Learning "plummy" accent ???

[j4mes_bond25]

Around a year or so back, I came across a rather intrigued survey on BBC News about "Nation's Favourite Accent".

According to the survey, Scottish accent were more acceptable for holding management position, along with nation's strong penchant for "plummy" as of Hugh Grant.

Sean Connery was voted to be nation's favourite accent followed by Hugh Grant.

American accent were also liked, especially as of George Clooney.

Accent that people often disliked were Brummie (Birmingham), some Northern accent along with to my huge disappointment, VERY STRONG regional accent like Midlands having its own setbacks in working life.

This made me delved into ways of losing my rather strong East Midland accent. Once I looked into it, I realised the way to do so, is by having good knowledge of Phonetics & once we get to know the sounds & the way it's produced in particular accent, could be the key to learn that particular accent.

After around a year since then, I seem to losen my original Midland accent & have achieved neutral accent now.

However, this one year has got me addicted to Phonetics & now, I seem to have strong penchant for a very neutral accent as of RP, something that I'm still working on.

I, however, seem to have developed a rather keen interest in "plummy" accent, as of Hugh Grant.

Now, the problem is, the easy availability of loads of books & materials on Internet had helped me work towards RP (neutral) accent, however, getting to know more about "plummy" accent & it's sound & the way it's produced has VERY LITTLE availability & hence I'm stuck in my research towards it.

I wonder if anyone could possibly point me in the right direction in working towards gaining my much loved Home Counties' "plummy" accent. Perhaps, someone could tell me more about such accent & share their knowledge about it. At the same time, someone might have some resource they could possibly share with me that could help me enlightening myself further.

Lastly, some linguistic (if there's anyone around) would have precise idea about how do I go about achiving this much desired accent.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Tdol]

Unfortunately, most of the work going on that I know of is accent reduction (towards RP-ish or standard American) snd that plummy accents wouldn't find that much favour in today's climate. However, there might be some sites here that would be of help:
http://www.usingenglish.com/cgi-bin/...&submit=Search

[Tdol]

PS, I read an article about the actor Richard Burton and he changed his accent, presumably from Welsh, to the rich plumy one by putting a tiny pebble in his mouth and practsing until he copuld speak clearly with it, then increasing the size, etc. I don't know how effective a method this is, but it's an interesting idea and I can see howit would assist plumminess.

[j4mes_bond25]

That's true. There are certain articles & certain late night TV programmes I came across often where actors are taught having something in their mouth.

Does plummy accent have anything to do with "plum" itself ??? Not a sensible thing to trust or ask, but could a "plum" in one's mouth be of some help, afterall, "plummy" is someone having accent as if they've a "plum" in their mouth ???

[Tdol]

I think it might have the 'desirable' association it used to have:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?...earchmode=none

[Naughty Beef]

You could do it the same way actors do.

A bit expensive but.

[veer_yodhaa]

Hello, Though i am a junior student to you,

I believe that Plummy accent is more like speaking clearly and precisely, from past few months i am practicing a small exercise mentioned below: Hope it would serve you in order to get plummy accent... It has helped me a lot.

In Case if you have any method to obtain Plummy Accent, Could you please share it with me?

Speaking clearly and efficiently proposing your ideas is a must in modern society.

Steps

1. Practice enunciating your words. Usually, a pen put in the mouth, horizontally, will force you to enunciate your words more.
2. Talk more slowly. You have no idea how helpful it is to give your words and extra second or two to fully come out of your mouth. Pausing also works, because pausing allows the person you're speaking to digest all of the words you've just said.
3. Practice your grammar. If your grammar is bad, your thoughts and ideas may not be perceived clearly.
4. Learn some vocabulary. Learning the right words to say certain things is also very helpful.

Tips

• Try listening to yourself using a voice-recorder. Usually, this will help you determine what you would need to work on.
• When in a conversation, take some time to ask if the other person understands what you're trying to say. If she/he doesn't, try rephrasing what you just said
• Keep it simple. Sometimes, a simple explanation is all you need to speak clearly.

Warnings

• When practicing with the pen to help you enunciate, don't choke on the pen.
• Don't over think it when you speak to others because you may end up making the situation worse.

Things you’ll need

• An understanding friend or family member to help you, and give you tips on what to practice.

Do Reply......... Thank you.

Your Junior Friend,

Veeranjay Pawar