Interested in understanding and learning to imitate different English accents?

Whether you are a student of English or a native English speaker, English accents are sure to prove to be a fascinating and amusing topic for you.

Indeed, the evolution of the English language has meant that many forms and accents have emerged and set themselves apart. Here you will find some guidance to understanding these different accents and tips in order to be able to mimic them and amuse your friends and family!

How many different accents are there in English?

The amount of varying accents in English is so high it would almost be impossible to make a detailed and exhaustive list of them. But for a very in-depth and detailed description of the majority of accents, check out Wikipedia's page on English accents.

Here, we will just explore the majorly recognized accents, such as:

Australian
South African
Jamaican
Scottish
Irish
Welsh
Canadian (and a regional accent)
American (and a few regional accents)
British (with its many many regional accents)

As many have read or heard of, during the 18th and 19th centuries, British convicts were sent to Australia because of a penal colony set up there. Among the convicts were many Cockneys from London and so that accent has had a major influence in the development of the accent that we now know as Australian.

If you know phonetics, you might find this page to be very useful in understanding pronuciation. And for expert, audio advice, you might like to look into getting Acting With an Accent/Australian, written and produced by a Dialect Accent Specialist and Coach in Hollywood. Not only providing useful pronunciation tips, this course helps to create a voice resonance that is natural and just like native Australians.

We will do our best here though to give some free guidance and advice in pronunciation, that hopefully anyone can follow:

Australia (pronounced: o(long)-stre(short)-lya
-ar, -er, -or, etc syllables are pronounced with a short and sharp sound (car=ca, short=shawt, there=theh)
The endings of words are not anunciated exactly (going=goin) The general sound is sing-songy, choppy, lilting.

To hear the language for yourself and get a feel for the Australian accent, listen to this online talk radio station: 4BC

And check out this Aussie lesson on Youtube:

Do you speak with one of the above accents or have you mastered the art of imitating any of them? Why not share your tips and secrets with others, using the form below!