I''m a New Yorker. I am soon to move to London to work. I would like to acquire a refined southern English accent. What is the easiest way to do this? | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk
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I'm a New Yorker. I am soon to move to London to work. I would like to acquire a refined southern English accent. What is the easiest way to do this?
Simon Mathews, New York, USA
Heavens above, don't attempt to pass yourself off as English. Don't even think about it unless you want to be jeered at wherever you go in England. You'll only make a fool of yourself. Even if you get the accent right - and unless you study with Meryl Streep's dialogue coach you almost certainly won't - you'll constantly get your word choices wrong. The specific words on Nancy Mitford's "Non-U" list have changed in the last half-century but the concept of certain words and phrases which mark the outsider remains valid. Nowhere is this truer than in England. Unless you've been reared in the circles to which you apparently aspire, you'll drop some risible clangers. Then, language aside, there are table manners: the subleties of proper knife-holding at the English dinner table are a treatise unto themselves. As for dress rules, yes, they still exist, are in many cases different in the UK than in the US and can be a minefield to negotiate. There are hundreds of small clues and customs which will give you away if you attempt to pass yourself off as a Briton. If you speak with a grating New York accent (such as the one heard in Brooklyn) then by all means take elocution lessons, but learn to speak with a standard American educated accent. Standard "newscaster" American, I assure you, is accepted in the UK. Phoneyness is not. Peter Post, Boston, USA
I would like to disagree with Peter's reply. I think you should try and change your accent. There is nothing more annoying than being in a public place and hearing a "twang and drawl" accent. In fact, no, I will withdraw that, there is nothing wrong with the accent per se, it is the volume. I would advise you simply to keep your voice low so that only the person/people you are talking to can hear you. Also, try not to enforce our stereotypical view of US citizens as being stupid and culturally insensitive (which is rich in a country that is still a monarchy and has murdered people in most countries in the world). Gary Market, Taunton UK
Traditionally this has been achieved by the insertion of a plum or other small fruit between the tongue and the palate. Not only does this help one to pronounce exactly the required vowel sounds, but has the added advantage of making your spoken thoughts virtually unintelligible. Matt Kieffer, London, UK
Take no notice of Mr Post. The British love to hear an American speak their quaint olde worlde dialect. You could do worse than study my - if I say so myself - excellent British English in the well known 60s film , Mary Poppins. Dick van Dyke, London, England
More on the folly of an American trying to sound like an Englishman: T.S. Eliot, a cleverer man than I (and I daresay Simon Matthews), spent 50 years in England and never, to the end of his long life, was he able to master a plausible English accent. Though he tried his best to speak like an Englishman born and bred, he was widely mocked in England for his pretensions. Mr Matthews, if you think you can succeed where genuis has failed, by all means find yourself some backstreet Henry Higgins.
Peter Post, Boston USA
You should consider yourself fortunate to have an American accent. Whichever of the various English accents you have, a portion of the English population will dislike you for it. With an American accent, only the obsessively anti-American "chattering class" will be rude to you. No one pays them any mind. Dave Null, Claremont, USA
I understand that there are videos available of Jamie Oliver's cooking programmes. This would be an excellent place to start. Listen and learn. Jonathan, Lancaster, UK
Don't even try, Mr Mathews. As Lady Macbeth pointed out - and that gal knew - it's the attempt, not the deed, that confounds us. Or, since you're from New York, perhaps I could pose you a question. What's the point? In the immortal words of Bette Midler: "Whyyy bawthuh?" Dave Todd, Ottawa, Canada
I've often wondered why so many foreigners - and some people from within the UK - feel a need to obscure their natural voices and try to sound like those whom they imagine to be superior to themselves. The whole notion of a "refined" or "proper" English accent is bunkum - it really only became perpetuated sometime in the last 100 to 150 years or so. So don't sell yourself short by trying to ape the upper classes - just be yourself. Saul Cohen, London, UK
I think you are limiting yourself by going for a refined southern British accent. I think you'd be far better off aiming for a more colourful accent: Geordie, West Yorkshire or Scottish, all of which can be easily picked up by watching Saturday morning kids TV. Oh, and come and let me know when you think you've got the hang of it! Sara, London, UK
I think Simon may be missing the point. Just as the USA is a 'melting pot' Britain is a mosaic - not just one country, but four and with people who identify themselves with countries, counties, dialects and immigrant groups.
The US may have a standardized accent understood over the whole country which is their equivalent of "BBC" English. Maybe it is this that he is looking for.
Go on Simon, be yourself and hope that people take you for who you are and what you say rather than how you sound.
David Colville, Glasgow Scotland
As the husband of a Manhattanite, I made enquiries about this - I am informed that unless you watch old Ealing and Boulting Brothers comedies for about 2 weeks straight, try to mimic Terry-Thomas, Ian Carmichael, or Alec Guinness, and perfect the art, then forget getting an accent. She did however offer some advice - lower the volume of your voice by about a third, don't flash your money around, refrain from describing something as "Gee, ain't it quaint" (my mother-in-law does this and it drives us both mad), don't be overly touchy-feely with casual acquaintances, and above all don't try to convince people that baseball is better than cricket, or that 'American' football is a better game than rugby union. Tony James, London, UK
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the attempt of acquiring a southern English accent but considering the efforts that are made in Hollywood to speak with an Irish accent, I can only say, please don't even think about trying. In my mind, there is absolutely nothing worse that listening to famous Hollywood actors (who have had elocution lessons) trying to adopt an Irish accent. For the most part, they fail miserably. For the record, NOBODY in Ireland says "top o' the mornin' to ye"! Michelle Groarke, Munich, Germany
Simon, stay away from them soft southerners. Come Up North where we REAL Brits live. We love Yanks and will make you a nice cup of tea and an Eccles cake and roar with affectionate laughter at your quaint turns of speech. We can offer you whippets, ginnels, bottoms, becks and ferrets, all of incomparable gradeliness, not to mention pikelets, bletch and Dark Satanic Mills. Go North, young man! Carla, Crewe UK
I agree with those who tell the questioner to ignore it.
First, because of the variety of English accents, how would he know which to choose? Second, because many English accents even now get caught up with ideas of class and intelligence, he is better off without it.
On the other hand, I can testify from personal experience of the advantage of a roughly Southern English (in fact East Midland) accent in New York where I was made to feel like a celebrity, "Oh your accent, do you mind if my friend hears it?".
Accents, like beauty are in the beholder. The best advice is to be yourself, on the otherhand when you return home you may care to immitate what you have head in the UK, it may lead to interesting conversations. Ted Clapham, London United Kingdom
As a Devonian living in London, I can assure you that the quickest way to acquire a South (East-)ern English accent is to try and get anywhere in life without one. Stephen Buckland, Kingston upon Thames UK
It very much depends which part of Southern England you mean.
In general we British try not to display our tonsils while talking, and generally restrict ourselves to only projecting our voice to our immediate audience.
This is done by careful control of the aperture of our mouths. In order to understand how this works you will need two clothes pegs (the spring loaded kind), use these to clip your upper and lower lips together about a third of the way in from each end, this effectively emulates the way most southerners speak here.
Of course, as mentioned above, vocabulary is going to be a problem too (English lessons night help here).
But far and away your biggest problem is going to be humour, complete strangers will poke fun at you for no apparent reason and work colleagues will deride and lambast you, all in the name of wit (and I'm not even going to mention shop assistants and waiters). 95% of what anyone says to you will be utter rubbish either to see if you fall for it, or as part of the national pass-time of starting urban myths, and if anyone gives you directions in London then immediately head in the opposite direction), it's a natural response over here when someone with a pair of clothes pegs fixed to their face talks to you. Joe Kerr, London UK
Don't worry. You'll pick up a few phrases, be laughed at in Britain for 'trying to be British', and then go back to America, where they'll call you a 'poser' for the few foreign phrases you can't get out of the habit of saying. I know this from experience. People can be pricks wherever you go. Sue , Kansas City USA
My accent can change without trying and I believe yours will. I grew up in the East Midlands 'Am goowinn dahn tahn' but if I go to visit my Nana and Grandad in Tyneside where I was born my voice goes all over the place. 'Am gannin doon the toon'. I don't do it on purpose and its annoying because I don't sound right.
Also how did Jan Molby and Peter Schmeichel (Scandinavian footballers in England) develop their regional accents?
Darren, Nottingham England
Thank you for your replies, everyone. I have been informed, amused and frequently embarrassed. But with my departure for London fast approaching, I've decided (despite the warnings of Mr Post) to embark on my Eliza Doolittle-type quest to speak like a well-educated Southern English person. I probably won't start with the Ealing comedies (thank you, Tony James) but I think listening to appropriate broadcasters would help. I'm trying to get the hang of the "o" (it's hard to round one's mouth so much) and to stop rhotacizing my "r"s (it's not easy, believe me, to "Pahk one's cah" after 28 years of saying it the American way. ). I'll let you know in 6 months how I'm going. Once I've achieved my goal, I might give a northern English accent a try - thanks Carla. Oh, and after that, I might see if I can do better than my Hollywood compatriots - I've always wanted to get an Irish accent...... (sorry, Michelle). Simon Mathews, New York USA
Get the same dialogue coach as Gwyneth Paltrow and Renee Zellweger. (You asked for easiest, not cheapest.) Matthew Francis, Cardiff Wales
Try scouse! OK people will have a tight grip on their purses and wallets when they here you speak but you will be able to drink in the worst bars and dives and nobody will question your right to be there. David Leech, Runcorn UK
You're making the classic American mistake that everyone in England has one accent. OK, you specify southern English, but what sort of accent would you like: Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cornish, Devonian? Anonymous, London
Many years ago I was told a joke about helping someone learn to pronounce 'Oh hello' in upper class English. It went:
Me: What do you breathe?
Me: What grows on your head?
You: Hair.
Me: From where does a predator leap out on his prey?
You: Lair.
Me: Now say the answers quickly. Jim Barnard, Bolton UK
"No Englishman can open his mouth without another Englishman despising him."
George Bernard Shaw
Speak as you speak now. Brits have a finely tuned ear for accents. You won't get away with it, and will be ridiculed (behind your back, of course- we're so polite). An American I shared a house with at university in England liked to say "bloody". It never sounded quite right.
You won't get any points socially for trying to so quite the reverse. In any case, the standard southern accent is changing all the time. One example is the rising intonation in positive statements, making them sound like questions. This is now widespread among "educated" southerners, and is, I argue, due to vast numbers of English children having been exposed to trashy Australian soap operas.
Relax, London is the most cosmopolitan place on E we Brits like diversity (really). Just lower the goddam volume, OK?
Peter Foulds, Bielsk Podlaski Poland
Hang around with some Manchester United fans. John Quinn, Glasgow UK
Forget Tony James and his foolish the biggest faux pas you could possibly make is referring to the world's most popular game as "soccer". You would be instantly scorned by everyone within earshot (which would be a lot of people if you don't take the advice offered in some of the other responses) and derided as a social outcast. "Football" is the only acceptable term to use when discussing football, which you surely will be. If you mix with people who talk about rugby then you know you're in with the wrong crowd. Martin Brodetsky, Oxford UK
At school one of my English teachers (a Scot) assured anyone who cared to listen that proper English was only spoken by Edinburgh folk, perhaps Sean Connery needs further study. Certainly he calls a bath a "bath" - and not a "barth" as is common down south. AGee, Sunderland England
I am a Canadian who moved to Scotland as a child and was sent to elocution lessons because none of my schoolteachers could understand me. After about 15 years of trying to learn to speak with a refined Edinburgh accent a famous linguist told me that I sounded like I came from Essex. So, Mr Matthews, if you want a southern English accent I suggest you attempt to speak like a Scot. Katherine O'Neil, Edinburgh Scotland
Don't worry about trying to sound English, I love the American accent and I think its kind of glamourous, I think it will make you all the more popular over here, its true there are some Brits who dislike the Americans but its only a very tiny amount, in general I think we like you and all this Brits hating Americans is completly blown out of proportion!. And anyway, I've always found when I go to America that people think I'm Australian! Then when I here other English people in America, I to start to think they're Australian too (its probably me just being thick as I'm not very good at recognising accents anyway!) My accent is a cross between Hampshire yocal (ooh aah),and a lot of people say cockney. Either way, I know I speak very slowly and queitly. I'm not keen on the geordie accent, I love the welsh accent and some Scottish accents to. Julie, Andover Hampshire
I am originally from NYC and have been residing in London, UK for the past 10 years. I still have a NYC accent I will not change it, I like it. Bonnie, NYC USA
you will fit in in england perfectly as long as u go staright down south, around london and all the way to kent, find yourself a nice little town and remember never to go above maidstone
and if you dont want to offend anyone your best off just mumbeling, its whats polite in england and dont ask me why..
just remember. above london/maidstone= BAD
south south=GOOD harry flash, cranbrook kent uk
The British love accents and can understand every type of accent's in the world, and an American accent can stand out from the crowd. Also, the more time you spend with the British, the more you will pick it up anyway. American's find it very hard to do British accents, and speaking from the point of view of a British person, we always know when an American is doing a British accent because it's always a little bit off, Even Johnny Depp's accent is slightly off, and don't get me started on Scarlet Johansson's accent in The Other Boleyn Girl. Also the south London accent is different to north London, and different to west and east London. Rhian Davies, Aberystwyth, Wales UK
Forget about learning an English accent in London mate. Firstly you'll hardly come across any English people and secondly with over 200 different languages spoken, an extra American one won't make any difference. If You really want to fit in try some Eastern European or Southern Indian dialect and You'll be right at home. Rafe Christian, derby england
Do not listen tenglishtypes thats only worsen the stereotype for us english seen as nothing more than stuck up snobs. you speak how you want however you feel comfortable. english people should stop sneering at any american trying his hardest to fit in people should be happy to see and encourage some not from here, their hardest. good luck american. richard humbles, london england
My partner is from Brooklyn New York and I love his accent. Hope he never loses it. Everyone we meet in London loves it. Leona, London uk
Don't try to change your accent. Be yourself. For Americans who want to be accepted anywhere in the UK the very best advice is to keep the volume down and actually take time to listen to what other people are saying. Modesty and consideration for others will go a long way in helping you be accepted as a civilised foreigner! Paul, Glasgow Scotland
I am an American, born and raised in Oklahoma and a 12 year resident of the UK. I would advise you to be you. If you start trying to sound British, when you aren't, you will be thought of as a bit snobbish. You won't be accepted, being a phony and you will look a right muppet!
Using phrases that you will pick up with time is OK. I sound British in terms of phrases and such. I have been accepted and you will have the Mick taken out of you at times, just because your mates wanna test your honesty. If you are caught pretending the Mick taking will change to piss taking, and you don't want that. Just come over and pick things up and use them honestly and you will soon be saying things like: "...It's just gone 4...it's half 4...let's go on holiday.....I was stood over in the corner...it's hotting up...you may let a house...you may like bangers..." and hundreds of others!
You may find yourself drinking room temp lager, beer, or bitter. Just don't try it on and you'll be fine. I used to have a real strong drawl but, I still sound Eastern Oklahoman however, my enunciation has really changed. I very seldom say winda, pilla amongst others. It's now window and pillow but, it has taken ages to get here!! Come and enjoy! Mike, Rugby UK
OK now all stop. I've been living in England, Manchester for 30 years and I say be yourself don't try to be something you're not. Better yet British hate fake, trust me. Be who you are, not who people want you to be. Be true to yourself if you're American, so what? Hold your head up high and be an American yes in London, so what? But at least you're still true to yourself and where you come from. Do not let the culture put you off nor anything else it's not that strict chill, if you want to conform to society you do that but don't say no one ever warned you. Erk, Manchester, UK
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