If you’re thinking about improving your British accent, the Internet can be a great source of tools to help you with your accent training. But before you go any further, you should be clear about what you mean by the term ‘British accent’. As I’m sure you are aware, Great Britain has many accents and there really isn’t one standard British accent that is common to all speakers and all regions. When many people refer to a British accent, they tend to mean the RP or Received Pronunciation form of the British English accent. Some people also use the terms ‘Queens English’ or ‘BBC English’ to describe the accent they would like to develop. If you’re looking to learn a specific British regional accent, it would be wise to specify that when looking for training material. For example, learning cockney or learning a West Country accent.
Here are some ideas on how the internet can help you improve your British accent.
1. Podcasts – Download and listen to podcast recordings from native British speakers. Here you will find presenters speaking in a more relaxed and natural way. Search for podcasts on topics that particularly interest you, so that you not only practice your British accent while listening to them, but also gain valuable information on your chosen topic while doing so. If you can improve and develop your accent while listening to some inspiring and uplifting commentary, it will make accent training more fun and enjoyable. Remember to listen to the speech and repeat the words and phrases as you do so. You may need to listen to each podcast multiple times to not miss anything.
You can also find MP3 recordings specifically designed to help with British accent pronunciation training. Some mp3s focus on particular words and phrases, others may be more of a conversation/role play exercise.
2. Audio books: The same principle applies here as with podcasts. Download and listen to talking books narrated by authors with British accents or voice over artists. You will not only follow an entertaining story, but also listen to the pronunciation and practice your accent while doing it. Take a look at the Audible website to find both fiction and nonfiction audiobook recordings.
The great thing about audiobooks and podcasts is that they can be downloaded to your smartphone or MP3 player so you can listen ‘on the go’. Every commute to work, or gym session, grocery store visit, can be accompanied by your accent training mp3 audio files.
3. YouTube. Here you can access and watch video presentations specifically for learning the British accent, all completely free. You can also watch British speakers or actors in more general situations, in movies, dramas, corporate speech informative videos and still gain a wealth of insight on how to speak with a regional or PR accent. If you can watch their mouths as they speak, this can be helpful in improving the way you form British accent sounds with your lips, mouth, and tongue. Watch and imitate speakers whose sound you like, and this practice should help you improve your spoken accent.
The Internet is a great source of accent training material. I hope these 3 suggestions help you find learning tools to help you improve your own British English accent.