How to Learn a British Accent *Fast* (Modern RP)

Summary

この動画は、イギリスのRP（Received Pronunciation）アクセントを身につけるためのエッセンシャルなヒントを提供しています。剑桥大学の医学生であるイジーが、単語選択、子音、母音、イントネーションのポイントに焦点を当て、実際に発音する方法を解説しています。また、練習方法として、ポッドキャストやテレビ番組を聞くことや、鏡写しという技術を提案しています。

Takeaways

• 🎓 動画のホストは剑桥大学の医学部の最終年生である Izzy であり、彼女のコメント欄とDMsで非常に要求された動画です。
• 🗣️ イギリスのRP（Received Pronunciation）口音を学ぶためには、いくつかのシンプルなルールに従うことが重要です。
• 📝 言葉の選択が重要であり、イギリス英語バージョンの語彙を選び、アメリカ英語バージョンの語彙を避ける必要があります。
• 🔊 子音の发音が英国英語の特徴で、特に「t」の音は明確に発音することが重要です。
• 🇬🇧 英国英語では、r の音を省略することが一般的ですが、RP英語では、母音の後に r がある場合にのみ r を発音します。
• 🎵 母音の音は英国口音を決める要素であり、いくつかの重要な母音音と二重母音を学ぶ必要があります。
• 😌 シワの音（glottal stop）はRP英語の一部ではありませんが、他のイギリス英語の方言では一般的に使われています。
• 📊 練習方法として、ポッドキャストやラジオ番組を聞くことや、この口音で話す人々のテレビ番組やYouTube動画を見ることをお勧めします。
• 🏷️ 镜像技術（mirroring）は、特定の母音や子音に焦点を当てた練習で、口音を変えることが容易になります。
• 🌐 動画では、アクセントと言語学習についてのさらなる情報を含む、関連動画へのリンクが提供されています。
• 🙏 ビデオが役立ち、興味深く感じたと感じていただけることを願っています。

Q & A

この動画の目的は何ですか？

この動画の目的是に英国のRP（Received Pronunciation）アクセントを身につけるための基本的なヒントを提供することです。

英国のRPアクセントはどの地域で主に使われますか？

RPアクセントは英国南部で主に使われており、BBCの放送者が使う標準的な英語として知られています。

英会話での単語選択について何を注意すべきですか？

英会話では、アメリカ英語と英国英語の単語の違いに注意し、英国英語のバージョンの単語を選択することが重要です。例えば、アメリカ英語での「trash」は英国英語では「rubbish」です。

英国英語の consonants に特徴的な点は何ですか？

英国英語の consonants は、tの音をはっきりと発音することが特徴的です。また、rの音がvowel soundの後にない場合には発音されません。

英国英語の vowel sounds にはどのようなものがありますか？

英国英語の vowel sounds には、schwa sound、short o sound、long a sound、およびbig round o sound（diphthong）があります。

英会話の練習方法として推奨されるものは何ですか？

英会話の練習方法として、ポッドキャストやラジオ番組を聞くこと、テレビ番組や映画、YouTube動画を見ることが推奨されます。また、鏡鑑じる技術を用いて発音を真似することも有効です。

intonation と rhythm はどのように重要ですか？

intonation と rhythm は、英会話で非常に重要で、これは言語のリズムや強調、そしてより英国的なアクセントになるのに不可欠な要素です。

英会話の練習において、特定の vowel sounds や consonants に焦点を当てる方法はどのように役立ちますか？

この方法は、一度に多くのことを変えるのが大変な場合でも、一度に数つの母音や子音に焦点を当てることで、練習をよりマネジABLEにし、効果的に向上させることができます。

動画の作成者は誰ですか？

動画の作成者は、剑桥大学の医学部の最終年生のIzzyです。

動画の制作者が中国語を学ぶ経験について説明しているビデオはありますか？

はい、動画の作成者は中国語を学ぶ経験について説明しているビデオを用意しています。

英会話を学ぶためにどのようなリソースが利用可能ですか？

英会話を学ぶために、オンラインのアクセント学習リソース、ポッドキャスト、ラジオ番組、テレビ番組、映画、YouTube動画など、様々なリソースが利用可能です。

Outlines

00:00

🗣️イギリス英語の発音のコツ

このビデオでは、イギリス英語のRPアクセント（受け取り発音）を習得するための重要なポイントについて説明します。キャンブリッジ大学の最終学年生であるイジーが、語彙の選択、子音、母音、イントネーション、練習方法の5つの主要なポイントを紹介し、視聴者がよりイギリス風のアクセントを身につけることができるようにガイドします。特に、子音の「T」の発音と母音の違いに焦点を当て、イギリス英語のRPアクセントが南イングランドで標準とされるアクセントであること、BBC英語や女王の英語としても知られていることを説明しています。

05:01

🔤子音と母音で差をつける

イギリス英語のRPアクセントを身につけるための子音と母音の重要性に焦点を当てます。「T」の発音や、特定の「R」の音を落とすこと、そして特定の母音や二重母音の発音方法について詳しく説明しています。例えば、「water」の「T」の発音や、「doctor」や「teacher」の「R」の発音を省略することによって、イギリス英語独特の音に近づけることができます。また、母音の「schwa」音や短い「o」音、長い「a」音の正しい発音方法も紹介しており、これらの音を正確に発音することでイギリス英語のアクセントをより自然に聞こえさせることができると説明しています。

10:03

🎶リズムとイントネーションで生き生きと

リズムとイントネーションはイギリス英語のRPアクセントを習得する上で非常に重要であり、言葉の強調や言語の音楽性に大きく影響します。効果的な練習方法として、ポッドキャストやラジオ番組、映画やYouTubeビデオを聞きながら、「ミラーリング」という技術を用いることを勧めています。この方法では、特定の子音や母音に焦点を当てながら、話者のアクセントを真似して練習することで、自然なイギリス英語のRPアクセントに近づけることができます。また、このビデオが言語学習やアクセント習得に役立つことを願い、さらなる情報や技術の共有を約束して結びます。

Keywords

💡British accent

British accent, specifically Received Pronunciation (RP), is the focus of the video. It is considered the standard accent for people in the south of England and is often associated with the accent used by BBC broadcasters. The video aims to provide tips on how to achieve this accent, making it more accessible for those interested in learning it for acting or personal development.

💡Received Pronunciation (RP)

Received Pronunciation (RP) is a term used to describe the standard accent of British English, traditionally associated with the upper class and educated speakers. It is also sometimes referred to as BBC English or Queen's English due to its use by broadcasters. The video emphasizes the importance of mastering RP to achieve a modern or modified British accent.

💡Word choice

Word choice is crucial when learning a new accent as it involves using British English vocabulary instead of American or other versions. The video highlights the importance of using British terms such as 'rubbish' instead of 'trash' and 'trousers' instead of 'pants' to sound more authentically British.

💡Consonants

Consonants play a significant role in distinguishing the British RP accent from other English accents. The video emphasizes the clear enunciation of 't' sounds and the dropping of 'r' sounds in certain words to achieve an authentic British sound.

💡Vowels

Vowel sounds are essential in nailing a British accent, with specific focus on diphthongs and the schwa sound, which is the most common vowel in RP English. The video provides detailed guidance on how to produce these sounds to enhance the British accent.

💡Intonation

Intonation refers to the rhythm and musicality of speech, which is crucial for sounding more British. It involves the stresses and emphasis on certain words and contributes to overall understandability. The video suggests that mastering intonation takes time and practice.

💡Practice

Practice is vital for perfecting the British accent. The video recommends listening to podcasts, radio shows, TV shows, and YouTube videos in the target accent, and using mirroring techniques to imitate the accent as closely as possible.

💡Glottal stop

A glottal stop is a speech sound made by a brief constriction of the glottis, which is the space between the vocal cords. In some British English accents, the glottal stop is used in place of certain consonants, like 't'. However, it is not a feature of Received Pronunciation, which the video focuses on.

💡Diphthong

A diphthong is a complex vowel sound that begins with one vowel quality and ends with another. In the context of the video, the 'o' sound in words like 'hello' and 'slow' is described as a diphthong, where the mouth moves from a more open to a more closed position during the sound.

💡Mirroring

Mirroring is a language learning technique where the learner listens to a native speaker and then repeats what they hear, trying to match the accent and pronunciation as closely as possible. This method helps in practicing and internalizing the nuances of a particular accent.

Highlights

The video provides essential tips for sounding more British when speaking, particularly focusing on the Received Pronunciation (RP) accent.

The presenter, Izzy, is a final year medical student at Cambridge University, which adds credibility to her advice on accent training.

Five main points are covered to perfect the British accent: word choice, consonants, vowels, intonation, and practice techniques.

The video emphasizes the importance of word choice and vocabulary in achieving a British sound, with examples like 'rubbish' instead of 'trash'.

Consonants play a key role in distinguishing the RP accent from other English accents, especially the clear enunciation of 't's and the dropping of 'r's in certain words.

The 'glottal stop' is discussed as a feature in some British English accents, but it's noted that it's not part of the RP accent.

Vowel sounds are crucial for any accent, and the video identifies specific British vowel sounds and diphthongs to focus on, such as the schwa sound.

The 'short o' sound is highlighted as very British, with examples like 'hot', 'stop', and 'slot', and tips on mouth shape and tongue position are provided.

The 'long a' sound, similar to an 'r' sound, is explained with words like 'grass', 'bath', and 'father', noting the mouth and tongue positions for this sound.

The 'big round o' sound, a diphthong present in words like 'hello', 'no', and 'slow', is detailed as important for the RP accent, with a focus on the gradual mouth closure.

Rhythm and intonation are crucial for sounding more British, including stresses, emphasis, and the musicality of the language.

The technique of 'mirroring' is recommended for practice, where one repeats phrases from native speakers to imitate their accent closely.

Focusing on specific vowels or consonants at a time can make the process of changing an accent less overwhelming and more effective.

The video suggests resources like podcasts, radio shows, TV series, movies, and YouTube videos featuring speakers with the RP accent for practice.

Izzy shares her personal experience with accent learning, mentioning how she used mirroring to learn Mandarin, providing a relatable perspective for viewers.

The video concludes with encouragement for viewers to continue practicing and learning, aiming to help them sound more British.

Transcripts

today i'll take you through some

essential top tips to help you sound

more british when you speak so if you

want to learn a british accent then this

is the video for you some people think

that the british rp accent is quite hard

to pull off but actually if you follow a

couple of simple rules then it becomes a

lot easier if you're new here my name's

izzy i'm a final year medical student at

cambridge university this video has been

very highly requested in my comments and

dms in this video i'm going to be

talking about some key points where you

can really make your accent sound a lot

more british i'll go over five main

points today which will be word choice

consonants vowels intonation and finally

how to practice to perfect your british

accent whether this is for acting or if

you just want to learn how to speak with

more of an rp accent then hopefully this

video can help you out i'll particularly

focus on the vowels and the consonants

as these are the areas where you can

really make the most immediate impact

and immediate difference to the way that

your accent sounds today we'll only be

going through tips to speak with a

modern or modified rp accent which is

just my accent this is how i speak rp

stands for received pronunciation

and is sort of traditionally known as

the standard accent for people in the

south of england this standard southern

british english is sort of a bit like

the accent that bbc broadcasters speak

with so sometimes it's also known as bbc

english or queen's english it is

predominantly spoken in the south of

england but obviously it's not confined

to this geographical area and there are

so many different varieties

of british english even within the south

so if you're interested in learning an

accent that sounds a bit like mine then

keep watching this video so the first

thing that you want to pay attention to

when you're trying to sound more british

is actually word choice and vocabulary

i'm not going to go into this in too

much detail but it's really important to

make sure the words you're choosing are

the british version rather than let's

say the american version so just some

examples here would be for example trash

in american english is known as rubbish

in the uk some other examples include

pants versus trousers which is what we

would say in britain there are also

certain words or expressions that just

sound quintessentially british such as

the adjective knackered to describe when

you're really tired i'm absolutely

knackered or phrases like that's a good

shout when speaking to an american

friend of mine i sometimes use this

phrase and

he's a bit baffled like oh what does

that mean what does good shout mean it

just means that's a good idea

essentially so by choosing your words

and phrases carefully you can sound more

british in this way the second thing to

really pay attention to is your

consonants so consonants are an area

where british english particularly rp

really distinguishes itself from other

forms of english accents there are two

key points that i want to address here

firstly is these t sounds make sure that

you enunciate all of your t's this t

sound should be clearly enunciated at

the beginning in the middle and also

between words

so

examples of this would be the word to or

teacher you want to really like make

sure that that t sound is there but it's

not a very hard tea that you spit out

it's like a sort of

light tea so it's not like teacher it's

just teacher and you can clearly hear

that t sound a huge difference between

american and british sounding english is

the t in the middle of words such as

words like water so the word water in rp

the t in the middle is clearly a t

apologies in advance for my american

accent i

can't really do an american accent but

i'll try to just give you an example in

american english they might say it more

like a d like water other examples of

this include the word better versus

better

or city versus city

so make sure that those are really

coming out clearly next is tease between

words so for example

the phrase let it be the t isn't a d

sound again it's this making sure that

it's clearly a t sound and not a d sound

so i feel like sometimes in american

english people say let it be almost like

a d but this is let it be

or another example it is what it is so

i'm just going to put a phrase on screen

now and i'd like you to read it out in a

british accent including all the teas

so that would be pronounced it is what

it is one thing you may be wondering

about is something known as the glossal

stop

so in some variations of british english

the glottal stop is used in place of a t

so for example the word water with a

glottal t would sound like water

so it's where the t

isn't just fully removed it's like for

example

what and you're about to put the t in

but then you kind of there's a tension

in your throat that just cuts off the

sound i would say that this isn't really

part of rp english so if that's the

accent you're aiming for then glottal

stops are not something that you need to

worry about but i thought i'd just

address them as they are a very

widespread part of other forms of

british english a very commonly cited

example of this is i want a bottle of

water which with glottal stop teas

instead of normal teas would sound like

a bottle of water a bottle of water

i can't do it the second point in

consonants is the r sound so often the r

sound is actually dropped in british

english while the ts are always

pronounced

the r's are sometimes dropped this is

known as a non-rhotic essentially in rp

you only pronounce the r sound when

there is a vowel sound after the r in

examples such as the word british you do

pronounce the r sound because there's an

i sound right after it a vowel sound but

in other examples such as the word

teacher has an r on the end of it but

there's no vowel sound after the r so we

don't actually enunciate the r sound

itself so for example in american

english sometimes you'll hear something

more like teacher

what

obviously my american accent's terrible

so please forgive me for that so some

examples of where this r is dropped off

and replaced with the diphthong vowel

essentially a kind of longer version of

the vowel are words like doctor

teacher

water

better

learn

work

party

cart

bird

so dropping off the r sounds where

there's no vowel sound after the r

is really important to developing that

rp sounding accent next coming to vowel

sounds vowel sounds are so important to

nailing a british accent or any accent

for that matter so i'll be going over a

couple of sounds that are

quintessentially british that you can

incorporate into your own speaking there

are a set number of key vowels including

diphthongs that are important to learn

and there's a table of them i'll include

one over here that you can just use for

reference there are so many more

thorough accent learning reasons online

if you're interested in that so the

first vowel sound that is super

important to british english is the

schwa sound this is the most common

vowel in british rp english so it's

super important to nail this as it's

absolutely everywhere and examples that

include it include similar words that

we've used before actually things like

teacher that uh at the end

water

doctor even the word the itself

has that sound and to make this vowel

sound you essentially want to

have a fairly relaxed mouth with your

tongue just resting in your mouth and

you just want to

go ah

the next vowel is the short o sound this

sound is very british and is included in

words such as hot stop slot

got

all of these sorts of words with this o

sound in for example american english

the word stop might be

more pronounced as stop

rather than stop so this is a very round

shape with the mouth with the lips

slightly pushing out and the tongue just

slightly relaxed and flattened in the

mouth the next vowel is the long a sound

this is like an r sound which is present

in words such as grass

bath

father rather fast last to make the

sound open your mouth quite wide like

almost like you're going to the dentist

flatten your tongue and slide it back a

little bit and make this r sound ah that

kind of sound and just practice

last

past

bath

grass and this is in contrast to an

almost hard a where in some areas of

britain in british english instead of

having this long a sound which is

present in rp english there's an almost

like an a sound instead so instead of

bath it'll be bath the next vowel is a

big round o sound so this is present in

words such as hello

no

slow

low

go

halo zero and this is actually a

diphthong where there's actually almost

two sounds within the vowel and the

vowel changes over time that's what a

diphthong is essentially it is sometimes

known as a gliding vowel so the sound

goes from oh

it's like your mouth closes down as you

go through the vowel o to make the sound

your tongue starts off nice and relaxed

with your mouth slightly open in a round

shape and then as you progress through

the vowel

you kind of imagine it kind of closing

down

oh

[Music]

that kind of thing

and i think this one's quite important

to nail because it's in the word hello

and i feel like

sometimes people try to mimic the

british english accent the rp accent

with the word hello and the really

key thing that distinguishes whether

they've nailed it or not is this o sound

at the end so some people almost

overemphasize and they go hello

but that's almost closing it down too

fast it needs to be a very gradual o

quite relaxed o and it's also not a

single sound it's not ah some people say

hello or hello

hello it's not that it's hello

finally the fourth thing to pay

attention to is the rhythm and

intonation this is so important but it's

really hard to teach in a few quick tips

it's something that you need to really

absorb over time and this includes all

the stresses and emphasis on the word

and essentially the musicality of the

language and this really contributes to

making you sound

more british and also making you sound

more understandable as well so how can

you practice all of this i would

recommend listening to plenty of

podcasts or radio shows and also

watching tv shows movies or youtube

videos

with people speaking in this accent and

what you can do is a technique called

mirroring which is essentially where you

play or listen to

them say a phrase and then you pause

whatever it is and then you say it back

you repeat this process a few times to

try to imitate their accent as closely

as possible and one thing that can help

and lots of students that i've had have

found helpful is if you focus

specifically on a few vowels or a few

consonants at a time so for example if

you start with a sentence and you

specifically

focus on making sure you nail all the

t's or making sure that you nail all the

o sounds and then you can kind of build

up from there so it doesn't feel too

overwhelming or paralyzing because it's

a lot to try to change an accent and it

does take a lot of work this technique

called mirroring is actually something i

used extensively when i was trying to

learn mandarin i'll link a video over

here somewhere about my experience of

learning mandarin and how i did that but

otherwise i hope this video has been

helpful or interesting in some way and i

really hope it helps you to get closer

to your goal of maybe sounding more

british

if you enjoyed this video you might like

this one over here where i talk a bit

more about accents and language learning

thank you so much for watching take care

of yourself and i will see you in the

next video

bye