[Magdalen] Enjoying a colleague's accent

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/17/2015 9:21:59 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
scottknitter at gmail.com writes:

I'm  currently working with a group that includes a colleague with an
accent I  originally thought was Scottish, but quickly it became
obvious it's a  northern English one. I'm thinking Geordie? He's  from
Chester-le-Street.>>>>>
 
The accents of the north of England can be strong and difficult for
a non-native.  I can recall staying in a bed-and-breakfast in New  Castle
upon Tyne,   We were assigned tables for breakfast, and the  couple
at our table and on honeymoon were nearly unintelligible.  There  were
a lot of smiles and nodding of heads that week from both sides.
 
I gather this was Geordie, and it's supposed to be infused with a
lot of Scandinavian words.  I can recall the local couple  referring to
their "hjem", which is exactly the same word for "home" in Norwegian.
The paternal ancestral home was "Nordhjem" which is literally  "North 
Home." 
When the immigration officials got through with it, however, it  became
"Northam".
 
 
David Strang who finds it much more fun to decipher regional accents  where
English is spoken as a native language, than dealing with English,  overlain
with an accent, as a second language.