A Guide To Multicultural London English (Top Boy/Stormzy Accent)

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

🇬🇧 Get my FREE guide 'Speaking Fluency 101' - tinyurl.com/nh759hj4

[@Lando-kx6so]

The influence of Jamaican Patois is so very strong

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Yeah massive! Especially with the vocabulary : )

[@mikefilimon1584]

I was think that same thing.

[@unlockedaccount]

@jackanorybigginsHe probably didn’t say what the original comment said

[@saisiqful]

I love little simz n her accent! Thx for pickin her up ❤

[@grethen123]

every time you say "you can hear" and then produce two identical sounds I start crying ))

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Ahhh really? I'm sorry to hear that! Are there any specific sounds that you struggle with?

[@CaptainSiCo]

This is one of the few videos I’ve found about MLE. Very interesting and surprising in places!

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Glad you enjoyed it mate. Yeah, there aren't many videos on the accent which is why I thought it should be given some attention.

[@lawrencebello6177]

Same. Been looking for almost a year. Since I started watching Top Boy on Netflix

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

@@lawrencebello6177 ah well thanks for watching this one mate : ) hope it was useful

[@animalblundetto8440]

British MLE is very similar to the Canadian Toronto slang, due to similar diaspora influences (Caribbean, South Asian primarily).

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing : )

[@dayalasingh5853]

@@EatSleepDreamEnglish I'm a linguistics major in Toronto and there's actually research into what is indeed being called MTE (Multicultural Toronto English)

[@vittoriacolona]

​@dayalaIsingh5853 The so called Canadian Toronto slang is just something people copied from watching Top Boy on Netflix. I am convinced that is si,ething that Black kids developed in oder to have their own language and culture so they can be differnt like the Filipinos, Indians and Chunese etc. Makes them feel seperat from the white Canadian culture. This language did not exist until recently. It is native to the UK

[@godrules3596]

@@vittoriacolona Facts Canadians be copying the UK

[@overlordnat]

@@godrules3596for the most part but randomly saying ‘still’ at the end of sentences (and sometimes using a graffiti spelling ‘styll’) has been proven to have originated in Canada before being imported to the UK.

[@Letheseus]

In 12 years of following YT this might be the best video I've seen

[@fim9048]

One of my favourite interesting linguistic facts is that "mandem" is a also a slang word used in Toronto, Canada. I believe its usage developed independently from the British usage, but both have roots in Jamaican Patois because of large Jamaican disapora in both London and Toronto. (Toronto also uses just "mans" as a singular pronoun). I definitely hear parts of West African English accents in MLE, especially the "d" sound in "th" words.

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

That's a really cool observation. There's a further connection with Toronto-born singer Drake helping to make and produce Top Boy, a series about inner city life in London. All the characters use MLE and modern London slang and I remember hearing an interview with Drake saying how familiar it all felt to him.

[@lindavilmi7325]

'Man' is a pronoun in Swedish too but in the standard variant of it. It is used equivalently to 'one' in English. The word 'man' refers to a human. It is short and easy to pronounce. When man thinks about it, it is a pretty good candidate for a pronoun.

[@Patricio_Marcel]

Loving this overview. Just subbed because of it.

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Amazing! Welcome Patricio : )

[@robingarcia1226]

Great video! Definelitely the guide I was waiting for

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Glad you enjoyed mate! There aren't many videos about MLE so I hope this did the job : )

[@callhard]

MLE really depends on where you're from, Jamaican, Nigerians, Indians, Somalis and etc. You can tell the difference when you hear it

[@TheChiraagG]

As a British born Indian who lives in London I usually can tell influences in MLE as it differs depending on the person I'm talking to, but it's a very subconscious realisation that I don't pay attention to. What does stand out to me is the characterisation of vocal chords if it's someone with a South Asian background. Not sure why it stands out so much, maybe just recognition from years of being around it.

[@lukacastyellan3882]

@@TheChiraagG thats so funny I'm somali and I swear I can just tell when people are somali from their sound of their voice, no matter the accent

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

That's a really interesting observation. I used to live in Leeds and I could hear the South Asian linguistic influences on the local Yorkshire accent even in people that were born and bred in the city. I love how languages and accents spill over into each other and help individuals form their own unique way of speaking and expressing themselves.

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

@@TheChiraagG love that! I did a video on Zayn Malik's Yorkshire accent and it has that tightness you are referring to. One feature that really stood out was his use of a reflex /r/ sound which is a feature found in south Asian languages.

[@TheGooness78]

@@TheChiraagGyes this! I can always tell that vocal tone of a south Asian on the radio if there’s a caller. I’ve never know why or how but despite how ‘well spoken’ they are there is always that tone.

[@dominicdear]

Really well explained. I'm impressed.

[@railroadandindustrialsky-wv8ns]

Cockney in London is dying and I think that is a real shame. Cockneys were the heart of London. That said I love MLE I think it’s an exciting development in London English.

[@locky2562]

It's literally spoken by little scrotes whys that exciting?

[@mikefilimon1584]

I’ve indeed hear MLE before but didn’t pay specific attention to it (note* I’m a US anglophone so this is fascinating!)

[@thunderstorminmyblood3705]

How do you not have more subscribers?! Keep coming with the interesting content, it’s only a matter of time until your channel blows up!

[@Mispadresjodendemas]

Love the video most non native sometimes get so confused with the accent the thing is that anny approximation is appropriate and as natives we still change accents and pronunciation depending of the day the Listener our moods

[@Adam-zd6ws]

amazing video + analysis with great examples from a range of celebrities

[@euniceanthony2892]

Yessssss Teacher Tom!!!!!! Thank youuu!!!😩❤️

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Hehehe my pleasure Eunice! Have you been waiting for this one for a while?

[@euniceanthony2892]

@@EatSleepDreamEnglish c’mon!!! Yes I wrote it in the comment section in your last Brummie accent video!😅 And you did it! Thank you again!❤️🤭

[@bobbiscrittercave2348]

I'd love to hear about the Janner accent, it's not usually touched on in most videos.

[@DiscipleAsh]

I’d love to see a video like this about the Yorkshire accent!

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

It will be done! Thanks for the suggestion : )

[@ikkengoya]

MLE is just fun, bruv

[@JAMESLOONEY-kd1nu]

No it's just lazy , no such word as mandem or ting or roadman.

[@JAMESLOONEY-kd1nu]

And it's brother not bruv

[@VendettaX-dx5mw]

Can you help me out please with one phrase? It is: Don't let yourself hangin'. Does such a phrase exist? Like with the meaning to not give up, like don't let your head hang down. If you have some time left please tell me.

[@runboybig]

Hello am french. Sometimes in MLE it seems like people some phrases with "inin". For example, "sound is goodinin". Am i right? By the way, thanks for your very useful contents. God bless you

[@carlitoz82718]

I seriously love love love ur videos….

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Hey! Cheers buddy! Thanks for watching

[@nabilfreeman]

This is so interesting!!! Subbed

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Cheers mate! Much appreciated. Scouse accent video coming out really soon : )

[@Fgh-iy1hw]

I don’t know who named this multicultural London accent. This accent is influenced mainly by jamaicans, cockney and a lil african. Black people have spoken like this since the 80s. Although now its cool for asians, whites, plus what ever other immigrants to speak it, they have zero influence on the accent and they just copied how we speak. A lot of the time it’s forced, its not even their natural accent (except small minority that actually grew with blacks) This should be called a black London accent. Also what i find weird is that there are other working class accents but this accent constantly get negative things said, i believe a reason is because ali g parodied a lot of black people and our culture including our accent and made us look stupid and uneducated to the rest of England, when in reality we are just a bunch of people just trying to live our lives.

[@TheOrphicLyre]

Ali G is supposed to be a Pakistani who thinks he's black. It's in the name.

[@gabrielemilianofacio6754]

Thank you for the infoumation maite! 😜

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

My pleasure 😊

[@witayasridaranuchit8344]

Are you a native speaker of which British vernacular?

[@fropbinglecram8321]

MLE is, even if by accident, importing a lot of archaic aspects of English back to Anglo communities 🤣

[@camillessimo]

Thanks so much for such a great analysis ! Do you also have that "price" feature in your own accent when you say "right?" ? I kind of hear a [aə] instead of [aɪ] at least sometimes

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Ahh that's a good shout. I definitely do from time to time yeah. While I don't speak with an MLE accent, there might be occasional features that pop in when I'm speaking spontaneously.

[@alessandrolelli3212]

Hi from Italy,generally speaking,is the glottal T stop sound more common in Northern accents?

[@Peter4MedicalEnglish]

I'm not sure how it's described phonetically (glutaral stop?) but is the very distinct pronunciation of consonants at the end of words (the 'k' in 'think' (or 'fin - k'), the 't' in 'smart' ('sma - t'), also part of MLE, or is it older, 'Estuary English'?

[@chrisper7527]

In America, we call it “switching”, when we consciously decide to use the same word with a pronunciation in conversations.

[@paulsmith2823]

Im born and bred in south west london kingston upon Thames and round here we all speak with estuary london accnet almost cockney im 24 and most young people speak like me in sw London because its a predominantly white English area

[@samwisecreative]

I fully understand young black men of London sounding like this and having this accent, but here in Essex I am noticing more and more young white men from middle class families adopting this accent and it is truly embarrassing. They sound ridiculous.

[@serratusx]

Same here in Cambridgeshire. Kids want to sound mean and “street”

[@samwisecreative]

@@serratusx it’s so bad

[@paulsmith2823]

I'm from south London and speak with a normal london accent not black or roadman.i dont hear many white people speaking in this accent only ethinic minoritys and the rare few white geezers I hear speak it are putting it on to sound road

[@unlockedaccount]

Picked up mainly from social media probably if they’re not raised near London

[@shaunigothictv1003]

A common shared accent can be a good thing. Britain is not as segregated as people say it is but you are all dodging the issue. Allow me to educate you all. I think its hilarious that Black blokes are systematically going round inseminating many chav White girls on poor run down council estates in Britain. It makes me extremely happy that the Whites and Blacks indulge in a lifestyle that makes them happy. What Whites and Blacks enjoy most is rampant interbreeding and the vigorous insemination of eachother BY eachother. At least they are integrated which is what they always wanted. The Asians keep themselves to. themselves, and as usual, own all the shops at street level across Britain They are the most hard-working people I've ever seen but they do not speak English very well. The Romanians form their own little communities and don't really interact with anyone as most of them do not speak English very well either. The Polish people are very racist towards Blacks and they also form their own little communities. The main problem is that all the various groups do not interact with each other. It's mainly only Blacks and Whites who actually interact with each other with most of the interaction being sexual in nature. Integration can only work when everyone speaks the same language. If no one bothers to learn to speak English integration will never work. The Polish people are very hard-working but they are very racist towards Blacks so intergration is not possible. They are also White but they are not Anglo-Saxon so their behaviour is very different from the indigenous British. The only two groups of people in the entire country of Great Britain that are truly integrated are indigenous British people and Black Caribbean people. The interaction between these two groups is mainly sexual in nature. We see this behaviour on poor run down council estates throughout Britain. Whatever makes them happy is cool with me. 90% of White Girls on Council estates and 10% of White boys on Council Estates will probably be inseminated by a Blackman at some point in their lives. Remember that Whites and Blacks ALWAYS wanted integration. Well, they got what they wanted!

[@ruboz]

Make a vid about Central Cee

[@CaptainSiCo]

Could you do Geordie next please?

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

That's a great shout! I am a huge fan of the Geordie accent/dialect. Will def give it a look soon : )

[@kimnoulton9114]

I seem to jump between a Cockney accent and MLE accent. I don't have that dipthong pronunciation but I have other characteristics.

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Interesting! Did you grow up blending these accents or have you learned them over time?

[@ruboz]

What is Central Cee’s accent ?

[@eyebol]

Most uk rappers are mle

[@ericb9609]

The [u:] sound sounds to my hears like a French [u].. Am I right?

[@arjaygee]

They are very similar if not identical. I sometimes hear that same pronunciation in modern RP, too.

[@pattygalarce8019]

Thank you Tom ☀️

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

You are very very welcome Patty!

[@Claudiaxyz]

I wonder if African Americans in the South do the Monophthong of two vowel sound AI?

[@overlordnat]

Absolutely! The ‘I monophthongisation’ and ‘goose fronting’ and even the ‘ee’ and ‘oh’ sounds are taken straight from the black American rappers rather than Jamaicans. Phrases like ‘man dem’ and ‘wagwaan’ are clearly more Jamaican though (and ‘th’ becoming ‘d’ could be from either).

[@beyourself2444]

Caribbean big-up, forever Windrush...

[@Yinksz]

The joke is we only use this accent with friends or at home. We don’t talk like this at work bruv! 😂

[@alen7648]

Who could teach me that?

[@purposeoflife3105]

Accent of Manchester ?

[@ruboz]

Is Central Cee in this list ?

[@Cookoeswithcrumble]

Deffo

[@timmystauffer9094]

Deeper in Derbyshire maybe.

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Hehe ah yes, I'll get to Derbyshire at some point Timmy : )

[@cataraxis]

literally every british advert uses a woman with this accent

[@bajdok]

Why doesn't an English cleaning lady at the hotel speak French or German?

[@concreet4967]

interesting...

[@adam108]

Is white East European culturalism not included?

[@taehyungkim1856]

Came back to your channel after 3 years and i found you are going grey... time flies

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Hahahaha my favourite comment of the year! Yeah, life is tough when you hit 40 lol!

[@Demonmixer]

Just put on. No one speaks like this. It's London.

[@toobatooba5334]

❤❤❤💕

[@widehero]

We did it!!! 🎉 We managed to make an accent worse than brummy 😂

[@yenloong151]

👍👍

[@rhsmn2334]

british Willem Dafoe

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

Haha I've heard that before...maybe it's true!

[@rhsmn2334]

@@EatSleepDreamEnglish oh i didn't think you would reply, great content you make, cheers!

[@karelpeeters1994]

I can't hear the difference between dat and that.

[@sofg267]

the racist dog whistling in this comment section is truly depressing

[@stefanknezovic1747]

Cockney is cool and it’s a shame it’s been replaced by whatever this is. That netflix clip made my skin crawl. Imagine audible selling audiobooks with that accent lol

[@ka-ty6mh]

cry

[@kebabremover6024]

Why do jamaican heritage footballers who were born here in the 1950/60s talk with a proper english accent, yet 2 generational jamaicans speak like this

[@richardtbrown756]

Because there was more emphasis to fit into the British culture, and that was the accent they mainly heard so would naturally, for some, be picked up. London English developed because the next generations, after Windrush, started to hold onto their roots/dialect more but still fit in because it mixed with the Cockney dialect. It's basically the sum of 2 "broken" English dialect (Jamaican Patois and Cockney) combined 😏

[@richardtbrown756]

How can it be "Multicultural English" when it's literally Jamaican Patois 🇯🇲 and Cockney 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 combined? 🤔 It's a London Twang or London English, not MLE, that has spread to the main cities and counties of the UK because of the internet. The generations after Windrush is why this accent exists. We were the majority immigrants in London from the 50's, it's only in the last 30yrs that started to change but the accent has nothing to do with West African or South Asian cultures, they took the accent because it was "cool" and now sound like us who have Caribbean descent. The accent was around long before it became assimilated into different cultures and different corners of London. Give credit where credit is due and stop trying to lump everything into a "one size fits all" 🙄 Give Jamaica it's dues considering it's an island with a smaller population than London itself 😏🇯🇲

[@beyourself2444]

I agree

[@RoLakPX]

Well it is multicultural since it has MULTIPLE cultures in one. And why do you feel to downplay other major minority ethnic groups in London for especially when you are wrong. There has always been a bigger South Asian community in the London they have been present permanently since the 40s. Caribbeans mostly arrived permanently in the 60s with West Africans arriving in the 70s bro. And much of slang although still majority Jamaican/Caribbean, still has very strong words of South Asian and West African origin that has been used just as long. You can give credit to the Jamaican immigrants but downplaying other ethnic groups that went through the same hard ships and had huge impacts on not just the language but even the culture of the city is evil in itself. Your degrading the other parts of MLE yet forget you buy your meats from the South Asians, you're takeaways from the South Asians, you're community cleaning works from the West Africans, you're nails and hair products from the West Africans too. Lets not forget also where words like "abeg", "nyash" "oya" etc so don't degrade the rest for personal gain cause ur not gaining anything. Instead give Jamaica credit without bringing down other groups of people.

[@ColtraneTaylor]

Not as bad as cockney. Much better than polished English which is the worst.

[@user-oz7lr9nx2i]

Can't stand MLE accent it's just cringe

[@carlitoz82718]

Amy Winehouse

[@EatSleepDreamEnglish]

That's a great shout. I think my buddy Aly has done a video on her before - kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2PbgnmBrNJ_pbMsi=F7R9slqrR4D9_ljV

[@jiblet46]

London isn’t English ,the true English who have regional accents and still enjoy English traditions moved out to the countryside years ago.

[@pdjhh]

Some o dum is fake do init

[@ftrrd5559]

It's not a good way to speak. It makes people sound thick.

[@Bundpataka]

No, you think people who speak with that accent are thick because you’re a racist and a classist. People from outside the UK who don’t know what social classes and races/ethnicities speak which British accents tend to not have any special prejudice towards any single accent in particular

[@richardtbrown756]

And Cockney doesn't? 🤔 It's just the evolution of the London accent 🙄 It's basically the sum of 2 "broken" English dialects (Jamaican Patois and Cockney) combined 😏

[@thomp5347]

This bloke has too much tongue gwan on in his ting.

[@ThaUnseenTruth]

This accent sounds like it is the result of a speech impediment; and what's worse, is that it has become fashionable to speak like this - the more impeded one's speech is, the more cool they are...

[@unlockedaccount]

Not really

[@ftrrd5559]

Sounding posh and having crisp pronunciation has not been cool for a long time.

[@shaunigothictv1003]

A common shared accent can be a good thing. Britain is not as segregated as people say it is but you are all dodging the issue. Allow me to educate you all. I think its hilarious that Black blokes are systematically going round inseminating many chav White girls on poor run down council estates in Britain. It makes me extremely happy that the Whites and Blacks indulge in a lifestyle that makes them happy. What Whites and Blacks enjoy most is rampant interbreeding and the vigorous insemination of eachother BY eachother. At least they are integrated which is what they always wanted. The Asians keep themselves to. themselves, and as usual, own all the shops at street level across Britain They are the most hard-working people I've ever seen but they do not speak English very well. The Romanians form their own little communities and don't really interact with anyone as most of them do not speak English very well either. The Polish people are very racist towards Blacks and they also form their own little communities. The main problem is that all the various groups do not interact with each other. It's mainly only Blacks and Whites who actually interact with each other with most of the interaction being sexual in nature. Integration can only work when everyone speaks the same language. If no one bothers to learn to speak English integration will never work. The Polish people are very hard-working but they are very racist towards Blacks so intergration is not possible. They are also White but they are not Anglo-Saxon so their behaviour is very different from the indigenous British. The only two groups of people in the entire country of Great Britain that are truly integrated are indigenous British people and Black Caribbean people. The interaction between these two groups is mainly sexual in nature. We see this behaviour on poor run down council estates throughout Britain. Whatever makes them happy is cool with me. 90% of White Girls on Council estates and 10% of White boys on Council Estates will probably be inseminated by a Blackman at some point in their lives. Remember that Whites and Blacks ALWAYS wanted integration. Well, they got what they wanted!

[@JayneThompson-i7k]

It’s a joke no one wants it only th3 poor countries

[@krishnapatel7373]

You’re not a good thing for English culture

[@rachelar]

It's Jamaican

[@sidsnot6952]

It's a horrible accent

[@Maheshkumar-f9o1n]

Much better than scouse

[@sidsnot6952]

@@Maheshkumar-f9o1n defo not. This accent is the worst in the UK.

[@biggsleezy]

@@sidsnot6952 You wish

[@sidsnot6952]

@@biggsleezy it is the worst accent in the UK

[@rogerroger5255]

If you want to sound thick, this is the accent for you.

[@scottblack9213]

Dumbing down of society and a lack of education standards

[@jasaa]

...because of an accent?

[@scottblack9213]

@@jasaa probably yes. I am afraid when someone of an education starts speaking like that, it will certainly a case of "oh my days" .. we are not there quite yet, which is reassuring.

[@isaacthegoat1432]

@@scottblack9213Cry.

[@JudgeHill]

Sounds horrid.

[@LondonMoneyCashEnterprise]

shut up fam

[@James-mp7lp]

Dumbest thing I’ve heard

[@paulsmith2823]

Sounds horrible like ali g or a plastic gangster lol

[@unlockedaccount]

Sounds great

[@paulsmith2823]

@@unlockedaccount you must not be white and english then am I correct

[@trancemadmaz]

MLE sounds primative and is not a good thing for English culture.

[@isaacthegoat1432]

🤡

[@sofg267]

say you're racist and spare us the fake (and misspelled) concern for english culture !!!

[@Flypidge]

To me it sounds awful, I'm sure it doesn't to those that talk like it, or live around people talking like that. Just reminds me of drugs, gangs, crime, hoodies, white socks.

[@S1E2SportQuattro]

Im glad i didn’t grow up speaking like this 😂 no shade to those that did tho 🫡

[@Flash-fv3wt]

MLE🤣 Some made up Jamoc BS, get a grip. Ali G innit bruv pmsl

[@amnesiac1975]

Never liked the multicultural accent