People learn accents for a number of different reasons. For example some people who work in call centres adopt another accent in order to be more clearly understood. For actors this is often a crucial part of their job. A popular one to learn is the British accent and if you want to develop this it helps to find the right place that offers British accent lessons.
Before looking for classes it is important to be aware of the kind of voice you are trying to learn. Traditionally when people think of Britain they tend to think of England. However it is worth remembering that the United Kingdom also includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The important thing to emphasise is how to define Britain and the voices within the countries that make up the United Kingdom. It is easy to forget that this also includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Each of these countries has very distinct voices.
What people tend to consider a British style of speaking is what is commonly referred to as received pronunciation. This particularly came to prominence with the invention of radio as it was felt that people with stronger regional dialects would be harder to understand. While it is true that there are more diverse voices in the British media now generally speaking the voices tend to be softened in order to be accessible by a broader audience.
If this is the kind of voice you are trying to learn there are a few fundamental rules. With this kind of voice you do not roll your R and the T is pronounced in words such as duty. For some words such as herb the H that would be silent in an American accent is pronounced.
Before going to classes it is worth immersing yourself in the culture as much as possible. Ideally you want to find as many up to date resources as possible. Inevitably accents change and like anywhere else in the world some slang words will go out of date. Therefore it is worth looking for recent shows and checking internet upload sites as these are often a good way of picking up on the most up to date way of speaking.
Consonants are also pronounced quite a lot. For example in the word duty you would pronounce the T. Again there are some exceptions, most notably in the Cockney accent. With the Cockney accent you get a brief pause known as the glottal stop where the T should be. Be careful with this because in some parts it is considered rude to drop the T sound.
These are all aspects that a class should teach you. Before going to a class it is worth checking to see the credentials of the person teaching. Ideally they should have travelled to Britain and lived there long enough to be aware of regional differences, slang terms and so forth. It is also worth watching British television shows, internet videos and so forth as this is an effective way of learning more about the culture and context of the language. Use your regular search engine to find tutors and language classes in your local area as well as learning more about the full range of English and British accents.
Before looking for classes it is important to be aware of the kind of voice you are trying to learn. Traditionally when people think of Britain they tend to think of England. However it is worth remembering that the United Kingdom also includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The important thing to emphasise is how to define Britain and the voices within the countries that make up the United Kingdom. It is easy to forget that this also includes Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Each of these countries has very distinct voices.
What people tend to consider a British style of speaking is what is commonly referred to as received pronunciation. This particularly came to prominence with the invention of radio as it was felt that people with stronger regional dialects would be harder to understand. While it is true that there are more diverse voices in the British media now generally speaking the voices tend to be softened in order to be accessible by a broader audience.
If this is the kind of voice you are trying to learn there are a few fundamental rules. With this kind of voice you do not roll your R and the T is pronounced in words such as duty. For some words such as herb the H that would be silent in an American accent is pronounced.
Before going to classes it is worth immersing yourself in the culture as much as possible. Ideally you want to find as many up to date resources as possible. Inevitably accents change and like anywhere else in the world some slang words will go out of date. Therefore it is worth looking for recent shows and checking internet upload sites as these are often a good way of picking up on the most up to date way of speaking.
Consonants are also pronounced quite a lot. For example in the word duty you would pronounce the T. Again there are some exceptions, most notably in the Cockney accent. With the Cockney accent you get a brief pause known as the glottal stop where the T should be. Be careful with this because in some parts it is considered rude to drop the T sound.
These are all aspects that a class should teach you. Before going to a class it is worth checking to see the credentials of the person teaching. Ideally they should have travelled to Britain and lived there long enough to be aware of regional differences, slang terms and so forth. It is also worth watching British television shows, internet videos and so forth as this is an effective way of learning more about the culture and context of the language. Use your regular search engine to find tutors and language classes in your local area as well as learning more about the full range of English and British accents.
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