Geography and dialect

It should be obvious enough that people from different regions of the England have different accents, but that's not a fact that I ever really internalize. Enter Collect Britain, a showcase of items from the British Library, and an anglophile's wet dream. Among its collections of historical maps, drawings, manuscripts, and artwork are over 600 voice recordings of (strictly) English accents.

Most of the ones I've come are from rural folk, and were recorded in the 1950's, so you've gotta guess that their dialects on the decline by now. One can't help but feel at least a slight twang of heartache in listening to these people wax nostalgic about "the old days" and how much better they were (the common theme for most of these recordings). That's another one we can chalk up to the modern era - an oppressive cultural homogeneity.

Here are some of my favorites:

Bob from Cornwall

George from Northumberland - I bet you can't understand a word of this one

Frank from Buckinghamshire - badger baiting!

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See also the Speech Accent Archive, which collects a large sample of native and non-native speakers of English reading the same short text. Just like in real life, the Dallas accent is far superior to the Houston one. Go listen for yourself.