@ Phil: " <em>I’ve always considered Lucy’s “don’t say X” videos to be of extremely limited value to English learners.</em> " __ That's solely reflective of a culturally subjective view; at best scantily endorsed by her more than 4 million ardent followers and the learned English editors at DailyMail, who'd as an afterthought hitherto not be adjudged as being unintelligent and unprofessional for subscribing to her views, I guess.
___ " <em>Anyhow, she takes a word with several different pronunciations used by </em><em>native speakers</em><em>, and then proceeds to tell us only one of them is correct</em>. " ___ Be that as it may. Nonstandard by her British accent coaching standards. And what do you make of the Midwesterners looking down upon the Southern accents or the Southern drawl. Or the urban groomed yuppies identifying with a posh accent as being a metropolitan imperative, mocking the ' unlettered ' boonies' accent here in the US. The British sovereign, or the Queen's English don't enjoy a set monopoly in linguistic biases rooted in cultural subjectivity.
Touting plumb naive personal preferences as a British imperial transgression isn't vindicative of exhibitionist American drive for cultural dominance.
And would it be gauged aside as so out of touch with reality to suggest that a posh British accent is deemed ' first-rate ' across the US as well, even when it serves as a stark reminder of the sovereign's rule.
Isn't the British accent always vilified by Hollywood movies ? Is that not politically motivated? Haven't we always been rubbing it in their faces?
___ "<em> English spelling is etymological, not phonetic.</em> " ___ And that's the mantra Lucy keeps repeating to her pupils at the expense of repetition.
___ " <em>using English stress patterns, rhythm and intonation</em>. " Now.. Where would that place the African American Vernacular or the Caribbean English speakers?
Attitudes towards social U.S. English accents