"villains" of the week
the scotsman has so named the «faceless whitehall officials» who denied a russian girl a visa to study english in Scotland - because she wouldn't be able to understand the Scots accent.in awarding the dubious honour, the paper, of course - much like john swinney, leader of the snp* - wilfully ignored the sensible reasons given, which were: she had made no attempt to learn english in russia; had no way of supporting herself financially when she got to Scotland; and the course did not meet the standards for a student visa anyway. and why not ignore the facts? none of that matters! the fantasy outrage version is far better: "who the bloody hell do these unaccountable london penpushers think they are? try learning English in newcastle, liverpool, sheffield, birmingham - or any other filthy ex-industrial northern english cesspool for that matter - and see how much you understand."
they also pointed out that obviously, anyone wishing to learn english in Scotland will be faced with plenty of reputable institutions offering courses - all approved by the british council - in Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow or Aberdeen. and if they choose to do so, they may end up with an accent that is good for business - or just good in bed.
*scottish national parliament
