Estuary Accent

[ruby95]

I have an audition and the brief said that I need to be able to do an estuary accent.

Can anyone please describe this accent to me or give me examples of famous people who speak in it?

One of my parents said maybe Tony Blair but they weren't sure...?

I have googled it but couldn't really find anything definitive.

Thanks

[WinterNight]

I never heard it be called an Estuary Accent before! But from what I can gather, it refers to South East England type of accent. (Which is where I'm from, so maybe this is why I havent heard it referred to that?) The best way I can explain it is RP & cockney mixed together. If that makes sense?!

Wikipedia has a good page on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary_English

Dont know if this helps at all =P

[Flosmom]

Its Thames Estuary, so WinterNight is right that it's 'Sauff Eeeest'

Try this http://m.howcast.com/videos/500498-How- ... ary-Accent

Good luck!

Deb x

[ruby95]

Thank you both very much.

Can either of you name any famous people who speak in that dialect so i can listen to their voice?

[WinterNight]

Perhaps Katie Price maybe?

[riverdancefan]

two examples I can think of are Lisa Maxwell and Carol Mcgiffen (sic)
Katie Price is too TOWIE
every know and then you drop a "wanna" or "gonna", the odd "nah" but otherwise speak pretty much correctly
Its very much how I speak

[Flosmom]

I'm soo glad you asked this...I found this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2X9L5ll ... ata_player

It mentions Jamie Oliver, David Beckham and Lily Allen as Estuary English speakers.

Have fun!

Deb x

[ruby95]

Thank you so much that is really really helpful

[Flosmom]

You're welcome....but my specialist subject is Brummie/Black Country accents. So if ever they bring back Crossroads, I'm your woman

Deb x

[songbird]

When my dd started singing at age 12 she was told she had an estuary accent we live in Medway - after a couple of years with singing teacher people at school started telling her she sounded posh I think its londoners who moved out to kent or essex ... since being at drama school with people from all over the country the northerners and southerners have mixed together so much she comes out with some really funny expressions

[riverdancefan]

When my dd started singing at age 12 she was told she had an estuary accent we live in Medway - after a couple of years with singing teacher people at school started telling her she sounded posh I think its londoners who moved out to kent or essex ... since being at drama school with people from all over the country the northerners and southerners have mixed together so much she comes out with some really funny expressions

This is very true, my accent as a teen changed after moving firstly from the east end to Kent and then at 18 back to west London to train as a nurse at an incredibly snobby and upper class London hospital.
It's a very versatile accent as you can alter it according to the situation!

[mathsmum]

like many other accents, an estuary accent can be quiter 'posh' and close to rp - think david tennant's dr who, middle-ranging - mark steele maybe, though his is estuary overlaid with 'proper' pronounciation due, i imagine, to speaking at length for a living - or really broad - find out whether you're meant to be middle-class estuary or street-speak estuary!!

the glottal stop for bu'er, ma'er is the pronounciation everyone associates with estuary

wickipedia does have some nice distinctions between estuary and cockney - and as already been pointed out, you need to keep to kent and not stray into essex

not sure how helpful this is, but it's fascinating

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/U ... ishAccents

ps tony bair's accent is a complete slumming-it fake - rather like guy ritchie's mockney