FORMER British television presented Floella Benjamin has urged black Britons in the UK of African and Caribbean origin to learn how to pronounce English words properly if they want to succeed in life.  

Ms Benjamin, a former children's TV presenter from Trinidad moved to Britain aged 11 and became one of the most famous faces on television as the presenter of Play School. However, she has recently revealed that when she first moved to south London, a teacher called her a guttersnipe because of her thick West Indian accent.
Now a prominent equality campaigner, Ms Benjamin has invited other migrant children to adopt more received pronunciations. Awarded an OBE by the queen along with the title baroness, Ms Benjamin, now 66, has however, been criticised as it has been suggested that her comments encourage discrimination. 

Ms Benjamin said: 'That teacher did me a huge favour. If someone's seeing you like that, you must prove them wrong. 

"After that, I was the idol of her class. You have to be able to adapt to the situation and you have to be able to communicate." 

Kauser Jan of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Because a black person is saying it, we think it's OK? It's almost giving a green light to people by saying that by being racist, you're helping me.

 Anti-racism campaigners said that her comments encourage the notion that foreign accents are bad and should be discriminated against. Ms Benjamin, now a Liberal Democrat life peer, however, insists that young black Britons need to learn how to speak properly.