Is the "British accent" actually the proper way to speak English seeing as it originated there?

American English is actually the older of the two Englishes because it is a colonial form (dating from as far back as the 17th century). In spite of this, both the British and the American English pronunciations are considered to be equally correct by most broadcasters and authorities on the English language. They are just a little different, that's all.

English originated with Americans as well. A lot of Americans have ENGLISH blood in them, since they moved to the US to avoid religious prosecution. Back then, the "American English" and "British English" accents were exactly the same.

Both of them have changed considerably, neither resemble the English that was originally spoken. Both countries have gotten a significant amount of immigrants since. It is considered, though, that American English is more like the English spoken back when the two groups were created.

Received pronounciation isn't very old at all, not more than a couple of hundred years. English has been spoken a lot longer than that. Linguists have (tentatively) suggested that even Queen Elizabeth I spoke with a "common" accent - very much like they talk in the Appalachian mountains today. Accents change with every generation - cockney today is quite different from the cockney of the 40s.

speaking with an accent has nothing to do with speaking properly English. Speaking well with any accent when English is not your first language is the only way to speak English. Trying to imitate an accent may not necessarily go down well.

they say that us Northerners have more trustworthy voices than those of the Southern counties

There are an awful lot of accents in Britain. What would you consider a British accent? There is even dispute in Britain about the proper way to speak english. However we all agree that americans dont' speak English but american.

There is no such thing as a "British Accent".

Britain is made up of 4 countries. England, Ireland, Scottland, and Wales.

I guess if you are talking about the English accent, which you are, then I would say that there can't really be any proper way. Seeing that England has several different English accents.

Read a book called 'Made in America',by Bill Bryson.

It`s all about the development of American English and is also a great history book too.A lot of surprising things in there,like the fact that many of the most basic English words and phrases used in Britain actually originated in America.

You mean English accent. Not British.

As British means, Northern Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh and Irish people originally spoke Irish Gaelic, Welsh people speak Welsh and Scottish people spoke Scots Gaelic.

So it is the language of England so they speak it the most correctly.

English accents differ in England, just as they differ in the U.S.

Accents are not what we consider proper, but rather, the grammar, vocabulary, etc.

An "accent" is different than speaking PROPERLY. Britain has many diverse accents. @Ryan Schillinger. Ireland is NOT in Britain. NORTHERN Ireland is in the United Kingdom. Britain is England, Scotland, Wales.