BRITISH ACCENT!!!

Cenylah   Thursday, August 07, 2003, 03:20 GMT
I have been interested in Britain and everything that is involved with it such as the people, royal family, way of living AND the accents. I mean I love the british accent and I know there are all kinds of them. Is there anyone that knows how I can learn to speak with the british accent? I cannot sit here and watch all these british movies over and over again. Could there actually be tapes or something ? Oh and what kind of accent does Prince William have?? I have an accent of my own....but it would never sound as good as the british one. So if someone knows PLEASE REPLY!! thx
David Bosch   Friday, August 08, 2003, 05:08 GMT
Cenylah,

Well, listening to tapes or radio and watching films just helps to 'polish' your accent, to perfection the entonation, to make it a bit more fluent.

However, if what you want is a base which you can start with, I'll give you some rules:

1. r's are hardly pronounced in most of the words; such as 'gardener' (gae-denae)

2. t's and d's are pronounced more strongly; instead of was'n it is wasn't. the t is pronounced.

3. try to entirely eliminate the nasal sound, open your throat. Otherwise you'll sound like a Oklahoma inhabitant.

Any more rules?
to D. Bosch   Friday, August 08, 2003, 10:59 GMT
"3. try to entirely eliminate the nasal sound, open your throat."

Do you think it is possible? This would rather be a German accent.

Cenylah: There are many English accents. Move to England and learn them.
Cenylah   Friday, August 08, 2003, 19:15 GMT
Thanks for the tips I will try that. And yeah I was thinking about moving to England to live there for at least a year and just see how it is..
one more 'rule'   Saturday, August 09, 2003, 06:25 GMT
I've noticed that in British accent the particle 'ou' in words like "thought", "pour" and words like "ball", "call", "wall" are pronouced with a sound similar to the the name of the letter 'o' (probably it's not the best way to describe the sound), unlike in the American accent, in wich one pronounces it with a similar to 'a'.
Guofei Ma   Saturday, August 09, 2003, 20:57 GMT
"O" in "thought", "pour", "ball" etc. is not the sound of the name of the letter "o". Yes, the sound is pronounced with rounded lips but the sound comes from the top of the back of the mouth (at least it feels as if it came from there).
California ESL teacher   Saturday, August 09, 2003, 21:51 GMT
Rent "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill". Listen to Hugh Grant. He has a fairly pleasant, upper class British accent.
Norah   Saturday, August 09, 2003, 23:01 GMT
what kind of british accent does the royal family speak with?
Guofei Ma   Saturday, August 09, 2003, 23:05 GMT
Received Pronunciation, of course.
Timmy   Tuesday, August 12, 2003, 18:31 GMT

Prince William? I'd describe his accent as posh - more posh than BBC English/RP. But it is a younger generation posh accent as opposed to an older generation one. It's far more informal. Compare it to Prince Charles' and you'll see what I mean.
scottish   Wednesday, August 13, 2003, 13:52 GMT
cenylah, you should try and find out about the dundee accent,,,,believe me,,,,you will NOT like it at all
Cenylah   Thursday, August 14, 2003, 18:01 GMT
Thanks timmy I think that answered all my questions, his accent I think is really cool. I have been watching bbc news, tryin to speak like them. It's getting easier, but to keep talking that way is hard. I'll go right back to my own accent, so gotta work on that. :-p
Cenylah   Thursday, August 14, 2003, 18:02 GMT
scottish, do you know the accent they speak in St. Andrews?
Is it just like dundee? I've tried to understand them but uh yeah kinda hard.
Richard Li   Thursday, August 14, 2003, 22:11 GMT
Listen to BBC Radio online @ www.bbc.co.uk . By the way, Estuary English is now the most popular accent.
David Bosch   Friday, August 15, 2003, 02:55 GMT
To the person who posted after me:

If you haven't noticed, the American accents are more nasal than the British ones, therefore Americans who want to learn British accent must avoid sounding nasal. Full stop.

And.. no, I don't think it would sound just like German. In fact, some Scottish and Northern English accents sound very similar to some German accents.