11/29/2014 How to Speak in a British Accent: 11 Steps (with Pictures)

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How to Speak in a British AccentSix Parts: R's U's Heavy consonants T's Pronunciation Listening and copying

Accents that are particular to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales areeach different and with practice you can begin to talk with one that soundsgenuine. Along with the accents are mannerisms that you will need to assume toaffect the part. The following directions may describe Queen's English or"Received Pronunciation" (RP) spoken in south England and Wales, rarely everused in the modern-day United Kingdom, but the foreigners' stereotypical viewof how the British talk. This study of RP is concerned largely with pronunciation,while study of the standard language is also concerned with matters such ascorrect grammar, more formal vocabulary and style.

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Start with the Rs. Understand that in most British accents speakers don't roll theirRs (except for those from Scotland, Northumbria, Northern Ireland, and parts of

Lancashire), but not all British accents are the same. For example, a Scottish accent variesgreatly from an English accent. After a vowel, don't pronounce the R, but draw out the voweland maybe add an "uh" (Here is "heeuh"). In words like "hurry", dont blend the R with thevowel. Say "huh-ree".

In American English, words ending with "rl" or "rel" can be pronounced using eitherone or two syllables, completely interchangeably. This is not the case in BritishEnglish. "-rl" words like "girl", "hurl", etc, are pronounced as one syllable with silentR, while "squirrel" is "squih-rul", and "referral" is "re-fer-rul".Some words are easier to say in a British accent. For example, mirror, whichsounds like "mih-ra". Do not say "mirror" like "mere"; British people almost neverdo that. When saying some words that end in a W it is often pronounced with an "r"at the end. For example, the word "saw" can be pronounced as "saw-r", used in asentence it is "I sawr it!"

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1 Pronounce U in stupid and in duty with the ew or "you" sound. Avoid the oo asin an American accent; thus it is pronounced stewpid or commonly schewpid, not

stoopid, etc. duty would be pronounced dewty or more often jooty. In the standard English

Part 1 of 6: R's

Part 2 of 6: U's

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accent, the A (for example, in father) is pronounced at the back of the mouth with an openthroat—it sounds like "arh". This is the case in pretty much all British accents, but it'sexaggerated in RP. In southern England and in RP, words such as "bath", "path", "glass","grass" also use this vowel (barth, parth, glarss, grarss, etc.). However, in other parts ofBritain "bath", "path", etc. sound like "ah".

1 Enunciate on heavy consonant words. Pronounce that T in "duty" as T: not as theAmerican D as doody so that duty is pronounced dewty or a softer jooty. Pronounce

the suffix -ing with a strong G. This way it sounds like -ing rather than -een. But sometimesit is shortened to in as in lookin.

The words human being are pronounced hewman being or yooman been incertain areas, though it could be pronounced hewman bee-in.

1 Sometimes drop the Ts. With some accents, including cockney accents, Ts aren'tpronounced in words where Americans use D to replace it. However, there is usually

a short pause or "hiccup" in its place. So "battle" might be pronounced ba-ill but it would bea rare occasion to find someone saying "Ba-ill" catching the air behind the back of thetongue at the end of the first syllable before expelling it on pronunciation of the secondsyllable. This is known as the glottal stop. Americans use glottal stops, too, for words like"mittens" and "mountain". It's just that British use them more often.

People with Estuary English, RP, Scottish, Irish and Welsh accents do consider itlazy and rude to drop the Ts, and this feature doesn't exist, but in almost all accentsit's accepted to do it in the middle of words in casual contexts and almost universalto put a glottal stop at the end of a word.

1 Observe that some words are pronounced as written. The word "herb" shouldbe pronounced with an H sound. The word "been" is pronounced "bean", rather than

"bin" or "ben". For RP, "Again" and "renaissance" are pronounced like "a gain" and "runnay sänce", with the "ai" as in "pain", not "said." The words ending in "body" arepronounced as written, like "any body", not "any buddy." But use a British short O sound.

Observe that H is not always pronounced. The "H" is pronounced in the word "herb," in

Part 3 of 6: Heavy consonants

Part 4 of 6: T's

Part 5 of 6: Pronunciation

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contrast to American erb. However, in many British accents, the H at the beginning ofa word is often omitted, such as in many Northern accents and the Cockney accent.

Say "bean," not "bin" for the word been. In an American accent, this is oftenpronounced bin. In an English accent, been is a common pronunciation, but "bin" is

more often heard in casual speech where the word isn't particularly stressed.

Notice that two or more vowels together may prompt an extra syllable. Forexample, the word "road" would usually be pronounced rohd, but in Wales and with

some people in Northern Ireland it might be pronounced ro.ord. Some speakers may evensay "reh-uud."

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Listen to the "music" of the language. All accents and dialects have their ownmusicality. Pay attention to the tones and emphasis of British speakers. Do

sentences generally end on a higher note, the same, or lower? How much variation is therein tone throughout a typical sentence? There is a huge variation between regions withtonality. British speech, especially RP, usually varies much less within a sentence thanAmerican English, and the general tendency is to go down slightly towards the end of aphrase. However, Liverpool and north-east England are notable exceptions!

For example, instead of saying, "is he going to the STORE?" Say, "is he GOING tothe store?" Have the question descending in tone as opposed to ascending intone (going up in tone is more common in American or Australian English).

Get a British person to say well known sentences: "How now brown cow" and"The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain" and pay close attention. Rounded mouth

vowels in words such as "about" in London, are usually flattened in Northern Ireland.

Immerse yourself in the British culture; this means surround yourself withindividuals that speak, live, walk and talk British English. It's the surest way to

learn a British accent quickly. Soon, you'll find yourself naturally able to speak with thevariations above. Anything with a British speaker will work—try listening to the BBC (whichprovides free radio and television newscasts on the web) songs with British singers, ormovies with British characters.

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Part 6 of 6: Listening and copying

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Can you tell us about

careerdevelopment?

Can you tell us about

acupressure?Can you tell us about

enjoyingyourself?

Can you tell us about

trailers?

When you say "at all" pronounce it like "a tall" but with a British accent.

RP is not called Queen's English for nothing, hear for yourself how HMQueen Elizabeth II speaks. A good thing would be to hear her at theState Opening of Parliament where she always delivers a very longspeech, the perfect time to observe the way she speaks.

Don't learn more than one accent at a time. Since Estuary Englishsounds very different from a "Geordie" accent, you'll get confused veryeasily.

There are hundreds of different accents within the United Kingdom, socategorizing them all as a British accent is rather incorrect; wherever yougo, you will find an unbelievable variety of different pronunciations.

Be creative. Have fun with it. Take your new knowledge and explore.Test your British accent on your friends! They'll tell you if it's good or not!

Many places have different mannerisms and word usages. Look up aBritish dictionary online for more British terms. Bear in mind that beyondthe obvious tap/faucet, pavement/sidewalk distinctions, locals would findyou at best an endearing source of amusement and at worst patronizingif you tried to adopt their local words and mannerisms yourself.

As well as accent, watch out for slang words, such as lads or blokes forboys and men, birds or lasses (in the north of England and in Scotland)for women. Loo for the toilet, but bathroom for a room you cleanyourself in.

As with any accent, listening to and imitating a native speaker is the bestand fastest way to learn. Remember that when you were young youlearned a language by listening and then repeating the words whileimitating the accent.

It is easier to learn accents by listening to people. A formal Britishaccent can be heard on BBC news, where it can frequently be heard.Formal British speech is more deliberate and articulated than American,but as with newscasters everywhere, this effect is deliberatelyexaggerated for TV and radio broadcast.

If you're visiting England, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge are

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Tips

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some of the last strongholds of the traditional RP and "Queen's English"accent. However, more and more students there now speak with accentsfrom around Britain and the world, and the natives of the cities andsurrounding areas speak with their own (often very distinctive) localaccents. They'd probably be offended if you assumed they spoke with a"stereotypical British accent"; don't fall into the common trap of thinkingan Oxfordshire or Cambridgeshire accent is the same as an RP accent.

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Don't think that you'll get it right quickly. It is likely that any true Britishperson will know that you're faking it straight away, but it might pass for areal accent to non-Brits.

Don't narrow your mouth too much when you say words with "A" as sharkor chance. The result may sound South African.

Don't be over confident that you do a good British accent. It is rare tofind an imitation that sounds genuine to the native ear.

CD player, some CDs related to the British accent

You can also refer to BBC Learning English

Record the British accent and open windows media player and play iton slow. That will help you learn the British accent more quickly.

regional accents and dialects across the UK.BBC internet radio channels.

Warnings

Things You'll Need

Sources and Citations

11/29/2014 How to Speak in a British Accent: 11 Steps (with Pictures)

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Videos of locals around the UK speaking in their accents.

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Italiano: Come Parlare Inglese con Accento Britannico, Français: Comment parler avecun accent britannique, Português: Como Como Falar Com SotaqueBritânico, Русский: говорить с британским акцентом, Deutsch: Mit britischem Akzentsprechen, 中文: 用英国腔说英语

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