English Accent Coaching for Actors

Specialised English accent training for actors

If you are a non native English speaking actor (or singer), you will no doubt want to focus on either an American English (AE) or a British accent (BE) first in the English accent course for actors. You may need to learn them both, but you should start by clearly hearing and being able to produce the contrasting sounds, for example in As, Hs and Rs. Then you can dive into your chosen English accent.

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What does a diction coach do?

An English diction coach assists actors with “standard” English pronunciation (AE and BE), regional accents. and vocal delivery. They provide guidance and instruction on how to deliver lines with the desired accent or dialect, and with correct phonemes (individual sound units) word stress, speech pace, and sentence intonation patterns. The latter – intonation patterns – carries a tremendous amount of meaning in spoken English.

And despite the word “diction,” clear enunciation of every word is often not desirable! For example, a diction coach can advise an actor on when to connect words for a more relaxed, native sound.

In short, the diction coach helps the actor style spoken English to properly express the character. Considerations for accent training for a specific script usually include the place where the character lives, where they grew up, their education, socioeconomic background, their profession and personality. Because most day to day spoken language is automatic behavior, i.e. your brain tells your mouth what to do without conscious attention, it takes some time, explanation and repetition to learn and habituate the new habits that will allow an accent to be both accurate and authentic.

Contact us about in person and online coaching.

Just a few of the accent differences (AE vs BE) are:

• the mid and final position R (usually not spoken in BE)
• the O sound in words like shop and lost
• words like caught and court sound the same in BE. In American English, the sounded R distinguishes them.
• the vowels in the words ferry and fairy sound the same in AE,but different in BE
• the A sound in can’t is flat and rather closed in AE, while it sounds like an open “ah” in BE
• the words pen and pin are almost indistinguishable in AE, but the E in pen is clearly heard in BE

This sort of English training is totally personalized and recommended for actors, singers, public speakers, business presenters, business leaders and thought leaders.

We offer both online training and in-person appointments at our outstanding locations in Amsterdam – in the beautiful, artistic Museum Quarter close to the Vondelpark and Van Gogh Museum, and at a historic Binnenkant canal house just minutes from Amsterdam Centraal Station. Plus we see clients in Den Haag, Amstelveen and at in-company locations. Please note that a surcharge may apply for on-location training (travel) or session preparation.

Contact us about a free, no obligation intake appointment with a trainer.