Whats the best way for a child (11 yrs.old) to learn accents? She needed a British accent for a play and didn't know how. Are there audio books out there for that or do you need a coach?

Samuel French Bookstore (they have them in LA and in NYC) carries accent tapes/CDs for actors. They are accurate, but kinda boring for an 11 yr old. I keep a few of the common ones anyway, just for a last minute refresher.

I have found that keeping a few movies in the house works well. Harry Potter has British accents, along with My Fair Lady and Narnia series. Braveheart has Scottish. You get the idea.

These are also some cool links that another mom gave me, where you can hear different dialects:

http://accent.gmu.edu/
http://web.ku.edu/idea/index.htm

HTH,
A

The "Accents" thread on The Working Actor board should help!

Ask around your neighborhood - when my daughter needed a Northern England accent we found someone in our community who came from Northern England - who know?! That combined with a CD worked well for her - she was even complimented on her accent at the audition!

Thanks for your help!