What type of English does Ron Weasley speak?

Joy   Tuesday, July 06, 2004, 02:31 GMT
Any one know how I could get an English accent like Ron?
CG   Tuesday, July 06, 2004, 08:11 GMT
London.
Xatufan   Tuesday, July 06, 2004, 15:19 GMT
Like Ron or like Rupert Grint? They are two different persons:

Ron was invented by J. K. Rowling. R. Grint is a real person. If you want to learn Rupert's accent, you should investigate where he was born.
Starr(Yes this is my real name!)   Tuesday, July 06, 2004, 19:39 GMT
Whats the difference between Ron's and Rupert's accents?And preferrably Rons accent.
Ben   Tuesday, July 06, 2004, 20:28 GMT
As I recall (I haven't read the books in a while), Ron lives in the Southeastern English countryside, so he would probably speak with a London-sounding accent.

Rupert Grint, as far as I can tell, grew up in Hertfortshire (just outside London), and would speak with a similarly suburban Southeastern accent.
Damian   Tuesday, July 06, 2004, 20:53 GMT
Don't they call it Home Counties accent down there, Ben?
Joy A.K.A Starr   Wednesday, July 07, 2004, 05:28 GMT
Thanxs but wat do these sound like?Which one is "better" and easier to learn?
Ben   Wednesday, July 07, 2004, 13:33 GMT
Yeah, I do believe they call it Home Counties. I believe it encompasses London, Cambridge and the surrounding countryside, but I'm not English, so I wouldn't know.

I have no idea what Ron Weasley would talk like, exactly, since he is a fictional character. Rupert Grint, however, talks with a standard British Estuary accent--a mixture of British RP and cockney which is spoken all over England (I have a friend from the midlands who speaks with it, even though he grew up nowhere near London). You can learn it by listening to middle-class London characters on virtually any BBC program.

Simon Cowell from American Idol is a really good example of Estuary English.
CG   Wednesday, July 07, 2004, 14:30 GMT
Ha ha, Simon Cowell.
CG   Wednesday, July 07, 2004, 14:46 GMT
You should try a northern accent, like Mancunian (Manchester). We don't stretch out our "ah"s in "grass" and "bath" etc, so it would probably be easier for you to master.
Damian   Wednesday, July 07, 2004, 16:03 GMT
Aye.....it's all 'br@ss and 'gr@ass and 'b@th ... all short sharp and to the point eh CG? They don't beat about the bush or stuff plums in their mouths in Chorton-cum-Hardy do they? :-)
Damian   Wednesday, July 07, 2004, 16:07 GMT
typo: I dropped an "L" Chorlton!-cum-Hardy sorry
Ginny Weasley   Wednesday, July 07, 2004, 22:30 GMT
I speak with a Devon accent mixed with Estuary and so does my brother. After all, Ottery St Catchpole is in Devon but at Hogwarts (or Poudlard, as those Beauxbaton fellows call our school), we've got classmates from all over the UK and Estuary English is growing in popularity amongst British youth, wizards/witches and muggles alike.

As for this idiot actor who pretends being my brother in those horrible muggle films, I think he speaks a 'posher' form of Estuary English, perhaps a bit closer to RP and all that rot.
Ginny Weasley   Wednesday, July 07, 2004, 22:36 GMT
And no, Devon (county in which Ottery St Catchpole is located) is NOT one of the Home Counties. Neither is Cambridgeshire. Little Whinging, Surrey, on the other hand, is most definitely in the Home Counties.

Oh yes, and I love the Scottish and Northern English accents. They're much more interesting than this Estuary thingie we've got in the South. It's a pity that there aren't a lot of Scottish pupils at Hogwarts/Poudlard even though the school is located in Scotland. Well, Prof. McGonagall is Scottish, Neville is Northern English, and Seamus is Irish.
Saesnig   Thursday, July 08, 2004, 05:36 GMT
Various English accents (mp3s):

http://www.gazzaro.it/accents/files/accents2.html