In another book the reader did a special British accent for one character. It was very well done, sounded very convincing to me, so convincing that I couldn't understand it at all.

I often use http://howjsay.com/ which gives the RP pronunciation.Quinkish wrote:It's not just the accent either - pronunciation can be a problem and I've heard some British names badly mangled: Marlborough is one that springs to mind!
One problem is that online pronunciation guides to "English" tend to give you the American pronunciation so it's difficult to get right.
Ahh, In the defense of the indefensible, I once heard a British chap reading American place names. Willamette was Will-a-mett-e instead Wil-lam-it, and Yo-sem-it-e as Yose-mite. BUT I forgave him liberally, especially because I pronounced Yosemite the same way up to a few days before I heard his version. But that is neither here nor there!Nicholas19 wrote:I often use http://howjsay.com/ which gives the RP pronunciation.Quinkish wrote:It's not just the accent either - pronunciation can be a problem and I've heard some British names badly mangled: Marlborough is one that springs to mind!
One problem is that online pronunciation guides to "English" tend to give you the American pronunciation so it's difficult to get right.
I've heard English place-names pronounced in very odd ways indeed. I find it especially strange when I hear people pronounce Worcester (my city of birth) as if it were Worchester. Where does the 'ch' sound come from? It's supposed to sound something like Wooster.
Hmm, I learned that particular one at a very early age, thanks to the Warner Brothers Pronunciation Academy. You never went?catchpenny wrote:...Yo-sem-it-e as Yose-mite. BUT I forgave him liberally, especially because I pronounced Yosemite the same way up to a few days before I heard his version.
There was a comment like this in a review of a production I was in of Dancing at Lughnasa. Five of the characters are sisters who've always lived together in the same little village in Ireland, and would be expected to have similar accents. The reviewer's comment was, "Well, they all sound Irish, but I don't know from what parts of Ireland"Villette wrote:I don't really mind a fake accent unless it is just truly frightful.
Being a Southerner, I spent a bit of time while watching Cold Mountain wondering, "Where the hell are these people supposed to be from?" Eventually I decided that it didn't much matter, they were obviously doing their best at producing a "Southern" dialect -- without much precision about where in the South (Flag Pond, TN? Savannah, GA? Charleston, NC?) the accents were sometimes not 100% suited to the character, but, I eventually acclimated and let it slide.
Actually, I think that is not always the case. My oldest brother, who moved to Southern France when he was 6, has gotten the local accent, while my youngest brother who was only 1 at the time never did...Five of the characters are sisters who've always lived together in the same little village in Ireland, and would be expected to have similar accents.
A friendly reminder to all that files from projects in progress should not be downloaded and listened to by all and sundry (and certainly should not linked to from elsewhere on the web) because the server the files are temporarily stored on is not set up for that sort of traffic - as a wise man once said, "She cannae take it, Captain." The 'listen' links are provided to be useful to those involved, not as entertainment for those who aren't. I'm sure you meant 'if you happen to listen to my recording when it's finished', right, jedopi?jedopi wrote:... if you happen to listen to my recording.