Some people acquire new accents as they grow up, some people grow up with accents they don’t like as a child and some people want to learn new accents.

Moving from place to place can make you more aware of your accent. Regional accents (or regional dialects as they are called in the US), are more apparent to us when we move to a new area. We can become uncomfortably aware of our accent if we get a new job and work in a new company and want to change how we speak.

Accent is learned subconsciously when we are children. We learn to speak from our parents, grandparents, siblings, schoolteachers and our friends. We mimic the sounds we hear and that is how accent is passed through generations.

How can I change my accent?

Many people come to me with this question and to help my clients get a more RP or non-regional specific accent, I offer a short five session accent training course.

Accent is based on the ‘tune’ of the voice, how pitch, pause and tone is used, but accent is also a blend of how vowels and consonants sound. We make our accents with our voice, but accent is shaped by the tongue, lips, soft palate and teeth, working in conjunction with each other. The way we speak on a daily basis is a result of learned behaviour and muscle memory. Our articulators work in conjunction with each other in a subconscious ‘dance’ to allow us to communicate using our voice and so expressing our ideas so they can be heard.

I am currently analysing a 1930s South Devon accent, to teach actors who are performing in a period drama. It is interesting to find how the vowel sounds were used almost one hundred years ago. The vowel sound in dress, for example, becomes the vowel sound in ‘apple’, so dress sounds like ‘drass’. The vowels swap places, so in the vowel sound in ‘cat’ becomes the vowel sound in ‘dress’ and we hear ‘ket’.

There are many aspects to learning a new accent – and the key to achieving a new accent is to retain a sense of fun and a sense of play as you’re learning. Children play with word sounds, swapping over first consonants with the next word, for example, or using the same vowel in every word, regardless of the meaning or what it sounds like. This dabbling with sound is enormously freeing and helps us to escape our vocal habits and take on new sequences of articulation.

It often feels ‘odd’ or uncomfortable to change accent from the one we are so used to. It might appear to be pretentious or fake, but it can feel odd to cross your arms in the opposite way to the usual style. It doesn’t feel right because muscle memory is so accustomed to your habitual arm-crossing style. But it looks absolutely fine. The same with developing a new accent. It sounds and feels weird because your muscles are being used in a new way, to others, it sounds absolutely fine. Your new accent can not only sound absolutely fine, it can help you to sound clear and interesting and enjoy being confident.

For more information on how to develop a new accent or to speak with a BBC accent or Received Pronunciation (RP) accent, please get in touch for a free consultation.