British accent

Uriel   Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:19 am GMT
Almonds are a step up from the ubiquitous peanut in the US.
Rory   Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:53 am GMT
Moving on from Snickers, even though they're yum.... Do English people, or people with an Estuary accent, have rising intonation (not in questions)? I'm Australian and alot of Australians do it and I've heard lots of English people speak like that but someone just posted saying not to do it if you want and English accent...
Uriel   Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:21 am GMT
Oh, I think a certain segment of the population does that rising thing in all English-speaking countries. You hear it in the US as well. I don't think it has anything to do with the accent itself.
Guest   Thu Jun 07, 2007 3:44 am GMT
what kind of accent do keira knightley and siena miller have?
Andy   Sat Jun 09, 2007 5:12 pm GMT
Rory, I reckon some people here in Britain have watched too much Neighbours and picked up that whole rising intonation thing from the Aussies.
Greg   Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:27 pm GMT
As far as a reason for learning to fake a British accent, I've landed a role in a musical/comedy version of a Dickens classic, and want to be able to come across in character.

Curiously, one word that is stumping me is "very." Turning the r into a d doesn't sound quite right to me.

Any thoughts?
Damian in London SW15   Fri Sep 28, 2007 12:20 am GMT
To anyone with an inclination to adopt any kind of British accent (there are many to choose from!) I would suggest that you either diss the Scouse accent out of hand or, at the very most, leave it to the very last! Similarly with the Glasgow accent! :-) Just my suggestions you understand!

GREG:

Could the Dickensian musical be "Oliver" by any chance? As for the difficulty with the word "very" you could have fun with one of the songs from this show:

"Thank you very much!
Thank you very much!
That's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me!
I may sound Double-Dutch
But my delight is such
I feel as if a losing war's been won for me
And if I had a flag I'd hang my flag out
To add a sort of final victory touch
But since I left my flag at home
I'll simply have to say
Thank you very, very, very much!

Entire Company:
Thank you very, very, very much!"

The Oliver was, of course, Master Twist.

Why should the "r" be a problem? One of Dickens' characters was Sam Weller and he had problems with the word "very" only it wasn't the "r" that he couldn't pronounce but the "v". His "very" was always a "wery"!