How to improve your English accent

If you are looking to speak with Received Pronunciation there is one direct route to improve your English accent and that is to take an English Pronunciation Course. You can join our 5 star rated Pronunciation Course or you can read a review of the five Best Online English Pronunciation courses here.

There are lots of free English pronunciation courses that will teach you how to improve your English accent. However, it’s certainly more effective to take a paid course that is structured to support your learning. Of course, practice makes perfect and, if you want to get your clear, confident and convincing British RP accent sounding natural you will need to spend a good amount of time doing pronunciation exercises.

Should you take English pronunciation classes

If you are serious about perfecting your British accent, it’s highly recommended to join an English Pronunciation course. Most courses will be structured around important lessons for you to master. Alternatively, you can start a series of online or face to face classes with a British accent coach. These can be 1-2-1 or in small groups and can be effective, especially if you do a lot of them. However, the key to perfect British pronunciation, changing your accent or improving your speaking confidence and clarity is lots of regular practice and exercise.

Classes don’t really support the goal of lots of regular practice and any homework provided will not be of the same quality as the work you will find on a good online pronunciation course. A short series of weekly classes wont get you to your goal on their own.

A much better option is to find a good, online resource with lots of exercises and first class tuition that will give you everything you need to practice as much as you can and in your own time.

My advice is to go for an online British English course over a class with an accent coach.

However, I would highly recommend completing an Accent Assessment to get you started so that you focus your time and practice where it is most effective.

British English Accent Training

You can learn an English accent online by undertaking British English accent training with a good school. We’ve reviewed the best online English Accent Courses here, so you don’t have to do the research and can focus on your accent training!

If you want to start British English accent training, one of the most important decisions is the teacher. You will be completing a large amount of mimicking, shadowing exercises and repeating the speech of your accent coach, so choose wisely or you may regret it later. It’s important to complete accent training with a trained accent coach. You can find out more about our Head Accent Coach here.

Taking the next steps with an English Pronunciation Course

If you’re looking to develop an English accent, improve your pronunciation and speak more clearly and confidently then join a high quality, comprehensive Online English Pronunciation course. You can find out more about the 5 Star Rated English Like A Native English Pronunciation Course here

How to Speak British | Accent Tips to Sound More British

In this lesson, you will learn how to speak British. Learn my quick British accent tips to improve your accent and pronunciation.

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Learn How to Speak with a British Accent

In this lesson, I’m going to teach you some quick accent tricks that you can apply to sound more British. This is perfect for people living in the UK who want a clearer accent, or those who just love the sound of British English and are interested in improving their pronunciation.

To begin, we will focus on removing some common Americanisms, in order to make you sound more British. These are influences on your accent that you may have picked up from watching American TV or from American people.

In the second part of the lesson, I will then teach you how to refine your British accent with tricks and tips that are uniquely British.

Part One: Removing Americanisms to Improve Your British Accent

An Americanism is a word, phrase or specific pronunciation that is used primarily by Americans. Identifying and removing these from your vocabulary will improve your accent and make you sound more British.

British English vs American English Words Stress Differences

A good way to start improving your British accent is to be aware of the differences between the word stress for American English and British English. In British English the stress tends to be on the first syllable, whereas in American English, the stress is often on the second syllable.

Let’s review these words as an example: detail, debut, massage, café

In British English these sound like: ‘DEE-tail’, ‘DE-but’, ‘MASS-age’, ‘CA-fé’

In American English the words sound like: ‘De-TAIL’, ‘de-BUT’, ‘mass-AGE’, ‘ca-FE’.

Listen below for the difference. First I pronounce the word in British English, followed by American English.

Final /r/ Isn’t Pronounced in British English

In British English we don’t pronounce the final /r/ in words. It’s there in the spelling, but it’s just there to trick you. For example:

better /ˈbet.ə/
butter /ˈbʌt.ə/
brother /ˈbrʌð.ə/

Sometimes, when Americans are doing a joke impression of the British accent, they say, ‘bett-ah’. To their ears, the word ‘better’ sounds like it’s got a ‘ah’ at the end of it. In fact, the sound that we have here is a schwa ‘ə’. It’s unstressed, so it shouldn’t be a big sound. Make the final syllable a small sound, with a schwa:

Don’t Pronounce a Flapped /t/

A flapped /t/ is where a /d/ type of sound is used instead of a /t/. This is considered to be poor pronunciation. It is also the main Americanism I hear my students using. It is becoming increasingly common among native British speakers too!

British English:

kitty litter /ˈkɪt.i ˌlɪt.ə/
little letter /ˌlɪt.əl ˈlet.ə/
bitter lettuce /ˌbɪt.ə ˈlet.ɪs/

American English: *Interpreted spellings used

‘kiddy lidder’ /ˈkɪd.i ˌlɪd.ə/
‘liddle ledder’ /ˌlɪd.əl ˈled.ə/
‘bidder leddis’ /ˌbɪt.ə ˈlet.ɪs

Change /ɑː/ to /ɒ/

The final Americanism to change in your speech involves learning a vowel sound and making a shift.

Example words; hot, got, bottom, cop

The American accent pronounces these words with an /ɑː/ vowel, which makes them sound like:

‘haht’, ‘gaht’, ‘bahttom’, ‘cahp’

The British English accent pronounces a different vowel called /ɒ/. Instead, these words are pronounced:

hot, got, bottom, cop

Part Two

Improve Your British Accent with these Tips

These accent tricks are little tweaks to make you sound more British…

Add a Yod /j/ for a Posh British Accent

In British English we add a /y/ sound to some words, which doesn’t happen in American English.

Example words; duty, duke, stupid

British English: *interpreted spellings used

American English: *interpreted spellings used

Use the /ʌ/ Vowel Instead of /ɜː/

Here’s another vowel change that you need to learn to improve your British accent. The vowels in question here are CUP /ʌ/ and GIRL /ɜː/. Example words: worry, curry, hurry…

British English: *interpreted spellings used

‘wurry’ /ˈwʌr.i/
‘curry ‘ /ˈkʌr.i/
‘hurry’ /ˈhʌr.i/

American English: *interpreted spellings used

‘werr-y’/ˈwɜːr.i/
‘cerr-y’ /ˈkɜːr.i/
‘herr-y’ /ˈhɜːr.i/

Pronounce Long ‘a’ /ɑː/ in Some Words with ‘ar’ Spelling

In your British accent, you should shift most words that have ‘ar’ spelling to be pronounced with a vowel that we call long ‘a’ /ɑː/.

Example words; transport, path, bath, sample

British English (Received Pronunciation / Southern English accents):

American English:

How to Speak British: Add Glottal Stops

This is when we don’t pronounce the ‘ter’ at the end of a word, or sometimes in the middle. And instead, we make a ‘uh’ sound, ‘uh’, like it’s stuck in our throat.

Although it’s not the standard pronunciation, you might want to include a few occasional glottals. This symbol here /ʔ/ represents a glottal stop in phonetics.

Glottal stop example:

Not a lot of bottles.
/nɒʔ ə lɒʔ əv ˈbɒʔ.əlz/

Lesson Roundup

Thank you for watching this lesson. I really hope that you enjoyed it.

To do a British accent, there are maybe 100 or so of these quick little accent tricks for you to learn.

If you would like to take this further, please check out my British accent training course where I will teach you all of these important British accent effects.

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▶︎ Learn more about the glottal stop for a casual British accent.

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A Quick Guide to British Accents and Dialects

The English language has vast linguistic variety all around the word, in both accents and in the language or dialect, from American English to Australian English and of course British English.

Media and entertainment tend to portray only a small glimpse of the British accent. So people often fail to see the immense diversity of accents within each country in Britain which also has more than 37 dialects.

ACCENT VERSUS DIALECT

An accent refers to the pronunciation and sound of the speech. The dialect is the local words and slang terms; used only in the specific area.

There are too many accents to list them all, but following are some of the most well-known and distinctive in the four countries of Britain – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; with a small sampling of a few dialect words.

ACCENTS AND DIALECTS IN ENGLAND

There is generally a north – south divide with many of the accent features in England, but each accent also has their own specific features that make them unique.

1. RP (Received Pronunciation)

RP is largely non-regional but is typically spoken in some areas in the south and parts of London. It is associated with the upper classes and most often considered by non-natives as the ‘Standard English’ accent, since this is what is heard on BBC radio and TV.

Accent Features

Broad ‘a’ – the ‘a’ sound in the words ‘bath’ and ‘dance’ is pronounced ‘aw’ so they sound like ‘baw-th’ and ‘daw-nce.’ This is typical of the southern accents.

‘r’ sound – at the end of a word is not pronounced so ‘mother’ is pronounced as ‘muhthah.’

Dialect Words

There are not any dialect words in RP as all speakers speak “Standard English” without slang terms, since it is non-regional.

2. COCKNEY

Cockney originated in London’s East End. It can be also be heard in Essex in the East of England and in Kent and Surrey in the South East. It has the same unpronounced ‘r’ ending as RP but many other distinct features too.

Accent Features

Vowel shift – the sound ‘ay’ is pronounced as ‘eye’ so ‘today’ sounds like ‘to-die.’ And the ‘eye’ sound in ‘buy’ changes to sound like ‘boy.’

Glottal Stop ‘t’ sound – the ‘t’ is lost in between vowels, so ‘better’ sounds like ‘beh-uh.’

L-vocalization – an ‘l’ ending often changes to a vowel sound, so ‘pal’ sounds like ‘pow.’

‘Th’ sound – is pronounced as ‘f’, ‘d’ or ‘v.’ So ‘thing’ sounds like ‘fing’, ‘that’ like ‘dat’ and ‘mother’ like ‘muhvah.’

Dialect Words

A main feature of the dialect is “Cockney rhyming slang”, which replaces a word with an unrelated rhyming phrase.

Bees and honey = money

Dog and bone = phone

Apple and pears = stairs

Tea leaf = thief

3. GEORDIE

The Geordie accent is spoken mainly in Newcastle in the West Midlands, and the people who live there are known as Geordies.

Accent Features

‘R’ sound – often not pronounced and replaced with ‘ah’ : ‘sugar’ becomes ‘sug-ah,’ ‘centre’ becomes ‘cent-ah’ and ‘weird’ sounds like ‘we-ah-d.’

‘I’ sound – some of the ‘i’ sounds change so ‘kite’ sounds like ‘kaete’ and ‘I go’ becomes ‘a go.’

‘ay’ sound – in words like ‘mate’ changes to an ‘ay-ah’ sound to become ‘may-aht.’

Long vowel sounds – the ‘oo’ sound is over emphasized, in words like ‘school’ and ‘book.’ And the ‘ee’ sound at the end of ‘copy’ is extra long.

Dialect Features

Areet marra = alright mate (to greet a friend)

Giz a deek = let me have a look

Canny = nice or pretty

Gannin’ yem = going home

4. SCOUSE

Scouse is a term for the Liverpudlian accent spoken in Liverpool in the North West, so they pronounce the ‘a’ sound in ‘bath’ and ‘laugh’ as an ‘ah.’ It has a very nasal sound that can be hard to imitate.

Accent Features

‘R’ sound – omitted at the end of a word when a consonant follows : ‘pour with’ sounds like ‘paw with.’

‘o’ sound – in words like ‘foot’ is pronounced as ‘fut.’ And ‘book’ and ‘look’ have a long ‘oo’ sound.

‘th’ sound – occasionally changes to a ‘t’ or ‘d’ : ‘thin’ becomes ‘tin’ and ‘then’ becomes ‘den.’

‘ai’ sound – in certain words change to a short ‘e’ : ‘hair’ and ‘square’ sound like ‘her’ and ‘squer’.

Dialect Words

Made-up = happy, pleased

Boss = great

Bevvy = drink (alcoholic, typically beer)

Butty = sandwich

5. WEST COUNTRY

This accent is spoken in places like Bristol and Devon in the South West. There is a slower rhythm to the speech due to long vowel sounds.

Accent Features

Soft ‘i’ – there is subtle difference in the ‘eye’ pronunciation : ‘I am’ is pronounced ‘Uy am’. ‘Guide’ sounds like ‘guyde.’ It has a slightly softer sound.

‘t’ omitted – the ‘t’ at the end of words is generally dropped, so ‘that’ sounds like ‘tha’ and ‘tt’ is glottalized so ‘butter’ sounds like ‘buh-er.’

‘r’ sound – where there is a ‘r’ before a vowel, this often becomes ‘ur’ : ‘great’ and ‘children’ comes out as ‘gurt’ and ‘chillurn’ (with a dropped ‘d’).

Missing ‘l’ – in many words where the ‘l’ is near the end, it is not pronounced : ‘old’ sounds like ‘oad.’

Dialect Features

Where be to? = Where are you going?

Gurt lush = very good

‘ark at he = listen to him

chucky pig = woodlouse

ACCENTS AND DIALECTS IN SCOTLAND

6. SCOTTISH

There are numerous Scottish accents, influenced by the Irish accent in the West and by Nordic accents to the North. But among the differences are some common features that determine the sound of a General Scottish English accent.

Accent Features

‘O’ sounds – the vowel sounds ‘oo’ and ‘u’ sound the same, with a shorter ‘ui’ : ‘food’ and ‘good’ sound like ‘guid’ and ‘fuid’.

Tapped ‘r’ – the ‘r’ is often slightly rolled, as the tongue taps the top of the mouth, which gives a short roll or a ‘tapped r.’

‘l’ after ‘r’ – when ‘l’ follows ‘r’ an extra syllable is added : ‘girl’ becomes ‘girel’ and ‘world’ becomes ‘woreld’

Other vowel sounds – the vowel sound in ‘heard’ has an ‘eh’ sound so is more like ‘haird.’

Dialect Features

Aye = Yes

Wee = small

Bairn = Child

Ah dinnae ken = I do not know (Nae = not)

ACCENTS AND DIALECTS IN WALES

7. WELSH

There are differences between the North and South of Wales, but the features from South Wales are most typically associated with the Welsh accent. It has a melodic tone to it, due to the vowel sounds being drawn out and a drop to low notes on stressed syllables; influenced by the Welsh language itself.

Accent Features

Dropped ‘g’ – like many other accents in the UK, the ‘g’ is dropped at the end of ‘ing’ verbs : ‘walking’ becomes ‘walkin.’

Tapped ‘r’ – similar to the Scottish accent, the ‘r’ is tapped to give a slightly rolled sound.

‘Weh’ for an ‘i’ – When ‘i’ comes after a vowel, a ‘weh’ sound is inserted : ‘doing’ sounds like ‘do-wehn.’

‘Ew’ sound changes – in words like ‘news’ and ‘tune’ to a short ‘oo’ sound so these words become ‘noos’ and ‘toon.’

Dialect Words

Many of the dialect words come from the Welsh language.

Dwt (pronounced ‘Dut’) = small and sweet

Cwtch (pronounced ‘Cutch’) = hug or cuddle with love, warmth and affection

Lush = awesome or very nice

Ych-af-i (pronounced ‘Aach-ef-ee) = To express disgust / that’s gross!

ACCENTS AND DIALECTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

8. NORTHERN IRISH

The accent differs from county to county, but there are many similarities. The speech typically has a slight long rise in tone at the end of sentences.

‘ow’ sound – in words like flower becomes closer to an ‘ai’ sound so ‘how’ sounds like ‘hai’ and ‘sound’ becomes ‘sai-nd’

Inserting ‘y’ sound – in some words after an inital ‘k’ or ‘g’ so that ‘car’ and ‘garden’ sound like ‘kyarr’ and ‘gyarrden.’

‘t’ sound – is often pronounced closer to a ‘d’ sound : ‘northern’ is pronounced ‘norden’ or even dropping the ‘t’ entirely to sound like ‘nor-n.’

‘oo’ and ‘ou’ sounds – the word ‘poor’ has a very soft and long sound like ‘ooh’ and is pronounced ‘pooh-r.’

Dialect Features

Gurn = moan about someone

Houl yer whisht = Please be quiet

Boggin’ = very dirty

Dead on = fine

AN ABUNDANCE OF ACCENTS

There are of course so many more wonderful and unique accents in the UK with a beautiful and diverse range of dialects; including the Brummie accent the Yorkshire accent and Estuary English to name but a few.

Next time you visit the UK or listen to someone speaking from Britain, see if you can spot the unique features of the many different accents and appreciate the lovely diversity these countries have to offer.

How to sound british

British Accent Training 101 – How to Not Sound Fake

So, you have scored that big part in an up and coming film. Or maybe you are trying out for a role and you want to be as prepared and genuine as possible with some British accent training. The upside is that you have this great opportunity presenting itself that could really advance your career. The downside is that it calls for you to have a British accent and you aren’t sure about how to go about getting one.

Many movies or even voice-overs call for a specific accent. If you are unable to duplicate it, you likely will not get the part. Actors and actresses become very skilled at speaking different accents. They are even able to losing their own accent in order to fit into a desired role. This article will give you ten tips and tricks to creating a convincing British accent. Even the director can’t tell if it is natural or not.

8 Tips on How to Succeed in Your British Accent Training

1. Know Your Region

British accents are popular in movie roles today. Their success can be attributed to popular films such as Harry Potter and Dr. Who. Of course, this gives individuals who speak the language a leg up on the role. However, you can teach yourself how to convincingly speak the same way with British accent training.

The first thing you need to realize is that not all British accents are the same. Just like in the US, when you travel to a different region, you will hear different accents. They are all US accents but do not all sound the same. Obviously a Boston accent will not sound the same as a Carolina accent. But even beyond that, even southern accents can come in a variety. British accents are no different. There will be a variety found through the regions. Thus, an important key to your role will be to figure out and study specifically the accent found in the region the film is based in.

2. Use Your Ears

One good method to help you with your British accent training is to research. You can do this by watching films, newscasts, podcasts or other online resources. This will allow you to hear genuine accents and notice the differences in dialect. BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is a great resource while you are doing your British accent training. Watch different shows that feature interviews. Also watch person-on-the-street features where you can hear a genuine native speaker.

Do not forget to watch programs that show you how not to speak a proper accent as well. There are YouTube videos that cameo films. People trying to fake an accent, and do very poorly. This will help you learn not only what to do, but what not to do. Finally, try to stay with up to date sources since accents change regionally over time. The exception to that is if you are working on a period piece that calls for an older dialect. In that case there are plenty of films to watch that can help you imitate it.

3. Exercise Your Tongue

The British accent calls for a flexible tongue tip. Yes, there are actually a series of silent tongue twists and flicks. These can be practiced to increase the strength of your tongue. This step in British accent training is often overlooked but is strongly encouraged, even required, if working with an accent coach. While you are researching, take the time to pay attention to the way the person’s mouth is forming shapes while they speak. A good person that is often suggested as someone to watch during British accent training is David Cameron. He is known to have mastered what linguists call Received Pronunciation. Coaches suggest you take the time to watch interviews where you can see the mouth shapes while listening to the difference they make in pronunciation.

4. Enunciation

One very large noticeable difference in an American dialect versus a British dialect is enunciation. American speakers tend to speak with their jaws in almost a grin-like position. British speakers, on the other hand, will have a more vertical open jaw position. This allows for the necessary enunciation. When practicing your British accent you will need to focus on clearly pronouncing your consonants. Americans tend to be lazy in this aspect. For example, when an American pronounces the word shutter, the T will more than likely sound more like a D making the word sound more like shudder. With a British accent you will clearly hear the sharp T sound.

An easy way to practice this is to repeat tongue twisters or repetitive rhymes that focus on specific consonant sounds, like Ten ton tires travel through the town. Afterwards try reading full British novel chapters aloud paying close attention to maintaining that enunciation.

5. Undercover Practice

After spending a good amount of time researching and practicing out loud, graduate to immersing yourself. Go to a restaurant and order in your most convincing accent. When you use your accent on strangers you can get a good feel for how convincing you are. This will will raise your comfort level in using it. A stranger not convinced by your accent may give you a strange look.

On the other hand, if your accent is indeed convincing, they may ask where you are originally from. You can either at that point let them in on your secret. Then see if they complement you on how convincing you were or even ask them for a quick critique. Or, continue the ruse and get in some more practice time. Either way, practicing out in public will make you more convincing on screen. It will also make it so that no matter what is happening during the film you will not slip out of the accent. The following three tips will acclimate you to three very well known British accents you will likely have heard on the big screen.

6. Specific Popular Dialects: Cockney

One accent that may be needed when you are British accent training is called cockney. Cockney is often what you hear in films that portray lower-class and working class districts in Eastern London. You can hear this accent in films such as Snatch where Jason Statham‘s character is a great example. You will hear it in a lot of gangster films too.

Cockney accents feature raised vowel sounds so that words like trap sound more like trep. You will hear vowel shifts and glottal stopping. Glottal stopping means that a consonant is pronounced in the back guttural part of the throat between vowels. L sounds become vowel sounds at the end of words while a th sound in the beginning of a word usually gets replaced by another consonant sound such as where thing becomes fing.

7. Specific Popular Dialects: West Country

The West Country dialect represents several accents in southwest England. You will hear this accent in many films that feature pirates. This type is one of the few that many consider as rhotic. Rhotic accents means that the speaker fully pronounces an R sound that follows a vowel similar to an American accent.

Another distinguishing feature of this accent is the regular use of the phrase to be. And you will hear sounds changed at the ends of words such as y pronounced as ei and a final a as aw.

8. Specific Popular Dialects: Queen’s English

Queen’s English is also sometimes referred to as Received Pronunciation. You will often hear aristocracy or people who are in the culture world, royal, or wealthy speak this dialect. Also, you can hear a good example of the Queen’s English accent at several characters in the movie Lord of the Rings.

You can identify this accent by the over-enunciation of the letter a. Therefore, you can accomplish this by fully dropping your jaw to form the sound. The biggest tip for this specific dialect is to take the time to pronounce and articulate your words fully.

To Sum It Up

As you can see, it is really important to identify your region and just winging it when it comes to a British accent for your role. So tryout is not going to cut it. There are methods and research avenues that can help you fully imitate the accent accurately. Besides, the more practice you put in, the more comfortable in front of the camera you will be utilizing the accent. Keep these tips in mind and practice, practice, practice. This way you will be so prepared that nothing will distract you enough to get jarred out of your accent. In fact, you will likely know you are ready when you can easily slip in and out of your accent at will.

What tips do you have for others who are preparing for a role and undergoing British accent training? Do you have any immersion experiences you would like to share? Feel free to leave any additional tips below.