Mimicking an actor's accent

Question

I actually asked this one before but don't seem to have gained quite enough knowledge about this actor's accent. What are some distinguishing features of this accent in terms of pronunciation, rhythm, inflection, choice of words and whatever else you think is important. This is another video.

I've asked two teachers about it and they both agree that it would be quite a good accent for an ESL student to mimic but they are kind of stuck when it comes to identifying the accent, although they both think it is a "very polished upper class London accent.

Thanks in advance and please correct any grammatical or even logical mistakes I've made.

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

Hi,
yes, I remember you asked about him.

I'm not an expert at all, but I can tell you my opinion, as a learner.
I agree it's a good accent for those who are interested in British English. I don't find any annoying features in his accent (=features I don't like). It doesn't sound posh to me, his intonation seems to be normal and not exaggerated like in annoying posh accents.

3:54 - That is strange, yes. <-- Tapped T in "that is". I don't know how many accents have this feature and to what extent because I don't really know enough about British English.
3:57 - Yeah, that's a little weird<-- Glottal stops in "little". But they are not everywhere... either he's changing hir accent while he speaks, or those glottal stops are only found in certain special cases in his accent.
He doesn't release final T's. - Notice the difference between his final consonants and the hosts' ones, especially the woman's (the hosts sound like they overpronounce final consonants to me, since I'm mainly used to American English).

Just my non-native opinion, though.

I don't know how difficult it is for a learner to pick up such an accent, because I don't know how widespread those kinds of accents are in the UK and in the media in general. Good luck.

Hitchhiker · Answer

He sounds a touch muffled, and he's got a lisp. Try Patrick Stewart

Mimicking an actor's accent

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions