For any actor, a good indicator of his or her skill is the ability to do different accents convincingly. Some, like Meryl Streep, are famous for this. In her movies, Streep has spoken in everything from Australian to German with a Polish accent and she's done it so well that she has received more Best Actress Oscar nominations than anybody else. Other actors haven't been so lucky and more than a few could have benefited from, for instance, some British accent lessons.
One of the main reasons for Streep's success is that she manages to make her characters sound convincing. Compare her in any film she's acted in to, for instance, Kevin Costner who portrayed Robin Hood, one of Britain's most famous heroes, while speaking like an American. Costner's career never really recovered after that while Streep can get any role she wants.
When you learn to speak like someone from Britain, it's important to remember that there are hundreds of accents in the country. What most people think of as a British accent is actually called Received Pronunciation and it is regarded as the standard pronunciation. Some people, such as the royal family, speak like this naturally. Others, such as former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, took elocution lessons to sound more upper class.
However, just like someone from Massachusetts will sound very different from someone who is from Tennessee, Britain has a wealth of regional accents. In England alone there can be variation in how people speak in towns that are only an hour's drive apart. Someone from the south of England and someone from the north may even sound as if they're from different countries.
Many English people speak in accents that are specific to the cities where they're from. John Lennon, for instance, spoke the Scouse of Liverpool, while Ozzy Osbourne's Brummie pronunciation tells you that he's from Birmingham. However, even in the same city there may be variation. This is especially true of London, where some of the accents include Cockney, North London and South London.
Adding to the rich variety of English spoken in the UK are the accents of other parts of the country. To the untrained ear, the accents from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland often sound the same because of the way speakers roll the r. However, they're actually quite different and even within each of these regions you'll find variation. Someone from Edinburgh, for instance, speak a different kind of Scots than someone from Glasgow.
When you learn the particular accent that fits the character you'll be playing, it's also important to remember that regional variations of English are about more than pronunciation. Vocabulary often differs too. A good start is to know the differences between American and British English. In the UK, for instance, a sidewalk is called a 'pavement'. Sometimes the same word has a different meaning elsewhere, for instance the word 'pants' that in the UK means underwear.
Learning different accents mostly involve listening and imitating. A good way to do this is to go live in a region for a while, where you'll constantly be exposed to the way the locals speak. When you're studying for a part in a play or movie, though, you'll need quicker results and a dialect coach may come to your rescue.
One of the main reasons for Streep's success is that she manages to make her characters sound convincing. Compare her in any film she's acted in to, for instance, Kevin Costner who portrayed Robin Hood, one of Britain's most famous heroes, while speaking like an American. Costner's career never really recovered after that while Streep can get any role she wants.
When you learn to speak like someone from Britain, it's important to remember that there are hundreds of accents in the country. What most people think of as a British accent is actually called Received Pronunciation and it is regarded as the standard pronunciation. Some people, such as the royal family, speak like this naturally. Others, such as former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, took elocution lessons to sound more upper class.
However, just like someone from Massachusetts will sound very different from someone who is from Tennessee, Britain has a wealth of regional accents. In England alone there can be variation in how people speak in towns that are only an hour's drive apart. Someone from the south of England and someone from the north may even sound as if they're from different countries.
Many English people speak in accents that are specific to the cities where they're from. John Lennon, for instance, spoke the Scouse of Liverpool, while Ozzy Osbourne's Brummie pronunciation tells you that he's from Birmingham. However, even in the same city there may be variation. This is especially true of London, where some of the accents include Cockney, North London and South London.
Adding to the rich variety of English spoken in the UK are the accents of other parts of the country. To the untrained ear, the accents from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland often sound the same because of the way speakers roll the r. However, they're actually quite different and even within each of these regions you'll find variation. Someone from Edinburgh, for instance, speak a different kind of Scots than someone from Glasgow.
When you learn the particular accent that fits the character you'll be playing, it's also important to remember that regional variations of English are about more than pronunciation. Vocabulary often differs too. A good start is to know the differences between American and British English. In the UK, for instance, a sidewalk is called a 'pavement'. Sometimes the same word has a different meaning elsewhere, for instance the word 'pants' that in the UK means underwear.
Learning different accents mostly involve listening and imitating. A good way to do this is to go live in a region for a while, where you'll constantly be exposed to the way the locals speak. When you're studying for a part in a play or movie, though, you'll need quicker results and a dialect coach may come to your rescue.
