Your class project is to write an instruction manual to someone with a British accent about how to do your own accent!

Basically… you are inverting this course.

The biggest mistake people make in accents is that they jump in without breaking down their own starting point. This project will force you to not only consider the features of the British accent- but will encourage you to de-construct your own accent first, making it mouldable to new sounds!

I want you to imagine that you are now the teacher.

First, you should record or listen to yourself and write up what your oral set-up is like.

- How much does your jaw move?

- How much do the lips move?

- What about the soft palate/ cheeks?

You then need to write clear instructions on how to make the following consonants in your accent.

Remember to use the workbook to help.

R’s: Rodger rabbit ran to the end of the rainbow to start the car.

L’s: “I need to call Larry the lazy lamb” cried the Latin students

Th’s: “I think that’s the case” said Theresa

K’s and NG’s: The King and I are singing to the kicking kangaroos

Then, you can do the same with a minimum of 4 Kit list sentences.

Use the Kit list document attached to help you. You may even want to link a recording of you speaking it through to help with clarity!

Lastly, you can then instruct the group on the musicality of your accent.

Include things like stress, rhythm and intonation- you can even use imagery to help your theoretical British accent holder to mold to your sound.

Top tips:

You can try to voice record or videotape yourself speaking them through and then analyze afterwards. A lot of people also find whispering the sentences helpful to really grow a sense of what is happening! Remember you are writing this with someone who has the British accent, so be sure to include what I teach you about the British accent to help you with your learnings.

For example:

“You will have a non-rhotic accent, meaning you don’t say the /r/ after most vowel sounds. However in my accent …”

Remember:

For consonants, we are concerned about two things.

Where is the air being disrupted and by what? (the tongue? Front of the mouth? Lips and teeth?)
How is it being disrupted? (suddenly/plosively? Fricative? Nasal?)

For vowels we are concerned about three things:

Jaw open/closed
Tongue forward/back
Lips rounded/ spread

And for musicality, we are concerned about

The weight of the accent
Whether it is direct or indirect
Is it sustained or quick
When does it go up and down?

Try to use the terminology if you can, but there’s nothing wrong with drawing pictures, or describing the sensation in your own words! Remember you are just putting into words/pictures what your own apparatus does.

Enjoy :)

Thanaphon Tonnam

--

--