Resources for Dialect
Finding information:
Theatre bookshops like Samuel French’ s in London, the bookstore at the National Theatre, and the Drama Bookshop in New York City (they can ship overseas) are excellent places to find your dialect resources.
Books and CD’s:
A few of my favorites are: Gillian Plescia’s assorted CD’s, Paul Meier’s books and CD’s including “Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen”; Barron’s “American Accent Training”; “Foreign Dialects and American Dialect: a Manual for Actors, Directors and Writers” by Louis and Marguerite Herman, among many others.
Online Resources:
International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA) is a resource every actor should know about. Another helpful site is George Mason University’s Speech Accent Archive. Used selectively, YouTube can be very helpful if you are looking for native speakers of a specific regional dialect. Oral History projects like BBC Radio 4’s The Listening Project for authentic UK dialects and StoryCorps for USA dialects can be excellent resources for finding native speakers. Many University libraries and some historical societies also have Oral History projects and recordings from their local area.
Links For Dialect
International Dialects of English Archive http://web.ku.edu/~idea/
The Speech Accent Archive http://accent.gmu.edu/
International Phonetic Alphabet Chart for English Dialiects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_chart_for_English_dialects
University of Wisconsin Digital Collections: American Languages - Our Nation's Many Voices http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/AmerLangs
Library of Congress: The Center for Applied Linguistics Collection http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/linguistics/
The American Dialect Society http://www.americandialect.org/
Dictionary of American Regional English http://dare.wisc.edu/
Macmillan Dictionary Blog http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/
British Library: Learning Language & Literature http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/index.html
Voices from the Dust Bowl http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html
PBS: Do You Speak American http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/
The American Language - An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States by HL Mencken 1921 http://www.bartleby.com/185/
University of Chicago Theories of Media - Gesture http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/gesture.htm
Scientific American - Muscle movement affects how we hear http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=muscle-movement-affects-how-we-hear-09-02-03
Gestural Origins of Language - Scientific American http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/1999/2/the-gestural-origins-of-language/6
Links For Poets and Other Writers
Open Culture - Listening to famous poets reading their own work http://www.openculture.com/2008/03/listening_to_famous_poets_reading_their_own_work_.html
Boston Local TV - Nobel laureates, poets and others reading their work http://bostonlocaltv.org/blog/2013/02/nobel-laureates-poets-and-other-writers-reading-their-work/
BBC Poetry Out Loud http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/index.shtml
Academy of America Poets Listening Booth http://www.poets.org/audio.php
Poetry Archive http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
TED talk - Natalie Merchant sings old poems to life http://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_merchant_sings_old_poems_to_life.html
Orpheus, the lowdown by Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge http://apehouseltd.bandcamp.com/album/orpheus-the-lowdown
TED Talk - Sarah Kay "If I should have a daughter" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snNB1yS3IE
Poetry London - International poetry magazine that includes both established and new poets http://www.poetrylondon.co.uk/
London Poetry Systems - Cross-media organisation for poetry in performance http://www.londonpoetrysystems.com/
Moving Poems - Poetry videos http://movingpoems.com/
Apples and Snakes - http://www.applesandsnakes.org/
Finding information:
Theatre bookshops like Samuel French’ s in London, the bookstore at the National Theatre, and the Drama Bookshop in New York City (they can ship overseas) are excellent places to find your dialect resources.
Books and CD’s:
A few of my favorites are: Gillian Plescia’s assorted CD’s, Paul Meier’s books and CD’s including “Accents and Dialects for Stage and Screen”; Barron’s “American Accent Training”; “Foreign Dialects and American Dialect: a Manual for Actors, Directors and Writers” by Louis and Marguerite Herman, among many others.
Online Resources:
International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA) is a resource every actor should know about. Another helpful site is George Mason University’s Speech Accent Archive. Used selectively, YouTube can be very helpful if you are looking for native speakers of a specific regional dialect. Oral History projects like BBC Radio 4’s The Listening Project for authentic UK dialects and StoryCorps for USA dialects can be excellent resources for finding native speakers. Many University libraries and some historical societies also have Oral History projects and recordings from their local area.
Links For Dialect
International Dialects of English Archive http://web.ku.edu/~idea/
The Speech Accent Archive http://accent.gmu.edu/
International Phonetic Alphabet Chart for English Dialiects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA_chart_for_English_dialects
University of Wisconsin Digital Collections: American Languages - Our Nation's Many Voices http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/AmerLangs
Library of Congress: The Center for Applied Linguistics Collection http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/linguistics/
The American Dialect Society http://www.americandialect.org/
Dictionary of American Regional English http://dare.wisc.edu/
Macmillan Dictionary Blog http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/
British Library: Learning Language & Literature http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/index.html
Voices from the Dust Bowl http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html
PBS: Do You Speak American http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/
The American Language - An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States by HL Mencken 1921 http://www.bartleby.com/185/
University of Chicago Theories of Media - Gesture http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/gesture.htm
Scientific American - Muscle movement affects how we hear http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=muscle-movement-affects-how-we-hear-09-02-03
Gestural Origins of Language - Scientific American http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/1999/2/the-gestural-origins-of-language/6
Links For Poets and Other Writers
Open Culture - Listening to famous poets reading their own work http://www.openculture.com/2008/03/listening_to_famous_poets_reading_their_own_work_.html
Boston Local TV - Nobel laureates, poets and others reading their work http://bostonlocaltv.org/blog/2013/02/nobel-laureates-poets-and-other-writers-reading-their-work/
BBC Poetry Out Loud http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/index.shtml
Academy of America Poets Listening Booth http://www.poets.org/audio.php
Poetry Archive http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do
TED talk - Natalie Merchant sings old poems to life http://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_merchant_sings_old_poems_to_life.html
Orpheus, the lowdown by Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge http://apehouseltd.bandcamp.com/album/orpheus-the-lowdown
TED Talk - Sarah Kay "If I should have a daughter" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0snNB1yS3IE
Poetry London - International poetry magazine that includes both established and new poets http://www.poetrylondon.co.uk/
London Poetry Systems - Cross-media organisation for poetry in performance http://www.londonpoetrysystems.com/
Moving Poems - Poetry videos http://movingpoems.com/
Apples and Snakes - http://www.applesandsnakes.org/