- Hello, it's me.
This clip of Adele has been going crazy
because people don't understand her accent
and what she's saying.
- The thing is, I was in her dressing room,
and I was, like, she has,
there was only a little curtain separating us
while she's having her makeup done, and I started, like,
"I don't think I can do this, I don't think I can do this,"
and she would have heard it all.
And then she popped out, so I put on a brave face.
But the second time I went out on a balcony
and got on my hands and knees and cried.
- So in today's class,
I'm gonna show you how to understand everything she says,
but also how you can do an Adele accent.
- [Interviewer] Adele.
Adele.
- What?
- [Interviewer] Can we have a quick interview?
- Yeah, all right.
(chill music)
- Which accent does Adele have?
Basically Cockney. That's the short answer.
The long answer is boring and you don't care anyway.
Cockney.
So we need to learn the sounds of the Cockney accent.
First, the "t" sound.
Get rid of it, put it in the bin, we don't need it.
Instead, say, "Uh, oh."
See, in the middle of "uh, oh," where your throat closes,
stops the airflow, stops the sound coming out.
That's a glottal stop.
Change every "t," except for words which begin with "t,"
to that sound.
For example, "hot" becomes "ho'."
"Hotter" becomes "ho'er."
Make sure you practice with me,
all of these sounds in this video.
For example, this one,
make sure you're not saying "ho-her."
No, that airflow needs to stop.
That's what makes that glottal "t" sound. "Ho'er."
Not "ho-her." No.
"Fit" becomes "fi'." "You're fi', love."
"Don't" becomes "don'."
"Curtain," "cur'ain."
"Little," "li'le."
You get the idea? Cool.
- [Interviewer] You broke up with your ex.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Do you have a message for his new lover?
- I don't know.
You know, give my love to her.
Treat her better.
It's hot today innit?
Okay.
Again, if a word begins with a "t" sound,
like the word "together,"
you don't make that "t" glottal, like "'ogether."
No, no one does. No. Just don't.
Together.
Now let's take that word "together"
to illustrate the next point.
Because we also change the "th" sounds,
the "th" sounds and there are two types of "th" sounds,
voiced and unvoiced.
Put your hand to your throat here
and feel how you say the "th" sound in words
like "thanks," "think,"
"through."
On the "th" sound, there's no vibration, right?
And that is called an unvoiced "th" sound
because there's no "thhh" vibration.
So, if words like "this," "that,"
"these," "those,"
produce a vibration on the "thh" sound,
that's called a voiced "th" sound.
So the unvoiced "th" sounds, throw them in the bin.
We're gonna use "th" sounds like this:
"think,"
"fink."
Say it with me, it's important to practice.
"Thanks,"
"fanks."
"Bath,"
"baf."
And voiced "th" sounds. We change them to "v" sounds.
"Together" becomes "togever."
"Together," "togever."
"Brother,"
"brova."
"Another,"
"anover."
And "with,"
"wiv."
If a word begins with a voiced "th,"
you don't change that.
So words like "this," "that," "these," "those,"
you don't change them to "v" sounds.
So, "vis," "vat," "vese," "vose," no.
Next, "l" sounds. Throw them in the bin.
We don't pronounce it, "l," we pronounce it "ew."
Watch the mouth shape. Watch my lips.
Watch all the stuff going on here.
Words like "little." Look where my tongue is.
"Little."
We're gonna change that to "lit-ew." "Lit-ew."
Remember your glottal "t."
Practice these next words with me.
"All,"
"aw."
"While,"
"Whi-ew."
"Balcony,"
"bawcony."
And again, if a word begins with an "l," don't change that.
So, "like," you don't change it to "wike."
The same if that "l" is in between two vowel sounds,
like "really."
Those are vowel sounds.
That's the "l."
Don't change that "l" to an "ew."
So, "reawy?" No. No one says that.
Next, The "Hs." Also in the bin.
"Bloody hell." No, "bloody 'ew."
Say it with me.
Nice.
All right, a full sentence now.
"I was having dinner with her."
"I was 'aving dinner wiv 'er."
So we dropped the "h," we changed the "th" to a "v,"
and it's also very common to change "-ing" endings
to "-in'."
"Having?" "'Avin'."
- [Interviewer] How about Queen B? Do you guys get on?
- What, Beyonce?
Yeah, yeah, we work together a lot, actually.
Another reason I love her is that she just turns up
out of the blue uninvited.
Yeah.
And finally, in a Cockney accent,
you can change "my" to "me."
You don't have to, it's an option.
So, let's put everything together.
"Let's put everyfing togever."
You say it.
Nice.
How would you say "my throat hurts" in a Cockney accent?
"Me fro' 'urts."
- [Interviewer] How do you write a song?
- How do I write?
So, I get all me ideas, put everything together
into a song, and then,
there's no worries or cares.
You know, regrets and mistakes,
they're just memories made.
- [Interviewer] Are you okay?
- I'm okay. My froat just 'urts.
We also have some expressions which,
if English isn't your first language,
you might not know.
So ...
- I got to meet Beyonce a couple of times,
which the first time I really held it together.
- To hold it together means to be calm and not panic.
Keep your composure.
If you're like me, and if you see blood,
you might be like:
(man groans)
So, if I ever see blood, I have to tell myself,
"Hold it together, Allie. Don't faint."
- I was like, "Thanks for having me at your show, B."
- "I was like," "he was like," "she was like."
"I said." "He asked me." "She told him."
Or, when you're talking about a conversation
and you want to show the gesture that you used,
maybe with your hands.
For example,
"I met this girl yesterday, and she was like, 'Hi.'
And I was, like, 'Hey.'"
- I was, like, "Thanks for having me at your show, B."
You, know, reh, reh, reh.
- Alright, "reh, reh, reh"
is the same as "blah, blah, blah."
You said words, but maybe they're boring or not important.
So, you replace a long conversation, a long dialogue,
with just "blah, blah, blah,"
or in Adele's case, "reh, reh, reh."
And this part.
- The thing is, I was in her dressing room,
and I was like, she has,
so there was only a little curtain separating us.
- "I was, like," "she has," "so there was."
She started the sentence three different ways.
I mean, we all do this.
I know I'm not articulate all the time.
You can ignore that part.
So finally, to bring this all together,
to sound natural with a British accent,
you really need connected speech.
This is not just a Cockney thing,
this is a British accent thing.
I made detailed videos about it here, but for this lesson,
let's concentrate on this one thing,
and it's very important.
In British English,
when a word ends in a "-er" sound,
like "better," "doctor," "actor,"
we don't pronounce the "-er,"
we pronounce it like a schwa.
"Uh." Say it with me. "Uh."
It's a really lazy sound.
"Betta, docta, acta."
Again, that's called a schwa. Video here.
However, when the next word starts with a vowel sound,
then we pronounce the "-er" sound.
For example, "better," "actor," separately, that's fine.
But, put them together, "better actor."
We need to link those two words with that "-er" sound.
- [Interviewer] You have to choose,
Robert Downey Jr. or Paul Rudd.
- Wow. All right.
So, I think RDJ is a better actor than him,
but, I mean, he just doesn't age does he?
Do you know what I mean?
- Video explaining all about connected speech right there.
All right. Put this all together for the final test.
This sentence. How would you say it in Adele's accent?
Make her proud.
You know everything you need to change.
"Th/th" sounds. Drop the "H"s.
"T"s, change them for glottal stops.
"L"s, change them for "ew"s.
Take your time.
Plan how you're gonna say this,
then say it and then check your pronunciation with me
and we'll say it together.
- [Interviewer] Final thoughts on Beyonce?
- I mean, I just think she's well pretty.
You know, I just want to put her in a little bottle.
Yeah. I saw her last November actually, in a Tesco.
She was with her auntie and she was buying Weetabix
and I was, like, "Oh my God, you buy Weetabix, too?
You're such a legend."
I mean, Beyonce in a bowl of Weetabix? Can you imagine?
Nice. Well done.
- Got to meet Beyonce couple of times,
which the first time I really held it together, I was like,
"Thanks for having me the show, B, you know, reh, reh, reh."
The thing is, I was in her dressing room and I was like,
she has, there was only a little curtain separating us
while she's having her makeup done.
And I started like,
"I don't think I can do this, I don't think I can do this,"
and she would have heard it all.
And then she popped out, so I put on a brave face,
but the second time I went out on a balcony
and got on my hands and knees and cried.
(Adele giggles)
- Did you? Bowing at the altar of Beyonce.
- I've been listening to her since I was, like, nine, man,
do you know what I mean?
It's incredible.
- All right, so if you want
to really improve your British accent,
I've made an entire course.
It's free, it's on YouTube,
and there's a free ebook to go with it.
With this course, you'll understand why we all sound weird
and how you can make your own
natural sounding British accent.
Really good if you're an actor,
but if English is your second language,
it's also helpful
to improve your listening and pronunciation.
Or, if you just want to continue your journey
for the Cockney accent, click this video.
And I'll see you in the next class.