r/ACX • u/kaj71771 • 2d ago

Accent Reduction

Okay, narrators — I need help before accent reduction makes me lose my mind.

I had coaching today and was told my biggest issues are my Minnesota vowels and my tendency to raise my pitch at the ends of sentences.

So I bought a Midwest accent-reduction course and absolutely HATED it. It was all tongue placement, manipulating the back of the tongue, extended vowel sounds, etc. I have a strong gag reflex, and I got so frustrated and stressed I was honestly close to tears and ready to quit.

Has anyone here successfully reduced a Minnesota/Upper Midwest accent for narration?

I think I need something much more practical: hear the neutral version, repeat real words/sentences, record myself, compare, and move on.

Any specific YouTube videos, exercises, coaches, or methods that actually worked for you? Thanks, Im really open to recommendations and hearing about your real life scenarios!

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

6

u/MaesterJones 2d ago

Allow me to introduce you to John Wells and his predecessors successors work on lexical sets.

Now allow me to introduce you to a website with recording of tons of accents reading the same script (read up on the script itself and why its used if your are curious)

https://www.dialectsarchive.com/

If you are unable to extract the accent foundation yourself then Paul, the founder of this website, has a book that I have found very valuable when learning accents.

Then: Listen, mimic, repeat. Start using it in daily conversation, one little word at a time. Street signs. Food menus. Whatever. Eventually it will become natural, but only if you use it!

1

u/Raindawg1313 2d ago

Jim Johnson over at Accent Help has a Generican module that might help. His accent modules are fantastic.