For any actor, a good indicator of his or her skill is the ability to do different accents convincingly. Some, like Meryl Streep, are famous for this. In her movies, Streep has spoken in everything from Australian to German with a Polish accent and she's done it so well that she has received more Best Actress Oscar nominations than anybody else. Other actors haven't been so lucky and more than a few could have benefited from, for instance, some British accent lessons.
One of the things that Meryl Streep is most famous for is her ability to imitate different accents. This has kept her career interesting and healthy and has earned her the record for most Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. In contrast, someone like Kevin Costner saw his career take a nosedive after playing Robin Hood while he was at the height of his fame. The reason was mainly because his Robin Hood spoke in an American accent.
Many people make the mistake of thinking all people in Britain sound like the royal family or like the country's politicians. That posh-sounding way of speaking is indeed what is regarded as standard English pronunciation, formally called Received Pronunciation. Few people speak like that from childhood, though. Even Margaret Thatcher had to learn Received Pronunciation so that she could sound more posh.
However, just like someone from Massachusetts will sound very different from someone who is from Tennessee, Britain has a wealth of regional accents. In England alone there can be variation in how people speak in towns that are only an hour's drive apart. Someone from the south of England and someone from the north may even sound as if they're from different countries.
Many English people speak in accents that are specific to the cities where they're from. John Lennon, for instance, spoke the Scouse of Liverpool, while Ozzy Osbourne's Brummie pronunciation tells you that he's from Birmingham. However, even in the same city there may be variation. This is especially true of London, where some of the accents include Cockney, North London and South London.
Adding to the rich variety of English spoken in the UK are the accents of other parts of the country. To the untrained ear, the accents from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland often sound the same because of the way speakers roll the r. However, they're actually quite different and even within each of these regions you'll find variation. Someone from Edinburgh, for instance, speak a different kind of Scots than someone from Glasgow.
When you learn the particular accent that fits the character you'll be playing, it's also important to remember that regional variations of English are about more than pronunciation. Vocabulary often differs too. A good start is to know the differences between American and British English. In the UK, for instance, a sidewalk is called a 'pavement'. Sometimes the same word has a different meaning elsewhere, for instance the word 'pants' that in the UK means underwear.
The best way to learn an accent is to go live in the area where that dialect is spoken and just listen to the locals as they speak. However, this is not a practical approach if you're rehearsing for a movie or a play. For faster results, a good option is to invest in the services of a dialect coach.
One of the things that Meryl Streep is most famous for is her ability to imitate different accents. This has kept her career interesting and healthy and has earned her the record for most Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. In contrast, someone like Kevin Costner saw his career take a nosedive after playing Robin Hood while he was at the height of his fame. The reason was mainly because his Robin Hood spoke in an American accent.
Many people make the mistake of thinking all people in Britain sound like the royal family or like the country's politicians. That posh-sounding way of speaking is indeed what is regarded as standard English pronunciation, formally called Received Pronunciation. Few people speak like that from childhood, though. Even Margaret Thatcher had to learn Received Pronunciation so that she could sound more posh.
However, just like someone from Massachusetts will sound very different from someone who is from Tennessee, Britain has a wealth of regional accents. In England alone there can be variation in how people speak in towns that are only an hour's drive apart. Someone from the south of England and someone from the north may even sound as if they're from different countries.
Many English people speak in accents that are specific to the cities where they're from. John Lennon, for instance, spoke the Scouse of Liverpool, while Ozzy Osbourne's Brummie pronunciation tells you that he's from Birmingham. However, even in the same city there may be variation. This is especially true of London, where some of the accents include Cockney, North London and South London.
Adding to the rich variety of English spoken in the UK are the accents of other parts of the country. To the untrained ear, the accents from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland often sound the same because of the way speakers roll the r. However, they're actually quite different and even within each of these regions you'll find variation. Someone from Edinburgh, for instance, speak a different kind of Scots than someone from Glasgow.
When you learn the particular accent that fits the character you'll be playing, it's also important to remember that regional variations of English are about more than pronunciation. Vocabulary often differs too. A good start is to know the differences between American and British English. In the UK, for instance, a sidewalk is called a 'pavement'. Sometimes the same word has a different meaning elsewhere, for instance the word 'pants' that in the UK means underwear.
The best way to learn an accent is to go live in the area where that dialect is spoken and just listen to the locals as they speak. However, this is not a practical approach if you're rehearsing for a movie or a play. For faster results, a good option is to invest in the services of a dialect coach.
About the Author:
If you have an interest in taking up British accent lessons, there are many classes in your local area. The one you should join right now is available at http://www.windsor-cunningham.com.
