How does one learn a Scottish accent?

[DrWorm]

Bahh, forget Meyers and Cartoons. Those are exaggerations made for Yanks. Listen to scotts for a while and you get a good idea. I think two actors that are great for imitation are Ewan McGreggor and Alan Cumming. Alan is especially helpful because his mouth movements are exaggerated and are a good tutor on how you use your mouth.

Ease in to it, then if you are brave enough try an' read Burns outloud, or even the novel Trainspotting. It is daunting.

 

[msd]

As a complete aside...

It seems that a lot of people I meet have seen Trainspotting but have never bothered (or had the chance) to see the first movie that the same trio (the writer/director/producer are all friends) did called Shallow Ground.

If you haven't seen it and like Ewan MacGregor, I highly recommend a cybervoyage over to netflix or a walk to blockbuster. You won't be disappointed.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread...

 

[Tonguez]

Och aye laddie dannae ya ken thot dworfs nae be speakin like a scot!

Nay ah tell ya, they be soundin like a Germans broag

 

[RFisher]

Am I the only one who--while reading this thread--hears every post being spoken in a Scottish accent?

It seems that a lot of people I meet have seen Trainspotting but have never bothered (or had the chance) to see the first movie that the same trio (the writer/director/producer are all friends) did called Shallow Ground.

Oddly enough, I've seen Shallow Ground but haven't yet seen Trainspotting. Although, I don't know that I'd ever see it again. There's at least one image in it I don't ever need to see again.

The marquee of the theatre at the time--if read incorrectly--said "Shallow Muriel's Grave Wedding", which could be an interesting film.

 

[Desdichado]

Bahh, forget Meyers and Cartoons. Those are exaggerations made for Yanks.

Isn't that the point? Read the first post in the thread.

 

[Nisarg]

I was blessed with a talent for accents, I don't know if its genetic, or due to the fact that I was bilingual from childhood and figured out in my brain how to speak spanish with a spanish accent and english with an english accent, so that I didn't sound "foreign" in either.

I've been able, due to that I suppose, to imitate Scottish, French, German, English (lower and upper class), Hindi, Russian/Eastern European, and Chinese accents to great effect. I don't know if well enough that a native of any of these countries would not catch it (I suspect they would) but well enough that I've used the Scottish accent in a public place with someone who didn't know me and he didn't realize I wasn't Scottish. For all intents and purposes that's the real litmus test to go with; unless you're planning to take up work as a deep cover agen't IN Scotland, it really doesn't matter if a Scotsman can tell you're faking... unless of course you have a Scotsman in your gaming group.

The only advice I can really give you is, yes, watch all those movies already mentioned, but also if you have the chance record your voice, with the scottish accent, and then listen to it. Everyone's voice is different on tape than how we hear it spoken, and the only way to tell if you're really doing the accent correctly or just making a fool of yourself is to hear a recording of your own voice doing the accent. That will also let you more effectively check for little slips.

Nisarg

 

[Fenris]

Haggis, Lots and Lots of haggis

Also check out the Wicked Tinkers. Great Pipe and Drums band that will put you in the mood and has several tracks in Scots Gaelic.

PS Don't forget old Willy the Groundskeeper from the Simpsons!

 

[Sargon the Kassadian]

Haggis, Lots and Lots of haggis

Also check out the Wicked Tinkers. Great Pipe and Drums band that will put you in the mood and has several tracks in Scots Gaelic.

PS Don't forget old Willy the Groundskeeper from the Simpsons!

No, not haggis!
Iron Brew! Best soda ever, it is the traditional drink to have with haggis, and makes up for haggis and then some.
By the way, I lived in Scotland for a year and had a great accent, but lost it after a month in the states. I agree that most movie accents are exaggerated stereotypes of real scottish accents, but that may be because I lived in Edinburgh (the capital) where the accents were mixed/softer.

 

[cybertalus]

Try studying Scots Gaelic.

It wasn't my reason for doing it, but I discovered after a few months studying Irish Gaelic that I had learned to do a passable Irish accent. Course I eventually gave up on the language, but I can still do the accent.

Which is handy for D&D, because I've always considered halflings to be very Irish. Now I can portray them with an Irish accent and even use little bits of the language for their language as well.

Oh, and if you have cable you might see if BBC America has anything to offer. I've been boycotting them since they axed Eastenders, but they used to run shows like Hamish Macbeth and Monarch of the Glen that could help you out as well.

 

[Kax Tuglebend]

No, not haggis!
Iron Brew! Best soda ever, it is the traditional drink to have with haggis, and makes up for haggis and then some.

thats IRN BRU ya bampot! (apparently the only local soft drink anywhere in the world to outsell Coca Cola where it is available)

oddly, i'm English, have lived in England all my life, have been described as sounding a bit posh, and yet when i said something to my (scottish) mother whilst she was the phone to a scottish relative (whome i hadnt seen since i was wee) said relative promply asked mother if she had been teaching me to speak scottish..

:\ i suddenly have an image of dwarves hefting tankards of orange coloured beer drawn from kegs with 'made from girders' painted on them.. (formerly the IRN BRU advertising slogan)