Films and TV series with different accents of English

To be a successful speaker you need to be able to differentiate accents of the English language: Received pronunciation, Scottish, Irish, American, Canadian, Australian.

The easiest way to get used to people speaking different accents is to watch films. Let’s look at some features of accents and examples of movies illustrating them.

Standard British or Received pronunciation(RP) is a “classical” variant or “gold standard” British pronunciation.

Characteristic features:

• most of the sounds are produced in the front part of the mouth 
• emphasis on long sounds [a:] dance [dɑːns] 
• drop of “r” at the end of the words: mother, river [ˈrɪvə] 
• short sound [ɪ] in –ry : secretary /ˈsek.rə.tər.i/ 

Want to listen to it? Watch "Great Expectations"(2012)

"Downton Abbey"

Scottish accent
Characteristic features:

• thrilled “r” : mother-r-r 
• vowel lilt
• short [ʊ] : put,could 
• /p/, /t/ and /k/ are not aspirated in more traditional varieties
• Scottish English has no /ʊ/, /u/ instead 

Want to listen to it? Watch “Outlander”

The leading actress has a standard British pronunciation so you can contrast and compare both accents.

Irish accent

Characteristic features:

• sounds are put far forward(lips are pushed forward) 
• [ɒ ] and [ɔː] tends toward [a] : stop ,honor, thorn 
• [ɔɪ] tends towards [ aɪ]: coil, point 
• [ʌ] shifts to [ʊ] : mud, puppy,above 
• a very “musical” intonation. 

Irish actress explains how to do the accent

Want to listen to it? Watch “Brooklyn” and compare American and Irish accents

American accent
Characteristic features:

• [æ] instead of [ɑː] : dance [dæns] 
• [iː] in –ry: secretary [ˈsekrətəri:] 
• drop of /j/ : duty [ˈdu ti] 
• /ɒ/ shifts to /ɑ/: bother (ˈbɑðə) 

 Want to listen to it? Watch “Forrest Gump”

Canadian accent

Characteristic features:

• “Canadian rising” (For the beginning points of the diphthongs (gliding vowels) /aɪ/ (as in the words height and mice) and /aʊ/ (as in shout and house), the tongue is often more "raised" in the mouth when these diphthongs come before voiceless consonants) 
• words of French origin are pronounced more like they would be in French: clique [kliːk] niche/ [/niːʃ]
• tendency to stress vowel sounds less than in other dialects 
• a higher more nasal pitch than Americans or the British. 

Want to listen to it? Watch "The Sweet Hereafter"

Australian accent

Characteristic features:

• non- rhotic
• flat intonation 
• vowels are more frontal 
• /eɪ/ shifts towards /ʌɪ/, as in Australia, day, mate 
• /aɪ/ shifts towards /ɒɪ/, as in high, wide. 

Want to listen to it? Watch “Ned Kelly”