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African-American Vernacular Accent

African-American Vernacular English walks you through the shared qualities of most black accents in the United States.
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African-American Vernacular Accent Learning Materials

  • The African-American Vernacular English materials include recordings of AccentHelp coach Jim Johnson guiding you through learning the accent, using the text, as well as five more volumes of recordings of native speakers. He's traveled all over the United States to gather these recordings - bringing the experience back to you in this download. You'll hear the voices of a number of African-American actors giving you examples of the practice materials, and Jim will also lead you through a practice monologue in the accent that you'll hear those actors perform.
  • You'll get a PDF of the teaching materials that accompany the recordings. You'll also get three more versions of the book in various formats: a PDF file to print, MOBI for Kindle, and EPUB for other portable readers.
  • This accent is appropriate for productions of plays by August Wilson and Lynn Nottage and scripts such as The Whipping ManImmediate FamilyOur Lady of 121st Street, A Raisin in the Sun, and lots of other plays. You'll hear it widely used in film and television, and Jim has an extensive list of links to other video and audio materials available online.
  • African-American Vernacular is known by other names as well: Black English, Ebonics, Black Vernacular, and Blaccent. Though there are variations of the accent around the US, there are shared elements that are covered in these materials.
  • All of the sound files are in MP3 format so that you can play them on your computer, load them onto your phone, or burn them to a CD.
  • You'll receive a link via email so that you can download all of the materials as ZIP files directly to your computer.
  • You'll also get future updates for free! (last updated Dec 2020)

All profits from these materials go to diversity scholarships for actors at the University of Houston.

Listen to a Sample!

Audio files in Six Volumes (596.5MB, 449 minutes)

African-American Vol 1: Learning the Accent

  1. Sound Placement, Intonation and Helpful Hints (10:35)
  2. Consonant sound changes (25:33)
  3. Vowel sound changes (9:07)
  4. changes to Diphthongs (4:50)
  5. Pronunciations (4:01)
  6. Wrap Up (4:23)
  7. Practice Sentences (3:16)
  8. Text Practice (11:03)
  9. Text Intonation (7:00)
  10. Text Examples (2:57)
  11. St Louis MO Male Practice Examples (2:35)
  12. Harrisburg PA Female Practice Examples (2:12)
  13. Chicago IL & Southern CA Male Practice Examples (2:32)

African-American Vol 2: Recordings of Native Speakers

  1. Female from Daisetta TX reading (1:25)
  2. + her conversation (2:16)
  3. Male from Grapeland TX reading (1:16)
  4. + his conversation (3:51)
  5. Male from Dallas TX reading (1:44)
  6. + his conversation (1:27)
  7. Male from Houston TX reading (1:28)
  8. + his conversation (4:07)
  9. Male from Atlanta GA reading (:55)
  10. + his conversation (1:58)
  11. Female from Effingham GA reading (1:17)
  12. + her conversation (1:02)
  13. Female from Marietta GA reading (1:02)
  14. + her conversation (2:53)
  15. Female from Sumter Country GA reading (1:28)
  16. + her conversation (2:54)
  17. Female from Detroit MI reading (:55)
  18. + her conversation (2:59)
  19. Female from Detroit MI reading (1:14)
  20. + her conversation (5:11)
  21. Female from Detroit MI reading (:54)
  22. + her conversation (3:03)
  23. Female from Detroit MI reading (1:16)
  24. + her conversation (7:37)
  25. Female from Detroit MI reading (1:25)
  26. + her conversation (6:20)
  27. Female from Detroit MI reading (1:12)
  28. + her conversation (4:24)
  29. Female from Detroit MI reading (1:06)
  30. + her conversation (3:52)

African-American Vol 3: More Recordings of Native Speakers

  1. Male from Atlanta GA reading (1:19)
  2. + his conversation (4:24)
  3. Female from Southwest GA reading (1:05)
  4. + her conversation (2:48)
  5. Male from Dallas TX reading (1:59)
  6. + his conversation (3:26)
  7. Male from Beaumont TX reading (1:42)
  8. + his conversation (3:48)
  9. Female from Hardeeville SC reading (:56)
  10. + her conversation (1:13)
  11. Female from Franklin LA reading (1:15)
  12. + her conversation (3:05)
  13. Male from Brooklyn NY & Atlanta GA reading (1:07)
  14. + his conversation (2:04)
  15. Female from Oakland CA reading (1:23)
  16. + her conversation (2:44)
  17. Female from Los Angeles CA reading (:59)
  18. + her conversation (5:40)
  19. Male from Baltimore MD reading (1:10)
  20. + his conversation (3:30)
  21. Male from Philadelphia PA reading (1:13)
  22. + his conversation (4:44)
  23. Female from Columbus OH reading (1:10)
  24. + her conversation (3:07)
  25. Female from Indianapolis IN reading (1:15)
  26. + her conversation (9:02)
  27. Female from Detroit MI reading (1:11)
  28. + her conversation (8:18)
  29. Male from Detroit MI reading (1:09)
  30. + his conversation (6:35)

African-American Vol 4: More Recordings of Native Speakers

  1. Female from Winnfield LA reading (1:09)
  2. + her conversation (7:16)
  3. Female from Anaheim CA & Toledo OH reading (1:17)
  4. + her conversation (4:01)
  5. Female from Cleveland OH reading (1:19)
  6. + her conversation (6:51)
  7. Male from Pittsburgh PA reading (1:21)
  8. + his conversation (4:05)
  9. Male from Orlando FL & Rochester NY reading (1:08)
  10. + his conversation (4:54)
  11. Female from Pearlington MS reading (1:07)
  12. + her conversation (1:39)
  13. Female from Boston MA reading (1:05)
  14. + her conversation (5:38)
  15. Male from Montgomery AL reading (:51)
  16. + his conversation (8:39)
  17. Female from Scooba MS reading (1:22)
  18. + her conversation (5:25)
  19. Female from Wichita KS reading (1:11)
  20. + her conversation (2:53)
  21. Female from Milwaukee WI reading (1:03)
  22. + her conversation (5:31)
  23. Male from Milwaukee WI reading (1:00)
  24. + his conversation (2:53)
  25. Male from Milwaukee WI reading (1:03)
  26. + his conversation (2:20)
  27. Male from Chicago IL reading (1:00)
  28. + his conversation (4:58)
  29. Female from Chicago IL reading (1:05)
  30. + her conversation (7:08)

African-American Vol 5: More Recordings of Native Speakers

  1. Female from Scooba MS reading (1:00)
  2. + her conversation (1:03)
  3. Female from Sheffield AL reading (1:05)
  4. + her conversation (5:35)
  5. Female from New Albany MS reading (1:02)
  6. + her conversation (4:51)
  7. Female from New Albany MS reading (1:07)
  8. + her conversation (3:54)
  9. Female from Holly Springs MS reading (1:40)
  10. + her conversation (5:24)
  11. Male from Memphis TN reading (1:22)
  12. + his conversation (3:39)
  13. Female from Bolivar TN reading (1:35)
  14. + her conversation (4:40)
  15. Male from Luray TN reading (1:31)
  16. + his conversation (3:40)
  17. Female from Greenville SC reading (1:14)
  18. + her conversation (1:17)
  19. Female from Charleston SC reading (1:17)
  20. + her conversation (4:48)
  21. Female from Wiggins MS reading (1:18)
  22. + her conversation (5:49)
  23. Female from Orange NJ reading (1:05)
  24. + her conversation (4:44)
  25. Female from Bronx NY reading (1:07)
  26. + her conversation (4:45)
  27. Male from Brooklyn NY reading (1:30)
  28. + his conversation (5:49)
  29. Male from Brooklyn NY reading (1:12)
  30. + his conversation (2:55)

African-American Vol 6: More Recordings of Native Speakers

  1. Female from Steelton PA reading (1:10)
  2. + her conversation (4:37)
  3. Female from Tupelo MS reading (:55)
  4. + her conversation (6:01)
  5. Male from Pontotoc MS reading (1:14)
  6. + his conversation (4:38)
  7. Female from Midland TX reading (1:01)
  8. + her conversation (6:35)

Most of these recordings are made "in the field" so you will hear such things as birds, cars or other people in the background. A transcription of the conversations is included to help you follow along.


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