Accents: North American standard and regional
Time: 17:15 - 18:45
Location: KS - Keeley Street
This course takes place in the classroom, please follow this link to find out what we are doing to keep you safe: Staying COVID-19 secure at City Lit
Course Code: DVB015
Duration: 10 sessions (over 10 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Center for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
Learn how to speak with confidence and authenticity in a North American Broadcast Standard or General American Accent. This course will give you an effective framework, based in simple Phonetics, for studying and learning a North American accent for audition or performance. A few regional American accents wil be included, and the choice of these can be negotiated with the tutor.
What will we cover?
North American Broadcast Standard plus a few regional American accents. Knowledge of phonetics is ideal but not essential.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
Break down an accent into its component parts for self-study.
Significantly increase your confidence with American accents.
Increase flexibility of articulators and improve ear training.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
Beginners and Intermediate. All that is required for you is a keen interest in the subject, a healthy dose of patience and a willingness to try out strange and fascinating new speaking possibilities.
In order to get the most from the course you will be able to:
Speak English fluently.
Communicate in group situations.
Give and receive constructive feedback.
Read and respond to a range of texts.
If you are new to voice classes please take a moment to read our
full sequence of voice and speech classes at City Lit (click here) before choosing.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Detailed breakdown and analysis of the accents, including phonetics. Some prior knowledge of phonetics is
therefore useful but not essential. The Dialect Coach will work with you on priority sounds, both as a group and
individually. The course will be taught in the college.
As part of the course content, your tutor may record your image for initial and ongoing assessment purposes. You are entitled to decline to participate in the recording of your image.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
You may find it useful to bring coloured highlighter pens, a small hand mirror, class handouts and portable digital
recording device to class.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Character Voice for Animation; Acting for Radio
Please refer to our
full sequence of voice and speech classes at City Lit (click here) as you consider which area you would like to study next.
Deirdre is a supportive and dynamic acting, drama and accent tutor at Citylit. She trained in acting in NYC and at RADA , and studied Performance and Culture at Goldsmiths (MA). Her directing credits include new writing workshops of Shaken by Louise Page and staged readings of plays and musicals at RADA, a devised play The Disunderstood at CityLit; she has also directed large scale Music Hall Events for The Portico Gallery. As a writer, plays include Waking Beauty, The People Downstairs (Young Vic, Shortlisted for LWT Plays On Stage), The Lizzie Play directed by Rufus Norris (UK and international tours, Time Out & Playbill Critic's Choice) A Cautionary Tale for the National Theatre Studio, and Betty Has To Go Now, commissioned for the 2013 Solo Theatre Festival. Performance credits include Betty Has To Go Now, Adult Child/Dead Child, and What Happened to the Tyrant, Bessie in Arthur Miller's The Ride Down Mount Morgan (West End world premiere), Joanna in Home Free (directed by Kathy Burke), Jeeves and Wooster (ITV) and Simon Gray's Unnatural Pursuits (BBC TV)
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.