Teach Yourself Accents: Europe: A Handbook for Young Actors and Speakers

by Robert Blumenfeld

Overview

(Limelight). The third volume in dialect coach Robert Blumenfeld's new series on accents, Teach Yourself Accents: Europe, A Handbook for Young Actors and Speakers covers the European accents most useful for the stage and screen: French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Yiddish. The most important features of each accent are detailed, enabling the actor to begin immediately to sound authentic, and Mr. Blumenfeld's unique approach makes the accents easily comprehensible. The incisive, succinct introduction to studying any accent is useful above and beyond the specific details of the accents covered here. The book provides a wealth of references to films where the reader can listen to authentic examples of the accents, and information as to what roles require the accents. There are extensive practice exercises, all recorded on the accompanying CD, as well as a selection of monologues and scenes. All of this makes the book not only a perfect guide for the young acting student but also an authoritative reference for more experienced actors and for speakers of all levels.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780879108090
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2014
Series:	Limelight
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Robert Blumenfeld (New York, NY) works as an actor, dialect coach, and writer and has recorded more than 350 audiobooks. He speaks fluent French, German, and Italian and is conversant with the other languages covered here. He is the author of Accents: A Manual for Actors (2002) and of the two other Teach Yourself Accents books, on the British Isles and North America, both published in 2013 by Limelight Editions.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

List of Phonetic Symbols Used in This Book xiii

Introduction. Teach Yourself Accents: The Elements 1

What Is an Accent? 1

How the Muscles of the Mouth Are Used 4

Rhythm: Stress Patterns 5

Music: Intonation Patterns 6

Phonetics 7

Vowels, Semi-Vowels, and Diphthongs 7

Consonants 8

Some Questions to Ask Yourself 11

An Exercise for Teaching Yourself Any Accent 13

1 European Languages and Accents: General Advice and Useful Sounds 15

The Languages of Europe 15

Important Features of the Language Groups Affecting Accents in English 17

Teach Yourself European Accents 19

Learn Some of the Language 19

The Sounds of /th / th/ and the Tapped /d/ 20

The Intermediate Front Vowel /ih/ 20

The Sound of /u/ 21

Substituting Monophthongs (Pure Vowels) for Diphthongs 21

Rhotic Sounds 21

The Sounds of /l/ 21

2 French Accents 23

Teach Yourself French Accents 27

Intonation and Stress: The Music and Rhythm of the Accents 30

Practice Exercises 32

Three Scenes and One Monologue 34

3 German Accents 41

Teach Yourself German Accents 44

Intonation and Stress: The Music and Rhythm of the Accents 49

Practice Exercises 50

Two Scenes and Two Monologues 53

4 Italian Accents 59

Teach Yourself Italian Accents 61

Intonation and Stress: The Music and Rhythm of the Accents 65

Practice Exercises 66

A Monologue and Three Scenes 68

5 Russian Accents 73

Teach Yourself Russian Accents 74

The Pronunciation of Russian Names 78

Intonation and Stress: The Music and Rhythm of the Accents 79

Practice Exercises 80

Three Scenes and a Monologue 82

6 Spanish Accents 87

Teach Yourself Spanish Accents 89

Intonation and Stress: The Music and Rhythm of the Accents 93

Practice Exercises 94

Four Monologues 96

7 Swedish Accents 103

Teach Yourself Swedish Accents 104

Intonation and Stress: The Music and Rhythm of the Accents 107

Practice Exercises 108

Two Scenes and Two Monologues 111

8 Yiddish Accents 117

Teach Yourself Yiddish Accents 120

Intonation and Stress: The Music and Rhythm of the Accents 123

Practice Exercises 123

Two Scenes and Two Monologues 126

Selected Bibliography 131

About the Author 137

CD Track Listing 139