Learn British English Accent

[jon720]

Hi. I would like to pick up British English Accent. Is there any available materials in the market for that? Audiobook, video course, etc.

Is hard to find a native Britist speaker here for tutoring...

Thanks!

[baqarah131]

BBC - bbc.co.uk homepage - Home of the BBC on the Internet has good materials. BBC is a good model, highly respected, and careful in how they use English.
Note that there is more than one British accent.
Except for "r", which in English is really a semivowel, the consonants don't change much between British and North American English. The differences are mainly in vocabulary, idioms, and sometimes, the vowels.
regards
edward

Originally Posted by jon720

Hi. I would like to pick up British English Accent. Is there any available materials in the market for that? Audiobook, video course, etc.

Is hard to find a native Britist speaker here for tutoring...

Thanks!

[rewboss]

Originally Posted by baqarah131

BBC - bbc.co.uk homepage - Home of the BBC on the Internet has good materials. BBC is a good model, highly respected, and careful in how they use English.

The BBC now don't expect their speakers to speak with a traditional "BBC accent". You will hear many regional accents; some are easier for non-native speakers than others.

Except for "r", which in English is really a semivowel, the consonants don't change much between British and North American English. The differences are mainly in vocabulary, idioms, and sometimes, the vowels.

I have to beg to differ, here. The "t" is often pronounced very differently, and the vowel system is completely different.

I highlighted the differences between British and American English in a video I made a couple of months ago: English as she is writ. The interesting part begins at 2 minutes 14 seconds.

[Anglika]

You could also try the British Council library for spoken word tapes [British companies who produce audio books are: BBC; Chivers; Isis Audio Books; Soundings; Magna]

[baqarah131]

Enjoyed the video. Surprised that I, a Canadian, agreed with the British pronunciation as often as with the American.
We've disagreed on how large the differences are. If I understate, perhaps you overstate.
But I do feel that when I have trouble communicating with an Englishman, or watching a British movie, it's not pronunciation that gets in the way. It's
vocabulary and expressions in colloquial speech. No one here would have any problem understand the Queen or Tony Blair.
British English has a lot of prestige here.

regards
edward

Originally Posted by rewboss

The BBC now don't expect their speakers to speak with a traditional "BBC accent". You will hear many regional accents; some are easier for non-native speakers than others.



I have to beg to differ, here. The "t" is often pronounced very differently, and the vowel system is completely different.

I highlighted the differences between British and American English in a video I made a couple of months ago: English as she is writ. The interesting part begins at 2 minutes 14 seconds.

[rewboss]

Originally Posted by baqarah131

If I understate, perhaps you overstate.

In my experience, native speakers are an extremely poor judge of this sort of thing. It becomes obvious when you hear non-native speakers struggling with pronunciation, but you really know just how radically different the two vowel systems are when you discover that the only way to explain to an American how to pronounce "pap" in a British accent is to tell them to imitate somebody from Chicago saying "pop".

Added to which, of course, is the added complication that just as there are many dialects of British English, there are also many, often radically different, dialects of American English. Compare the accents of the characters in, say, Cheers with those in Dallas, for example.