Sounds Familiar

The Innovation Unit has supported the development of a website from the British Library. Celebrating the UK's many different accents, dialects and vocabularies, Sounds Familiar is a unique and groundbreaking new interactive website. 72 unedited recordings illustrate regional accents and dialects from every corner of the UK, some recorded in the 1950s and some almost half a century later, in 1998-1999.

What makes this site unique, however, is the comprehensive set of audio resources, the depth of interpretation and the varied learning packages that explore the dual themes of language variation and language change within spoken English - both contemporary and historical. You can investigate 'new' trends in pronunciation, such as 'upspeak' or 'T-glottaling', find out where in the country speakers use the past tense I were or we was or discover how the English of British Asians is influenced by their bilingual status.

Sounds Familiar is launched at a time when study resources on the English language are desperately needed. English Language is currently the fastest growing area of A-Level study. The site features a series of interactive sound maps and over 600 audio-clips that illustrate specific features of English. Aspects of regional vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar are explained and analysed and the site includes three case studies that give an in-depth look at three very different varieties of English: Received Pronunciation (RP), Geordie dialect and English as spoken by black and Asian communities in the UK.

Another innovative feature is the involvement of users themselves in creating a "living archive". Children and young adults are being asked to add their own recordings, making it possible for users to continue to monitor change and variety in spoken English.

The vision is to use the website and the new recordings submitted by young speakers to create a comprehensive 'sound map of the UK', which will showcase the varied accents and dialects that can be heard nationwide. The voice recordings gathered through the website will be added to the British Library's Sound Archive for the benefit of future generations.

Link 

Sounds Familiar