only way the mobile users can get this network service is by purchasing the smartphone with network service when less interested in the phone but more so the network deal provided with the phone.

Nicole Barker

Statistical data for help- http://www.readwriteweb.com/mobile/2011/02/mobile-operating-system-market-share-feb-2011-infographic.php

Making the 'mark,' in market.

Making the 'mark,' in market.

According to an article by the independent in December 2005, Primark scores just 2.5 out of 20 on an ethical index that ranks the leading clothing chains on criteria such as workers' rights and whether they do business with oppressive regimes.

However, now with more than 120 stores opened in Britain and Ireland, Primark has become a fashion success during times of economic downturn. "If people shop in Primark because the prices are low then they must be aware that they are low for a reason," said Ruth Rosselson, a spokeswoman for Ethical Consumer. A report in 2009 claimed that Primark clothing was being made in India by factories using child labour.

Debenhams is also favorable amongst shoppers; with the first store opened in 1905- the company has continued to develop- adjusting comfortably with the emergence of online shopping and increased competition of lower priced stores. The introduction to the Debenhams store card and catalogue have also enhanced loyalty amongst consumers.

This pulls into question the capacity of space left in the market for independent businesses in local towns. Many attempts have been made to stand up to cheap clothes and to the diverse range of brands but succession is still not evident within our communities. We interviewed Carl- owner of independent business 'KAT WALC' in Eastbourne to gain an insight into the struggle and determination needed to start a retail business. Opening just nine weeks ago, Carl explained how his business plan consisting of a selling, swapping and buying regime was hopeful.  

(Leanne Carty)

 

Carl's hoping to 'go up more.'

'KAT WALC,' is a FASHION outlet of creativity within the Enterprise shopping centre located in Eastbourne, East Sussex. What makes this independent retailer different from the rest? Can it compete with the big brands? We talk to Carl the owner of the store to explore these issues.

An unusual occupation for a middle aged man, nine weeks into starting up his 'quality branded,' womens-wear store he talks of his high hopes for the present and future. Surprisingly he finds himself not threatened by the 'big brands,' as "people bring in stuff that is bought from different places," he explains. He does not describe his store as 'second-hand,' but as 'quality branded.'

Despite this positive attitude, he is aware of the current economic climate, 'It's early days, init." He believes he has created a whole new concept of selling clothes. "I think because of the uniqueness of the concept, It should work, It should work, yeah!" he says with enthusiasm. He physically shows us how he gets brands such as Jane Norman, Lipsy, Monsoon and Next, "All the high street stuff." But is it reflective of current fashion?

Many people could take to his positive attitude. In reassurance to himself and other possible independent retailers he suggests that, "Once people know where you are, they find you." He works on recommendations and making 'his name,' within the current market.

Looking forward a year or two will 'KAT WALC,' still be standing strong? Well, Carl hopes to open up 'a few,' shops within the busy city of Brighton. There is no stopping him, his business card asks of interest in parties and other promotions including 'fashion shows,' and 'awareness makeovers.' Could this work? Well he seems to think so. He claims that the bigger brands are of no threat to him or his business and he hopes to still be behind the till for a few more years yet to come.

Make a visit to KAT WALC via: The Enterprise Centre, Eastbourne, BN21.

Or alternatively call Carl on: 07790655398.

(Chloe Knott)

 

  Why do independent businesses fail?

·         Overspending/lack of funds- you need to save money during times of a boom to prepare for recession/slumps

·         Poor management- regular meetings with your staff will increase efficiency

·         Lack of advertising- first impressions are everything in a market, neater designs will mean      more consumers

·          Under-educated in the area of business- before opening you need to brush up on business skills

·         Competition- bigger firms will have better supplies of products, therefore a more original and complex idea may have more chance of succeeding

·         Failure to carry out market research- you need to ask for potential consumers' opinions (they are the people who will buy your products, after all)

(Leanne Carty)