Can anyone help me learn an irish accent, I want to learn from an English (or Irish) person, not American.

[spiraltree]

I'm an actress, trying to learn an Irish accent (really important for me as I live in Ireland, and a lot of the plays require an irish accent). I've searched for books and downloadable guides, but have only found stuff taught by Americans, which teach the difference between 'standard American' and irish accents. They say things like 'shorten this vowel', and 'lengthen that one', which isn't very helpful as I don't have an American accent to start with (I'm English). Can anyone help?

[Naomicorlett]

Try googling learn irish cd. We do manx ones to help people learn the correct pronouncation.

[dundurn]

There's no such thing as an Irish accent. Think about it from the other end - how would you approach learning an English accent - you'd want to know does your character come from London or Manchester, common or posh, West Country or Geordie or Scots? So you need to be able to go from Dublin to Galway, Cork to Belfast and all points in between. My advice would be to sit down with an Irish friend and shamelessly copy their accent while you talk to them. Not in a contrived way; just have a normal conversation but try out the voice as you do. Most importantly ask them to pick up every mistake you make and play it back to you.

[johnny7]

Feasible answer there from dundurn...or you could just dress in all green, drink Guiness and say "To be sure, to be sure" all day.

[obNOXious]

I'm confused about you being an actress and not being able to imitate voices when you hear them. My wife was an actress and all she did was listen to any regional dialect she wanted to copy and go around talking like that until it felt natural.
As dundurn says just copy people, but Irish accents are so very diverse that you really do need to maybe learn a variety to be able to carry any role off, as I, being from Belfast, sound nothing like my cousin who lives in Cork. Get some good Irish films failing all else and have a listen to native Irish actiors, or just turn on the telly:)

[kira000]

When i want to pick up an accent, i choose my subject - a person whose accent i want , and listen to them speak.
It can be a real person, or it could be a film. I find being able to see their face is better than radio or CD, as it helps to be able to see how their mouth moves to make sounds.
Then start by choosing a phrase of theirs, for example (tongue in cheek here!); "G'wan, wouldja have anotha cupo tea" (as in Father Teds housekeeper), and pratice that.

Get a few phrases like that, and then use them as entrances to a sentence. I find if i have an entry hook, it is easier to carry the accent forward into the rest of the sentence.
Then gradually, repeat, until you get used to using the accent constantly.
Et voila.!
The Kira Method is complete!

[Huderon]

You live in Ireland. Unless you live in an English enclave there are people all around you speaking with an Irish accent. Listen, imitate (not just the sounds but also the pattern and rhythm of the speech and the way they put sentences together) and get some Irish friends to correct you when you practice on them.

I spent three years living in Kildare as a child, then came back over here and learnt to speak RP (it's an age and parent thing). I can't imitate the accent, but after being with people with a strong (southern Irish) accent for a while I wind up speaking with a noticable accent.

[glasman]

Go to your local video store and rent out
1) Finian's Rainbow
2) The Quiet Man
3) Far and Away
After viewing these, you will have a good idea about how eminent actors and actresses of the past (and not so past -they include that little 'broth of a boy' - Tom Cruise) have dealt with this. Then, all you need do is try something completely different.

[CAJ1]

You could listen to an irish radio station and copy what they say

[swedeheart]

Use the advanced search option to google the exact phrase dialect coach and take it from there. You'll get thousands of search hits including anecdotes about gazillions of established actors and actresses preparing for a part with the aid of such a specialist. It's a profession by its own right; it wouldn't be if there were no need for it, or at least producers wouldn't pay for it, which they do. Needing a coach to pick up an accent says nothing about whether you're a good actor or not. After the age of twelve it's virtually impossible to analyze and acquire a "foreign" accent unless you're a phonology genius. Some people are, most people aren't � either way it's not related to your acting skills.

By no means should you make a particular point of finding an Irish-born coach. What you need is someone who is skilled in analyzing an accent/a dialect and making you hear what you didn't hear before. The mere fact that a person is a native speaker does not automatically provide him with those qualities. Hey they can even be American � but as your speech should be the point of reference, they have to work with you live, books and tapes won't suffice if you really want to "pass".

The Kira Method ;-) of watching how people's mouths move may sound a bit daft but it's very good advice. Ask a professional impersonator, they'll tell you the same thing. 'Course, what happens "on the inside" (tongue, vocal folds, resonating chambers et cetera) is even more important � but imitating how someone "holds" their mouth will help you develop a feel for what's going on "inside" as well.

Now there's a genius

Break a- �tongue? spiraltree!

[swedeheart]

(Bit out of sync, that clip!)

[fredpuli47]

Interesting that Kevin Spacey 'gets into character' in the clip, and sets his mouth and body into the ways of the subject.That's one reason why having a catch phrase or some famillar words of a subject you know and who has the accent works: you find yourself not just hearing but standing and acting out the way the subject sets themselves when speaking.I And every amateur drama teacher says 'concentrate on the vowels first' but I've never understood quite how that is supposed to work!

f you can afford one, a voice coach is worthwhile. They are extraordinary. A friend with Received Pronunciation spoke on the phone to one for a couple of minutes. The coach asked" Which part of the area of Trough of Bowland [in Lancashire] are you originally from?" Amazing! My friend was born in the middle of that very area, near Chipping.One clue was she always said 'Is it not' for 'isn't it' (apparently this is unusual) and another was some slight vowel sound which was distinctive to the coach but not to me, a southerner.That's the ear and expertise that these coaches may have