Is there a way to lose my cockney accent without attending classes? Are there any free internet sites with information or do you have any tips? I want to learn to speak standard 'bbc' English.
cheers
2006-11-17 09:24:11 · 15 answers · asked by Chief1234 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Theater & Acting
Make tapes of the announcer that you most wish to emulate in speech and practice, practice, practice. Once you are able to capture a similar speech pattern in the scripts that you have recorded, branch out in original conversations and try to adhere to the new speech pattern.
2006-11-17 09:33:45 · answer #1 · answered by Pundit Bandit 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well for a start it not called a BBC accent it called a Received Pronunciation accent. Most actors in the fifties in the UK had to train to get an pronunciation accent due to the fact that very few working classes actors got parts in Theatre or TV work. It wasn't until the sixties that when plays where been written about working class people. Writers like Alan Bennett, Jim Allen, Orton and Osborne. Theses are just a few of the names. Most actors had elocution lessons at drama schools
2006-11-17 14:12:20 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It isn't so much losing your accent, as it is retraining your speech patterns.
Its very difficult to try and do this for free as it is a fairly specific thing to do.
The sounds we make (our accents) are formed by the way we use and place our tongue and breath. Change those - and you can change your accent. For example, the Irish accent pushes breath to the front of the mouth and words are spoken all on the tip of the tongue.
BBC English tends to be futhur in the diaphragm. Deep breaths and resonating sound in the mouth.
Best bet - if you can't afford a vocal coach - record the BBC news and watch their mouths very carefully. Listen for their breathing patterns, and repeat it. Get yourself on tape so you can hear the difference objectively.
By the way - I personally love the cockney accent. Keep it as your "normal" speaking tone, and just train yourself to imitate a Londoner.
2006-11-17 10:34:46 · answer #3 · answered by BigM 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Aspiring actor? mmmh..
See if you can get a friend who speaks Standard 'BBC English' and hang out with them.
Watch a lot of standard BBC accent related things and be your own teacher. I learnt how to speak fluent French + the accent just by watching Extra@ and other programs.
I think that whatever your accent may sound like is alright but if you wanna change it for acting or anything, Go Ahead!
Um...............What is a cockney accent?
2006-11-17 09:37:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don't move your lower jaw as much. Assuming you're going for RP and not a bonafide southern drawl or anything. Just think stiff upper lip. Although if you've got a genuine Cockney accent and not just Estuary, keep it! Worth its weight in gold. Estuary as an accent is quite mobile in the mouth, the lips move a lot and the jaw drops. RP comes from the front of the mouth which hardly moves, not polite don't you know, and has fewer sybillants. Think 'steers' instead of 'stairs', 'cheers' instead of 'chairs' etc...failing that try taping your mouth together.
2006-11-20 20:03:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No Cockney continues to be greater often than not nevertheless modern-day in East London even with the undeniable fact that a watered down version observed as Mockney and the Essex accessory is rife in South East. Its no longer inherently undesirable even with the undeniable fact that that's a blight to pay attention too.
2016-10-04 02:12:29 · answer #6 · answered by hobin 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Disciplined practice. Listen more often to the BBC news broadcasts. Also use lingua-phone records (i.e., assuming these good things are still available). Take a course in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). Then follow, Daniel Jone's Dictionary of English Pronunciation (latest version).
2006-11-17 09:33:07 · answer #7 · answered by Sam 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
why try to lose the accent ... work with what you have - regional accents are very castable and if you want to get some variety into your repertoire imitation and practice are the only way. A coach will help you understand how your accent happens and how to change it but don't make the mistake of thinkling you have to lose it to be an actor
2006-11-17 10:25:46 · answer #8 · answered by Simon U 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
At my school, the drama department finds CD's of standard English dialect, you could contact a local theatre and find out if they have those. It is a lot of repeating what the person says, but it helps.
It's different from just recording things because it is designed to have all the ways to pronounce certain letter combinations and vowel sounds.
I have one for standard English dialect. If you email me, I can send it as an attachment I think.
2006-11-17 09:45:08 · answer #9 · answered by epitome of innocence 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Richard Burton practised speaking with a small pebble in his mouth to lose his welsh accent.
2006-11-17 12:15:32 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋