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Upper Midwest Accent (USA)

Upper Midwest American accents include speakers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Michigan (including the UP) but the accent actually carries over into a number of other states as well. This collection includes several hours of recordings of native speakers!
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Upper Midwest American Accent Learning Materials

  • The Upper Midwest accent materials include recordings of AccentHelp coach Jim Johnson guiding you through learning the accent, along with a PDF book that guides you through these changes. (This book also comes in three other formats: a PDF file to print, MOBI for Kindle, and EPUB for other portable readers.)
  • You'll also get four volumes of recording of native speakers reading and in conversation, and you'll get a PDF transcript of the native speaker conversations so that you can follow along as you listen.
  • Over 7 and a half hours of recordings!
  • This accent is appropriate for productions of The Pavilion, The Christmas Schooner and other plays. You also hear it in films like Fargo and A Prairie Home Companion.
  • The Upper Midwest accent focuses on Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota, but it carries some similarities to Canadian dialects as well as dialects of the northern portions of states such as New York and Maine. It also carries over into South Dakota, northern Iowa and Illinois and into Montana, Idaho and even Alaska, though much of that falls into the Midwest American accent.
  • 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 be redirected to a link (which you'll also receive via email) so that you can download all of the materials as ZIP files directly to your computer. After that, you can transfer them to your phone or other media.
  • You'll also get future updates for free!

5% of all profits from these materials go to diversity scholarships for actors at the University of Houston.

Listen to a Sample!

Audio files in Five Volumes (375.9MB, 463 minutes)

Upper Midwest Vol 1: Learning the Accent

  1. Sound Placement, Intonation and Helpful Hints (9:18)
  2. Consonant sound changes (16:25)
  3. Vowel sound changes (12:42)
  4. changes to Diphthongs (7:42)
  5. Pronunciations (4:55)
  6. Practice Sentences (2:56)
  7. Text Practice (28:23)
  8. Text Intonation (19:54)
  9. Text Examples (2:16)

Upper Midwest Vol 2: Native Speakers from North Dakota & Minnesota

  1. Female from Wahpeton ND reading (1:30)
  2. + her conversation (2:37)
  3. Male from Arthur ND reading (1:25)
  4. + his conversation (:45)
  5. Female from Langolon ND reading (1:20)
  6. + her conversation (1:59)
  7. Female from Dickinson ND reading (:55)
  8. + her conversation (4:20)
  9. Female from Park River ND reading (1:07)
  10. Two ND Females in conversation (7:49)
  11. + more of their conversation (5:36)
  12. Female from Dunseith ND reading (:59)
  13. + her conversation (4:07)
  14. Male from Grand Forks ND reading (1:43)
  15. + his conversation (3:44)
  16. Female from Watertown SD reading (1:15)
  17. + her conversation (3:24)
  18. Female from Hawley MN reading (1:12)
  19. + her conversation (6:30)
  20. Male from Minneapolis MN reading (:59)
  21. + his conversation (3:03)
  22. Male from Norwood MN reading (1:20)
  23. + his conversation (:46)
  24. Male from Minneapolis conversation (5:25)
  25. Female from Worthington MN reading (1:00)
  26. + her conversation (4:24)
  27. Female from St Cloud MN reading (1:15)
  28. + her conversation (5:11)
  29. Male from Duluth MN reading (1:14)
  30. + his conversation (5:29)
  31. Female from Bloomington MN reading (1:05)
  32. + her conversation (6:31)

Upper Midwest Vol 3: Native Speakers from Minnesota & Wisconsin

  1. Male from Esko MN reading (1:20)
  2. + his conversation (6:31)
  3. Male from Grand Rapids MN reading (1:01)
  4. + his conversation (3:57)
  5. Female from Grand Rapids reading (1:15)
  6. + her conversation (6:30)
  7. Female from Keewatin MN reading (1:16)
  8. + her conversation (4:02)
  9. Male from Virginia MN reading (:53)
  10. + his conversation (9:43)
  11. Females from Stillwater MN & Madison WI conversation (5:48)
  12. Female from Sheboygan WI reading (1:05)
  13. + her conversation (5:10)
  14. Female from Superior WI reading (1:17)
  15. + her conversation (5:18)
  16. Male from Webster WI reading (:54)
  17. + his conversation (3:09)
  18. Female from Somerset WI reading (1:04)
  19. + her conversation (4:53)
  20. Female from Kiel WI reading (:47)
  21. + her conversation (3:40)
  22. Female from Wausau WI reading (1:12)
  23. + her conversation (4:30)
  24. Female from Wausau WI reading (1:13)
  25. + her conversation (3:32)
  26. Female from Sun Prairie WI reading (1:28)
  27. + her conversation (5:20)
  28. Male from Beaver Dam WI reading (:59)
  29. Female from Oshkosh WI reading (1:02)
  30. + their conversation (3:44)

Upper Midwest Vol 4: Native Speakers from Wisconsin & Michigan

  1. Female from Milwaukee WI reading (1:24)
  2. + her conversation (4:19)
  3. Female from Milwaukee WI reading (1:04)
  4. + her conversation (4:19)
  5. Female from Milwaukee WI reading (1:21)
  6. + her conversation (4:52)
  7. Female from Madison WI reading (1:25)
  8. + her conversation (2:36)
  9. Female from Milwaukee WI reading (1:45)
  10. + her conversation (8:09)
  11. Female from Oshkosh WI reading (1:00)
  12. + her conversation (6:26)
  13. Female from Three Lakes WI reading (1:13)
  14. + her conversation (4:01)
  15. Female from Green Bay WI reading (1:07)
  16. Female from Petersburg MI reading (:59)
  17. + her conversation (2:59)
  18. Female from Adrian MI reading (:52)
  19. + her conversation (4:22)
  20. Female from Ravenna MI reading (:58)
  21. + her conversation (5:57)
  22. Female from Dearborn MI reading (1:18)
  23. + her conversation (5:30)
  24. Female from Boone MI reading (1:04)
  25. + her conversation (4:02)
  26. Male from Dowagiac MI reading (1:31)
  27. + his conversation (3:16)
  28. Female from Grand Rapids MI reading (1:53)
  29. + her conversation (1:39)

Upper Midwest Vol 5: Native Speakers from Michigan

  1. Female from Ludington MI reading (1:08)
  2. + her conversation (10:02)
  3. Male from Ludington MI reading (:55)
  4. + his conversation (6:12)
  5. Female from Carp Lake MI reading (1:00)
  6. + her conversation (5:52)
  7. Female from Cheboygen MI reading (1:02)
  8. + her conversation (1:16)
  9. Male from Sault Ste Marie MI reading (1:00)
  10. + his conversation (9:49)
  11. Female from Cooks MI reading (:53)
  12. + her conversation (6:05)
  13. Female from Germfask MI reading (:53)
  14. + her conversation (3:43)
  15. Female from Gladstone MI reading (:55)
  16. + her conversation (5:06)
  17. Male from Harvey MI reading (1:00)
  18. + his conversation (4:49)
  19. Male from Ishpeming MI reading (:59)
  20. + his conversation (5:33)
  21. Female from Ironwood MI reading (1:11)
  22. + her conversation (5:19)
  23. Female from Escanaba MI reading (1:07)
  24. + her conversation (4:11)
  25. Male from Lake Linden MI reading (1:07)
  26. + his conversation (3:33)
  27. Female from Paynesville MI reading (:59)
  28. + her conversation (3:50)
  29. Male from Bergland MI reading (:59)
  30. + his conversation (3:23)

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.