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Learning Accents

materials created for

www.AccentHelp.com
by
Jim Johnson
Contents
Accents, Dialects and Idiolects, oh my… 1
What is “standard” speech? 2
Your idiolect and you 3
Tips for learning accents 3
Phonetics 4
AccentHelp Materials 5
Placement 5
Intonation 6
Helpful Hints 6
What’s next? 7

All recordings & materials ©2018 AccentHelp

Learning Accents

Accents, Dialects and Idiolects, oh my…

Let’s start with some concepts and definitions:

Accent: The sounds of one’s native language carried over into another language. For example, a
German person speaking English will speak English with a German accent. An American speak-
ing French will do so with an American accent.

Dialect: A variation in speaking a single language. For instance, someone from Pittsburgh, PA
might speak English with a Pittsburgh dialect. Similarly, an Irish person speaks English with an
Irish dialect.

Idiolect: An individual’s manner of speaking. Each of us has an idiolect. Our own way of speak-
ing is influenced by where we grew up, the way our caregivers spoke, our role models and
influences as a child, the speech of our peers, and various other factors. Just as your entire up-
bringing contributed to your speech patterns, the character you are playing also has an idiolect
shaped by her/his upbringing.

While there is technically a difference between an accent and a dialect, many people use the
words interchangeably. Even dictionaries conflate the definitions, so you can feel free to use
whatever word you prefer.

Click on the image below to watch a video that introduces you further to these concepts:

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What is “standard” speech?

Even though AccentHelp offers single versions of an accent for different areas in the world,
there is no such thing as a “standard” accent from a given region. Everyone has idiosyncrasies in
his or her speech. There are, however, some likely commonalities between people with accents
from the same regions.

Sometimes American English without a noticeable regional influence is called “Standard Amer-
ican.” Because the word “standard” carries with it implications of “correct,” we prefer to use the
term Neutral American.

The downloads on AccentHelp are conglomerations of idiolects generalized to create an accent.

That means that, although we can’t necessarily define a “typical” accent from a particular place,
we can tell you what the likely intersection is between the idiolects of lots of people in that area.

So an accent is really a conglomeration of idiolects. Ironically, your job as an actor is to take that
accent and turn it back into the idiolect of your character. This means that the way your char-
acter speaks is influenced by the same combination of factors that influence the way you speak:
where you grew up, economic and social status, occupation, religious upbringing, ethnicity,
education, health, personal outlook on life, etc. 

By taking the general information and personalizing it for your character, you create a new id-
iolect. While it would be easier to just learn that idiolect from the outset instead of learning the
whole accent, that is simply not possible unless you are playing a real person whose speech you
can study in person or through recordings.

Keep in mind, however, that understandability is absolutely essential. No matter how authentic
an accent may be, if the audience can’t understand it, who cares?

Many accents (Cockney, for instance) are rarely presented authentically for this reason. We are
working on theatrical accents, so they must be intelligible. (Unless, of course, the lack of intel-
ligibility is part of the script, as in the Irish, Welsh and Scots in Henry V or Brad Pitt’s character
in the movie Snatch.)

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Believability is the second essential factor. When authenticity meets audience expectations, the
accent is believable. Some accents (like certain British North country ones, for instance) might
be accurate and yet most Americans might still think they are being done poorly. And while most
Americans might not know the differences between a Polish and Russian accent, for instance,
native speakers certainly do. So believability can depend on the savviness of the audience.

Your idiolect and you

In describing how to do the accents at AccentHelp, we start with a foundation of Neutral
American. This may not be the way you speak. People often tell us, “I don’t have an accent,”
which is not true! We each have an idiolect/accent. Many people have a regional accent without
even knowing it.

Even if your way of speaking is a Neutral American accent with no regionalisms, that is still an
accent. What do you think of when you hear this “non-accent” from someone? What is that per-
son’s class? race? religion? education? health? occupation? self-motivational drive? likelihood to
succeed? sexual orientation? Do you find yourself making some assumptions about this person?

All speech carries information, and that is why you are studying accents. If the audience gets
mixed messages because your accent is a stew of your information and that of your character,
they are likely to be confused. The more familiar you are with your own idiolect, the clearer you
can be with a character’s.

Tips for learning accents

When you are working on learning a new accent, it will be useful for you to keep a few things in
mind:

1. Ideally you will have some kind of a recorder so that you may listen to yourself attempting
the accent, comparing it to the recordings of the coach teaching the accent and of the native
speakers. There is no substitute for developing a “good ear.”

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Learning Accents

2. You should start each accent with an extreme version of it--the more extreme and stereotyped,
the better. It’s easier to tone it down to a believable (but accurate) level later. If you are subtle
from the beginning, you are likely to “cheat” and not quite do the sound substitutions required.
3. Begin by listening to the recordings of native speakers, and then attempt the dialect. As you
go through the written outline and the coach’s recordings, take the time to find the substi-
tutions you may have missed when you simply did it instinctively. Then listen to the native
speakers as many times as your sanity can handle as you continue to work on the accent
yourself.
4. Don’t let phonetic symbols confuse you! The AccentHelp outlines are designed to be acces-
sible to those who have and have not learned the IPA. Key words for the various symbols are
in the outline, and the coaches repeat these sounds in their recordings. If you don’t know
phonetics, rely on your ear and the shaded boxes that decode the symbols. There’s more info
on the IPA below…
5. There is no substitute for having a professional coach helping you. If you find yourself need-
ing the extra work, contact me directly at jim@accenthelp.com or check out our information
on coaching and recording lines for you.

Phonetics
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of symbols that represent speech sounds.
The IPA describes a wide range of sounds that are contained in all the languages and accents
from around the world. Many are familiar to us, but others are much less accessable, including
clicks, trills and odd vowels and consonants. The full chart of phonetic symbols may be viewed
here (.pdf file).

If you just visited that and returned, don’t be frightened. Very few of these symbols/sounds
(phonemes) are used in most American accents. You can view and print this helpful guide to the
common American phonemes here (.pdf file). Note that some of the key words listed may not
seem appropriate to you depending on your own pronunciation of those words; this is especially
true with regards to the vowels, especially when those vowels are followed by the R-sound.
It is important to note that “sounds” and “letters” are not the same thing. For example, the F-sound
may be written a number of ways, as in the words food, laugh, and phone. The letter f sometimes
actually makes the V-sound, as in the word of. Each symbol in the IPA represents one sound.

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Learning Accents

The key point: The IPA is useful for learning an accent when what you see (the IPA) can be
matched with what you hear both in the recordings and in your own speech. If you can begin to
make distinctions intellectually, you can begin to do them in speaking.

AccentHelp Materials
Every set of our accent materials shares some elements. Each one covers the concepts of Place-
ment, Intonation, and other Helpful Hints:

Placement:

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Learning Accents

Intonation:

Helpful Hints:

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What’s next?
If you’re working on a project, it’s time to dive into our AccentHelp materials.

Some people, though, are looking ahead, trying to build their own “Accent University” as they
build their skill set. Here’s a video that will offer some insight on where to get started:

The AccentHelp materials guide you through the materials covered here in the teaching portion
of our materials. It’s targeted on each of these aspects, and then you’ll be led through a practice
monologue, applying the sounds, the placement, and the intonation.

Each of our materials sets also include numerous recordings of native speakers, so you get to
hear the real thing. You’ll also get a transcript of these conversations so that you can follow
along as you listen.

In addition, we include a list of some scripts that you can use to apply the accent to as you prac-
tice, plus links to various websites, including YouTube videos, so that you can see and hear even
more native speakers.

Ideally, you’d be working directly with a dialect coach. We do offer coaching like this, along with
opportunities to have your script recorded for you using the accent.

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Learning Accents

Short of getting direct feedback from a coach, we’ve tried to build in everything possible to help
you get the accent as fast and affordably as we can.

If you have feedback from working with our materials, I’d love to hear from you at
jim@accenthelp.com. Share your story about how the materials served you, including any con-
structive feedback you might have on how we can serve you even better. Thanks for coming on
the journey with us!

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