Author: Jeremy Armstrong
Eh up, love… I’m from Syria but I’ll allus be reight in Bradford after taking t’English lessons.
Aye, migrants living in Yorkshire are learning to talk English like the locals at college.
Students from Pakistan, the Middle East and Europe are taught phrases such as “Ta, love” and “I’m off t’shops” to help them fit in.
Kim Taylor, who teaches on the 12-week courses at the Forster College in Bradford, said: “I teach standard English, but then I will also repeat it in my wonderful Yorkshire accent.
“Students want to know when to say ‘love’, ‘ta ra’ and ‘laters taters’.
“It gives them the chance to make friendships, and feel part of the wider community.
“Instead of saying they have come to live in Yorkshire, they feel they belong.”
Pupil Ahmad Maaitah, 52, a lawyer from Jordan, who came to the UK a year ago, said: “The classes are fun.
“I learned phrases like ‘ta’, and ‘eh up’, ‘owt’ and ‘nowt’.
“What becomes ‘wha’ when in conversation. I’m learning the Yorkshire accent.”
The courses are so popular they are being taught over the summer.
Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/migrants-learning-yorkshire-slang-during-14249718
