Dear Diary,

It was love at first sight or rather first listen.

The rolling “r” and the distinctive “oo” sound, were music to my ears.

Fans of Ewan McGregor or Outlander will know what I’m talking about.  

The Scottish Accent. Love it or hate it. 

It definitely makes the Scots stand out.

Of course, there’s not the “one” accent but many different ones depending on the region. 

In fact, there are 4 sub-dialects: 

1. Insular – Orkney and Shetland

2. Highlands – Aberdeenshire, Angus

3. Central – Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Dundee, Fife, Perthshire, Dumfries & Galloway

4. Lowlands – Scottish Borders

On top of the list is the dreaded Glaswegian one. But don’t worry, even native Scots get lost there. 

The Scottish accent

But how do you do a proper Scottish Accent that doesn’t sound daft?

Here are some pronunciation tips:

1) “u” and “oo”

Those two are pronounced the same way. So “good” and “gut” basically become one word. Make it sound like “goohd”.

2) Replace “u” and “o” with “ae”

In Scotland, we say “nae” instead of “no” or “tae” instead of “to”.

3) Drop the “g”
Usually with words ending on -ing. So your “morning” becomes “mornin” and your “walking” becomes “walkin”.

4) Skip the “t”

Try saying “kih’en” instead of “kitten” and “buh’un” instead of “button”.

5) Roll the “r”

Start rolling the “r”, especially after “d”, “g” or “t” in words like “greet” and “dreich”.

Some Scottish slang

What else can you do?

Why not try adding some Scottish slang to your vocabulary?

• Gonny no dae that – please don’t do that

• Haud yer weesht – ‘be quiet’ in a rather harsh way

• Haste Ye Back! – a farewell, “see you soon”

• Goan take a keek oot the windae - Go and have a quick look out of the window