Customer Reviews

Acting With an Accent Irish

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this book and cassette very useful in learning an Irish accent. As someone who completely lacks any natural gift for mimicry, I needed the detailed information and numerous techniques that Stern offers. The only drawback was that the extensive focus on technique left relatively little room on the tape for examples of Irish speech. I would have liked to hear more monologues.

Listening to Irish music for quite some time, I'd been able to reproduce the Irish brogue well enough, but this book and CD helped hone and polish the subtleties and sneaky little nuances that dance through the Irish accent.

The instruction on the CD is delightfully thorough, not too overwhelming, and simple enough to follow along. Lesson examples are spoken with both an American accent and the Irish to get the ear and tongue used to the change, and the lesson exercises are a pleasure to repeat. David Alan Stern walks us through the steps confidently, with a brogue of his own, and helps us steer clear of stereotypes.

I highly recommend this book and CD to any actor needing to brush up, or begin, their authentic sounding Irish character.

Having extensively traveled throughout the UK and Ireland, and having a lot of family over there, I can't take Stern's accent seriously.

It's entirely inauthentic. Now, I've seen the expansive collection of accent teaching cds he has out, so I imagine that, after learning that many accents, you are bound to have trouble making any one of them sound genuine. Still, his accent sounds very forced on all of these tapes. The trick to having a good accent is to realize that when you use it, you have to speak it comfortably. You have to sound casual and relaxed.
It's much like the difference between singing, and just trying to sound like a singer - with the opera singer clearly manipulating his voice, while the folk singer might just sing in whatever way comes natural. Sterns sounds like he's manipulating his voice like an opera singer, with the pronunciation sounding inauthentic, whereas you (in my opinion) ought to sound like a folk singer, to use the analogy.

Anyway, he does a good job identifying all the elements of the accent you need to be aware of, so this CD definitely has some value in that sense (hence the 3 stars) but if you want to sound authentic make sure you try speaking along with native speakers to develop the smooth, effortless quality you need.

Purchased for my daughter who was in high school theatre. She learned the accent quite easily while listening to the CD. She has used the accent often for other parts she's auditioned for even while in college. I think her winning the 'best actress' award at play competition says it all for Dr. Stern's books on acting with accents. Both my daughter and her theatre teacher love Dr. Stern's CDs/books.

If you are a beginner, this isn't for you, but then again, I looked everywhere to find another. If you have some skills in stage presence and acting, then you will find this useful.

There is a volume 2 available as well.