Actors taught phonetics

mad maddy   Monday, January 17, 2005, 04:49 GMT
I have read that actors learn phonetics to make themselves understood by a greater audience. How should I go about doing the same? I really want to clean up my accent.
mad maddy   Monday, January 17, 2005, 04:51 GMT
I'm sorry I should have wrote phonics instead of phonetics
Ed   Monday, January 17, 2005, 05:11 GMT
There are tapes with various excersices on anything from accent reduction or learning to speak with a foreign accent to making your speech clear and articulate. Go online and look for those on a search engine like yahoo.
javier   Monday, January 17, 2005, 13:48 GMT
I don't know if there are actors who learn phonetics, but I've heard that some actors take classes to learn accents. For example, René Zellweger, who is from Texas, learned to speak English with an English accent in Bridget Jones' diary
Ben   Monday, January 17, 2005, 16:41 GMT
Hi,

I'm an actor living in New York City, and can tell you that (in America, at least), almost everyone is taught phonetics in drama school.

While phonetics isn't of tremendous use in learning a language, it is a GREAT way to clean up an accent.
mad   Monday, January 17, 2005, 19:00 GMT
How should I go about learning phonetics?
Ben   Monday, January 17, 2005, 20:05 GMT
There's a fairly good description of the phonetic alphabet on this site.

For something more in depth, there's a classic book called "Speak with Distinction" written by Edith Skinner. It was written for actors, teaching them how to adopt formal stage speech, but it gives a good explanation to the basic sounds of the English Language.

Where do you live? Do you have a foreign accent or some kind of regional dialect that you want to get rid of.
Damian   Monday, January 17, 2005, 22:46 GMT
I agree with Ben....it is a similar situation here in the UK too in drama schools. It really is one of the skills of an actor/actress to speak in convincing accents which are quite different from their own.

Phonetics form part of most drama courses.

I am impressed with the British accents displayed by some American actresses in particular....maybe, just maybe females are better at adapting this way. Rene Zellweger's accent is great in BJD, and it was not a standard RP accent either, in fact it was quite distinctive Sarf Landun (as a Scot I think it was that). However, First prize in my opinion goes to Gwyneth Paltrow for her performances in flawless standard English English. Btw...Gwyneth...I think it's a Welsh name!

I wonder what Americans think of some of the assumed American accents as displayed by British performers? I would not have a clue how genuine or otherwise they would be.
Tiffany   Monday, January 17, 2005, 23:03 GMT
Catherine Zeta-Jones has a very convincing American Accent - she's Welsh. And Kate Winslet does an American Accent very well too. But both adopted GAE. not a lesser known American accent.

Nicole Kidman must be the queen of adopting accents not her own. I've seen her do Southern American, GAE and RP (I think, although I'm not an expert) too. She's Australian by the way.

Also, Charlize Theron. I thought she was American when I first saw her in a movie, but she's really South African!
american nic   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 00:59 GMT
I don't understand why actors/actresses in theater try to change their accent. GAE when performed by someone who is faking it is far worse to my ear than any accent they could have naturally. What is so wrong with diversity?
Tiffany   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 01:17 GMT
It's not a documentary Nic, they are playing a part. They therefore must take on the accent that the character speaks with, be that GAE or something else. I'd love to see a movie where a Sotherner talks with his own dialect and tries to convince us that he is from Boston. It's not happening.
american nic   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 01:50 GMT
No, I'm not talking about movies. I mean in plays, when there in no particular setting place in mind, the actors still put on a fake voice that sounds annoying. I think in situations like that, people should just speak with there normal accent, since it sounds way better that way.
mad   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 07:00 GMT
I'm from the south and I don't really have a distinct southern accent. But there are things about my accent that I would like to change. I've noticed that I do not say "to" correctly, I pronunce it as TAH. I wonder how I learned this. Also, I dont always pronounce my T's at the end of words.

Lastly, how does a child develop an accent completely different from their parents and friends. Could lack of social interaction at an early age shape a persons' accent?

Is GAE General American East?

Thanks for replying.
mjd   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 10:24 GMT
Naomi Watts (she's Australian) does a very good American accent.
Ed   Tuesday, January 18, 2005, 14:16 GMT
Charlize theron didn't even speak English until she was in her 20's. Her native language is Afrikaans.

Nicole Kidman is actually American. Many people don't know that she was actually born in Hawaii.