Meryl Streep is the queen of accents. When she portrays an Australian, she sounds like she's really from Down Under. In 'Sophie's Choice', she even managed to speak German the way a Polish person would. It's probably not surprising that she has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress more often than any other actress in history. If, as an actor, you're going to portray a character from the UK, you may want to show Streep's level of commitment and take some British accent lessons.
One of the things that Meryl Streep is most famous for is her ability to imitate different accents. This has kept her career interesting and healthy and has earned her the record for most Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. In contrast, someone like Kevin Costner saw his career take a nosedive after playing Robin Hood while he was at the height of his fame. The reason was mainly because his Robin Hood spoke in an American accent.
Many people make the mistake of thinking all people in Britain sound like the royal family or like the country's politicians. That posh-sounding way of speaking is indeed what is regarded as standard English pronunciation, formally called Received Pronunciation. Few people speak like that from childhood, though. Even Margaret Thatcher had to learn Received Pronunciation so that she could sound more posh.
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.
some regional accents in England are typical of specific cities and may even have their own names. In Liverpool, for instance, people speak Scouse while in Birmingham the dialect is called Brummie and in Newcastle it's Geordie. Accents can also be typical of specific parts of a city, most famously the Cockney from the East End neighbourhood in London.
Of course, Britain does not only consist of England. It also encompasses Wales, Scotland and Northern Island, as well as islands such as Man or Jersey. At first, many of these accents may sound similar but if you know what to listen for, you'll soon be able to tell whether someone is, for instance, from Edinburgh or from Glasgow, the two largest cities in Scotland.
Once you start working on different accents, you also need to learn the vocabulary. In some parts of the USA, people will talk about 'soda' while others might say 'pop'. The situation is similar in Britain and vocabulary may differ from region to region. It's also important to learn the differences between American English and British English in terms of vocabulary.
The best way to learn an accent is to go live in the area where that dialect is spoken and just listen to the locals as they speak. However, this is not a practical approach if you're rehearsing for a movie or a play. For faster results, a good option is to invest in the services of a dialect coach.
One of the things that Meryl Streep is most famous for is her ability to imitate different accents. This has kept her career interesting and healthy and has earned her the record for most Academy Award nominations for Best Actress. In contrast, someone like Kevin Costner saw his career take a nosedive after playing Robin Hood while he was at the height of his fame. The reason was mainly because his Robin Hood spoke in an American accent.
Many people make the mistake of thinking all people in Britain sound like the royal family or like the country's politicians. That posh-sounding way of speaking is indeed what is regarded as standard English pronunciation, formally called Received Pronunciation. Few people speak like that from childhood, though. Even Margaret Thatcher had to learn Received Pronunciation so that she could sound more posh.
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.
some regional accents in England are typical of specific cities and may even have their own names. In Liverpool, for instance, people speak Scouse while in Birmingham the dialect is called Brummie and in Newcastle it's Geordie. Accents can also be typical of specific parts of a city, most famously the Cockney from the East End neighbourhood in London.
Of course, Britain does not only consist of England. It also encompasses Wales, Scotland and Northern Island, as well as islands such as Man or Jersey. At first, many of these accents may sound similar but if you know what to listen for, you'll soon be able to tell whether someone is, for instance, from Edinburgh or from Glasgow, the two largest cities in Scotland.
Once you start working on different accents, you also need to learn the vocabulary. In some parts of the USA, people will talk about 'soda' while others might say 'pop'. The situation is similar in Britain and vocabulary may differ from region to region. It's also important to learn the differences between American English and British English in terms of vocabulary.
The best way to learn an accent is to go live in the area where that dialect is spoken and just listen to the locals as they speak. However, this is not a practical approach if you're rehearsing for a movie or a play. For faster results, a good option is to invest in the services of a dialect coach.
About the Author:
You can visit www.windsor-cunningham.com for more helpful information about Make Your Acting More Convincing With British Accent Lessons.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire