Yesterday I posted about a BBC online article featuring a video and comments about training a British journalist in how to do an American accent. And I promised to follow up with a link to the callers from around the UK who left messages with their best efforts at a US accent.
You can read the background information in the online article, and then listen to the callers either on that page, or here.
And then a bit further down, you’ll find British voice actor Stuart Smith, offering a quick US accent masterclass.
Again, my thanks to my friend Rowell Gormon for pointing out this link in the first place.
Hey Bob,
I’ve got a lot of friends who are in the business down in New Zealand. Learning the American dialects is a very important part of what they do since so many of the shows are aimed at the US and UK markets. What I found most interesting is that in training, they often learn the dialect of the southern US first as it seems to be much easier for them to learn from their native kiwi, and then to move on to the more traditional dialect of the mid-west or East Coast.
I wonder if the same technique is used with the Brits since the method of pronunciation is closer to the AU/NZ than to the US.
Greg,
Thank you for that interesting insight. I had no idea that it would be easier to learn a Southern dialect than a Midwestern dialect.
Be well,
Bob