AccentHelp Blog

Accents Based in British or American English

When learning the accent of a speaker for whom English is a second language, you have to consider what kind of English they learned, which can infl...

Subtle Variation in Articulation

Sometimes it's about figuring out the big sound changes for accents, but some speech variations can be tiny! Here, Jim gets into the minuscule vari...

Merry Mary Marry Pronunciation Map Accents

Merry, Mary, and Marry

Most Americans will say merry, Mary, and marry the same, but in some parts of the US - especially the northeast - and in many other countries, they...

Rhotic vs Non-Rhotic Accents

One major subdivision of accents/dialects is whether they are rhotic or non-rhotic: do they drop their R's or not? When the R's drop after vowels (...

Broad vs Narrow Transcription of R

I had a question from someone about why they see different symbols for the R sound even though people are talking about the same one... The symbo...

London Dialects Overview

There are four major accents/dialects of London, which Jim covers in this London dialect overview. Received Pronunciation or Standard British Est...

Front Vowel Lowering in Northern Irish Accents

The front vowels in Northern Irish accents tend to lower, having a cascading effect on the one that typically occurs below. When one vowel moves, i...

Intonation for Classic RP & Standard British

Jim Johnson covers four major intonation elements of classic Received Pronunciation (RP) or Standard British. These are not appropriate for conte...

Nasalizing Vowels and Dropping Nasal Consonants

When a vowel is followed by a nasal consonant, it's very common to nasalize the vowel and then completely drop the nasal consonant. We don't alwa...

Nasalizing Vowels

There are three nasal consonants that are common for English speakers, but often we carry over that nasality into vowels, especially the vowels t...

Introduction to Accents 6: Prioritizing Learning Accents

What accent should you learn when it's not immediately demanded by a project? Coach Jim Johnson leads you through a list of which accents and di...

Introduction to Accents 5: Helpful Hints

Often there are little shortcuts or tricks that help you to jumpstart learning an accent. Here, Jim Johnson leads you through a number of possible ...

Monotone Speech

Jim Johnson makes a few suggestions on monotone speech and a few techniques for speaking with more variation: Being louder, opening up the resonant...

Intro to the Soft Palate

Jim guides you through the basics of what the Soft Palate (or Velum) is: The Soft Palate/Velum is the back part of the roof of the mouth and serves...

Showing Length with IPA Transcriptions

Here's a quick overview of how to show the length of a sound using the IPA: I also get into what tends to make a vowel longer and what tends to mak...

Shawn Hatosy & Ben McKenzie

Shawn Hatosy has had a very good career in Hollywood. He’s currently in the midst of another season of Southland on TNT as officer Sammy Bryant. ...

Nuyorican Accents in Melbourne

New York City, Australia Where do Aussies go to sound American? Director David Bell and dialect coach Jennifer Innes turned to Accent Help for the...

New Orleans Actors Resource Center

Acting in New Orleans The New Orleans market has exploded for actors the last few years – it’s currently the number three market in the US a...

Jim's Irish Reviewed by Natives

Aug 20, 2015 The Facts YouTube channel hosts a number of Irish natives sharing their rather funny takes on a variety of subjects, including tasti...

Gaming Character Accents

Tabletop Gaming in Washington Often, actors use accents to help build characters, but character building isn’t limited to actors. James Wood, a D...

Introduction to Accents 4: Intonation

Intonation is primarily about musicality and rhythm. There tend to be recurring musical phrasings, such as lifts at the ends of phrases, that are b...

Introduction to Accents 3: Placement

Placement refers to the sensation of where the sound "lives" in the mouth, which can commonly lead to a mouth posture that helps with an accent. Th...

Cockney & Australian Confusion

I was contacted by someone who is struggling to nail the Cockney accent, and he keeps slipping into what sounds more like an Australian accent. Thi...

Northern Irish Accent Intonation

Here's an introduction to the upward lilt of the Northern Irish accent - maybe not what you'd expect from an Irish accent if you're used to thinkin...

Vlogs & Blogs