How to learn an accent

First of all an actor is trained to observe, and to use as many senses as possible to do so. This
is important not only with accents but with character work. True acting is then absorbing these
as opposed to imitating them. With accents there are also some technical details that aid in the
observation and absorption. Any accent, including your actual one, has components such as
melody, pitch, speed, where words are stressed, where the language is vocalized (e.g., most
American dialects are focused in the middle of the mouth, between the tongue and the upper
pallet (sp?) while British RP is at the teeth,) mouth tongue and lip posture, pronunciation of
various letters and letter combinations, and then vocabulary and idioms.
As previously stated it is helpful to know the actual language for this and then to listen and well
as watch native speakers. Cultural influences also affect speech patterns such as the laid back
slowness of a southern accent, or the more rigidity and preciseness of a German or British
accent.

Some actors have memorized the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), which allows them to
transcribe any accent into symbols. There's one symbol for the way Americans pronounce the
"a" in "rather" and another about how the British pronounce it. See International Phonetic
Alphabet.

“Actors also listen to native speakers, either in person or recorded. And sometimes productions
(or even individual actors) hire dialect coaches. When I worked at the BBC, on a TV adaptation
of an Arthur Miller play, I helped some of the British actors with American dialects. They were all
very skilled but missed a sound here and there. I remember one had trouble with the word
"doll." He pronounced the vowel as that clipped British "o," rather than the more American (or at
least New York) open sound, which makes the word more like "dahl." Point is, we drilled down
sound-by-sound when necessary.” - Marcus Geduld, Artistic Director, Folding Chair Classical
Theatre, NYC

Website about learning an accent:

https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/steps-toward-learning-new-accent-9839/

First, choose which accent you would like to do. This is a list of the most common
accents that actors need. But you don’t have to choose any of these. (You can choose
an accent like Spock from Star Trek or some other fictional world accent)

White people:

General American. (You already got that)

Upper class British

Lower class British

Irish

Southern American

Maybe New York? Boston? Scottish?

If you're not white the list changes:

General American. (most of you got this - Email me if you think you need to work on reducing
your accent as as assignment)

Stereotypical Accent of People Your Race.

Upper class British

Lower class British

Irish

Southern American

Maybe New York? Boston? Scottish?

Since not sure - it is a Youtube with 12 different accents that you can try:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ouDcXRU-rs

So how can you learn an accent in your home, And with a little creativity- for free!

Free British Accent training:

http://www.britishaccent.co.uk/news/2014/03/how-to-speak-in-a-british-accent-free-lessons/

Free 7 day Trial

https://www.thevoicecafe.net/learn-West-Coast-American-accent-online.htm

Download an app on your phone

The accent kit - you get one accent free

There is Loads of videos on YouTube.

Just so you know, the final assignment for this is you will perform a
short monologue with your accent. You can either use an existing
monologue from a play, tv show or movie or film - or - write your own.
Due Date around: April 17!