WHAT do you call a bread roll? Is it a barm cake, a bap, a cob or a bun? What about a flour cake or oven bottom?

Depending on where you are in the UK, it might be any of these things. There are thought to be several hundred different accents and regional dialects throughout the UK.

Words that are considered "normal" and can be easily understood throughout the whole of the country are known as standard English,whereas words that are used locally but might not be understood outside of that area are known as non-standard English.

Bead roll is standard English, but a barm cake is non-standard English.

It would likely be understood throughout Lancashire, but if you ask for one in the south of England you might get a funny look!

Some Boltonians have quite a strong accent.

Some examples of the local accent and dialect include dropping "he"before words –as in Peter Kay’s ‘T’internet’ —pronouncing words finishing with an ‘s’ with a final ‘z’ soun, "I' going to catch the buzz, and using words such as to fettle; nowt and ‘owt’ —nothing and anything and my personal favourite, ‘be reet’ meaning it will be alright.

But is using non-standard English a problem?

Fifty years ago, a strong accent, be it Cockney, Scouse, Geordie or Lancastrian, was seen as being undesirable, especially in the media, but nowadays regional accents are commonly heard on the TV and radio.

Years ago, if you left Bolton to work "down south," you would have felt pressured to amend, tone down or even hide your accent so that you didn’t stand out from the crowd.

But these days, even BBC newsreaders no longer speak in a posh "Received Pronunciation" accent. sometimes referred to locally as the Queen’s English, and positive role models such as Jason Kenny, Sara Cox and Danny Jones have helped the Bolton accent become better known and more recognisable.

In our English classes we teach our students to know the difference between standard and non-standard English, and when it might be acceptable to use each.

Certain words, for example slang, might not be appropriate language to use at a job interview, but might be fine while chatting with friends; being aware of your surroundings is an important life-skill.

Varieties in language are certainly more popular, familiar and even trendier than before, but from time to time we may need to tailor what we say to suit the situation we are in.

The poem below is called ‘The Oldham Weaver’ and was written around 1815, can you translate it into standard English?

Oi'm a poor cotton-weyver, as mony a one knoowas*,

Oi've nout for t'year, an' oi've word eawt my clooas,

Yo'ad hardly gi' tuppence for aw as oi've on,

My clogs are both brosten, an stuckings oi've none,

Yu'd think it wur hard,

To be browt into th' warld,

To be clemmed, an' do th' best as yo' con.

Answers to last week's questions.

1) Two metres (200 centimetres) or six foot six inches

2) About 10 miles

3) About £25

4)About 1 hour 45 minutes

5) About £20

6) £5