Hello, Catherine here from BBC Learning（学习） English. Just so you know, this programme is from the BBC Learning English Archive（档案馆）. It was originally（ 最初） broadcast（广播） in June 2007 on our website. Enjoy! Hello, I'm Jackie Dalton. This is BBC Learning English dot（点） com.

  These people are speaking with a Birmingham accent（口音）. Or a Brummy accent, some might（可以〔用于礼貌地提出建议〕） say. Brummy is an informal（非正式的） word to describe someone or something who comes from Birmingham, England's second（第二） biggest city. The Brummy accent is loved by some, but hated by many. In surveys（调查）, many people say it's the most annoying（恼人的） accent（口音） there is, and a lot of people make fun of it. But some people in Birmingham are fed（喂(养)） up with this and defend（保卫） the way they speak.

  Carl Chin（颏） is Professor（ 教授） of Community（社区） History at Birmingham University. Why is his Brummy accent important to him? For me, being a Brummy is all about my identity（身份）. It's about who I am as a person, where I grew up, where I was born（承担）, where my mum and dad come from, and the people to whom I belong（属于）. I would never dream（做梦） to say that my accent（口音） is better than anybody（任何人） else's, but it's certainly（一定） no worse. It's important to him because it's part of his identity, part of what makes him who he is.

  For me, being a Brummy is all about my identity. It's about who I am as a person, where I grew up, where I was born, where my mum and dad come from, and the people to whom I belong. And Carl Chin says not everyone hates the accent.