It seems great but....

(OK, leaving aside the fact that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Scottish accents and I don't really see why anyone would be this keen to avoid them).
As far as I can tell, you really want to go to Glasgow. The only thing that's keeping you is that you seem to be obsessed with the following worst case scenario:
1. You arrive in Glasgow and everyone except you is Scottish / has already gone sufficiently native to speak with a Scottish accent.
2. Since all the people you talk to speak with a Scottish accent, you quickly pick up an accent yourself and after a few years that accent takes root and completely obliterates the English accent you had been cultivating up to this point.
3. The Scottish accent sticks with you even after you leave Glasgow. When you arrive back home, everybody thinks you talk funny, and you end up passing this funny accent on to your students.

What's far more likely to happen, though, is the following scenario:
1. You arrive in Glasgow and find that there are actually people from all over the UK - all over the world, even - and they all speak in a variety of different accents.
2. Since some (though by no means all) the people you talk to regularly are Scots and you're the sort of person who will quickly pick up accents, your own accent acquires a Scottish tinge, especially when you're talking to people who actually do speak with a Scottish accent. Not enough to be mistaken for a native Glaswegian or anything of the sort, but your intonation changes slightly, some of your vowel sounds start sounding a bit different and you pick up a few Scottish phrases etc.
3. After you leave, those Scottish features you've adopted ebb away, because people who pick up accents easily also tend to lose them again easily in new surroundings, as they pick up new accents. There might still be some faint leftover traces but nothing noticeable enough that anyone in your home country would pick up on it. It won't have any significant effect on your students' accents either.

In short: I really think you're worrying about nothing there. If you think the Glasgow course would suit you best, then go to Glasgow.

Hello there,

I am an international student, currently working as a T.A. at the uni I graduated from, Saudi Arabia.

I intend to study both MA and PHD at UK in Creative Writing, one follows the other.
And I wish to have them both at the same uni.
I've been doing some extensive search on unis and the more I search, the more confused I become.
My initial results: Glasgow seems great. and I have already sumbitted my application
along with Manchaster and Exeter unis. I still prefer Glasgow, for some reason I still don't know what it is!
But here is my problem with Glasgow: The Scottish accent. I always knew there was something called "Scottish accent", I thought it was not so much different than the English accent we know and appreciate at the Arab's world. But after listening to a lot of videos on youtube, It is obviously not the accent for me!
I pick up accents really fast. And the university I am supposed to teach for after I come back appreciates the English accent (RP or the ones similar) and students there prefer it as well ( forgot to mention I am an English teacher ).

...

What more reliable source than a Scotsman?



1. You can't generalise one type of Scottish accent. Most Scots can tell what area you're from by your accent. The Glasgow accent is much different from The Edinburgh accent which is very different from the Inverness accent which is different from the Aberdeen accent...and so on. Most lecturers speak as proper English as they can, so don't use slang a lot. I dare say there may be a few that speak in RP, but I've never met any Arts lecturers at Glasgow, only science ones. Some of them you can clearly hear their Scottish accent, some of them it is died down, and others don't have a Scottish accent at all. We're not that difficult to understand! So don't worry, you'll quickly get used to it.

2. Yes, unfortunately. On the streets you will find people in Glasgow talking in slang a lot. But there are the percentage of Scots that do speak proper English - albeit in their individual accent. But the percentage of Scots in Glasgow isn't as high as you might think. There are plenty of English and Irish people for example. I've never been in Glasgow and NOT heard one of these accents!

3. Yes. We're not that difficult to understand. Guarantee, that after half a year at the most you'll have the accent handled like a pro.

4. Where you live will inevitably affect your accent, but there is an Indian girl who goes to my school, came over to Scotland in her first year of high school and is now in her final year. Her accent is very good and sounds English tainted by Scottish. It's quite sexy actually. Why fear getting a more Scottish accent? There was a survey in The Guardian that said we have the best accent in Europe



I can't help you extensively with this last part, but if you want to study in Oxford, I'd go for it if I were you. Just apply. If you have a good degree then there's every chance you might be accepted, especially with such a high GPA!
Unfortunately, whether you get in or not will depend on personal experiences and qualities that you must reflect through your application.

Glasgow is a fantastic city and you'll have no problems while there. (Unless you're in a bad area. )
I know that Glasgow uni has a French-speakers society and has classes/events where you can improve your French.

Very helpful, thank you.

Since you seem to know enough, regardless of any accent involved, which one of these following unis would you recommend:

Glasgow
Exeter
Manchester
Birmingham
Cardiff

And would a strong GPA be enough to get accepted at Oxford?
Thanks again.

There's no such thing as accent-less English.