England 97

Listen to England 97, a 56-year-old woman from Isleworth, London, England, who has also lived in north London, Surrey, and the United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 56

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 05/01/1958

PLACE OF BIRTH: Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey (but raised in Isleworth, London)

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: white

OCCUPATION: voice teacher

EDUCATION: some college

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

After being raised in Isleworth (on the western edge of Greater London) and in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey (just beyond the borders of Greater London), the speaker lived in North London, Twickenham, and Bath, and also in Israel. She has spent the last 35 years living in the United States (California).

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Victoria Sasso (under supervision of David Nevell)

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/03/2015

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I was born in Surrey, England, south of London about 40 minutes, in a place called Sunbury-on-Thames, which is on the River Thames. I went to an all-girls school called Brentford School for Girls. We wore school uniforms with the little orange and yellow blouses, straw boater hats, and all the same navy blue jackets and skirts. It was quite strict, but we had fun except for there was no boys. But before I was interested in boys, I was interested in horses. I read pony books all the time, and there was a horse field down the road from where my house was; and one day, some other children came along and I was boasting that I knew the owners of the horse, horses and I could ride them any time that I wanted. They said, “Oh really? Well, we have a bridle at home. We’ll go home and get it; then you could put the bridle on the horse and show us how you ride it.” Oh my goodness, I had been caught out in my own lie, but to save face I stayed around until they came back with the bridle. Somehow I got the bridle on the horse and managed to get up on the pony’s back. Well, I had never been on a horse or a pony — just imagined it — and before long the horse started to trot and then canter across the field. In no time at all, I was flat on my back. It was so humiliating. I was quite hurt, but more humiliated. So I ran out of the field and hid behind some bushes. [laughs] When the children came to find me and to see if I was all right, I still held on to my lie. I told them that I did know how to ride, but I had never ridden bare back before and that’s why I fell off. So much for my horse-riding career.

And my next adventure was coming to the United States, where I landed in California. It was a big culture shock. People seemed so loud and brash. People raised their voices just, for no reason, and yelled at each other across the street. It didn’t seem very polite, and it was so big and the public transportation was terrible and I, I didn’t know how to get around. It took me six y- months to get used to the culture, but finally I did get used to it and began to embrace it.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Victoria Sasso (under supervision of David Nevell)

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/12/2015

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

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