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EE ben claimed he was a foriegn kid yesterday


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Old 13-10-2015, 23:31
gentleguy
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sorry but in yesterdays epidose this made me laugh as ben never had a south african accent he had a standard london accent as soon as he returned in 2006 lol.
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Old 13-10-2015, 23:36
summer_ste
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sorry but in yesterdays epidose this made me laugh as ben never had a south african accent he had a standard london accent as soon as he returned in 2006 lol.
foreign
ˈfɒrɪn/
adjective
adjective: foreign

1.
of, from, in, or characteristic of a country or language other than one's own.
"foreign currency"
synonyms: overseas, distant, remote, far off, far flung, external, outside; More
alien, non-native, adventitious
"foreign branches of UK banks"
antonyms: domestic
dealing with or relating to other countries.
"foreign policy"
of or belonging to another district or area.
"a visit to a foreign clan"
coming or introduced from outside.
"the quotation is a foreign element imported into the work"

2.
strange and unfamiliar.
"I suppose this all feels pretty foreign to you"

synonyms: unfamiliar, unknown, unheard of, strange, alien, exotic, outlandish, odd, peculiar, curious, bizarre, weird,

He'd lived in Africa since he was a baby. To all intents and purposes, East London was a completely foreign way of life for him. Thus, he was a foreigner.

I don't think having a different accent is the only way you can be foreign to a place.
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Old 13-10-2015, 23:36
grangehilllover
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I think what was meant was that from 1998 to 2006 from the age of 2 to 9, he was raised in South Africa.
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Old 13-10-2015, 23:53
lotty27
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Well he wouldn't have remembered London would he? So yes it was all 'foreign' to him, 7 out of his 9 years were spent in another country! Poor kid - no mum, 'new' country, only Ian that he knew a bit and a dad who was practically a stranger

But yes, he didn't exactly have a South African accent when he arrived lol!
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Old 13-10-2015, 23:56
gentleguy
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Well he wouldn't have remembered London would he? So yes it was all 'foreign' to him, 7 out of his 9 years were spent in another country! Poor kid - no mum, 'new' country, only Ian that he knew a bit and a dad who was practically a stranger

But yes, he didn't exactly have a South African accent when he arrived lol!
yh that was my point tbh
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Old 14-10-2015, 00:09
firefly_irl
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Yeah it was a bit odd when he arrived with no foreign accent but to cast someone with one would have been a miracle, it basically would have required a newly settled South African kid who had some acting background. I'm sure they could have done it but finding someone probably would have taken longer.
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Old 14-10-2015, 00:33
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Old 14-10-2015, 00:48
kitkat1971
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sorry but in yesterdays epidose this made me laugh as ben never had a south african accent he had a standard london accent as soon as he returned in 2006 lol.
I can see your point re the accent but they clearly just decided not to try and make a little kid attempt it - it's hard enough for adults (as we saw with Vicki fowler) let alone a 10 year old.

Also, to be fair, not everybody does pick up new accents when they mmove. It tends to be the accents you are surrounded by and the adults he was having the most contact with would have been Kathy and Gavin who clearly never lost their accents. Plus, seeing Ted, ian, maybe Talking to Phil? It's not as though he wasn't hearing any London was it. He might even have been going to an Ex Pat school so not even mixing with south African kids there.

I think foreign, as others have said, more related to him feeling like a duck out of water in the environment and people as he didn't remember Walford and it was so different to his life as he knew it with Ian as the only really familiar and therefore comforting presence.
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Old 14-10-2015, 00:53
kitkat1971
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Yeah it was a bit odd when he arrived with no foreign accent but to cast someone with one would have been a miracle, it basically would have required a newly settled South African kid who had some acting background. I'm sure they could have done it but finding someone probably would have taken longer.
Yes, exactly - what would have been the chances of that?

Plus, even if it was authentic, i think it would have sounded jarring amongst all the London accents (as indeed a scottish or northern one often does) and been complained about by viewers.

Plus, possibly, the actors accent might have started changing due to the accents around him, which would also probably have caused criticism as being 'inconsistent'. Even though an 'inconsistent' accent is often what does happen when a kid moves and has one accent at home and another at School, around other kids etc.

As an aside, could Ben's partial deafness have had any bearing on this re what accent he picked up?
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Old 14-10-2015, 01:06
lotty27
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yh that was my point tbh
Yeah, apologies, picked your post up the wrong way. Thought you were saying he wasn't foreign.

Note to self: read posts properly in future!
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Old 14-10-2015, 05:55
Dippit
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As an aside, could Ben's partial deafness have had any bearing on this re what accent he picked up?
As I don't really know anything on the topic, I can't say whether his partial deafness would have had a direct impact on his accent or speech but at the very least I think it may possibly have had an indirect impact by making him shy and less inclined to socialise with the South African kids his own age, thus making it even more likely he'd pick up his accent only from the adults around him (as you point out in another post).
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Old 14-10-2015, 10:56
starry_rune
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Kathy didn't have a South African accent once she left and Gavin didn't sound African did he? Ben'll have picked up their london accents innit.
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Old 14-10-2015, 12:05
firefly_irl
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Yes, exactly - what would have been the chances of that?

Plus, even if it was authentic, i think it would have sounded jarring amongst all the London accents (as indeed a scottish or northern one often does) and been complained about by viewers.

Plus, possibly, the actors accent might have started changing due to the accents around him, which would also probably have caused criticism as being 'inconsistent'. Even though an 'inconsistent' accent is often what does happen when a kid moves and has one accent at home and another at School, around other kids etc.

As an aside, could Ben's partial deafness have had any bearing on this re what accent he picked up?
Yeah remember how Vicki's accent was panned by the media, although I must be honest I hated it too
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