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Dawnie
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Do you do accents when you read aloud?
There are some books I'm interested in reading aloud to my girls, but I'm intimidated by the different dialect! Books like The Secret Garden...and Little House in the Highlands.
Just wondering how you all handle it...do you try to do an English accent, even if you've got a Southern drawl or a Midwestern twang? Or, in my case, a little of both?  What if you have no idea what the accent in the book *should* sound like?
Dawn
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marihalojen
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It depends entirely on how much caffeine is coursing through my bloodstream!
It is really fun when you can do it though, I highly recommend giving it a go. You may surprise yourself! My dh is sooo good at reading Treasure Island simply because he has the perfect Long John Silver accent, does that surprise anyone?
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Karen E.
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Dawn,
I do accents, and so do my kids. We all enjoy it a lot. It doesn't have to be perfect ... no one will test you over it. 
I agree with Jennifer about giving it a try, but if it stresses you out or takes the fun out of the reading, don't worry about it! And, with some books (such as Lissa's) some of the dialect is "written in" for you, in that the words are spelled as pronounced.
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stefoodie
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We do -- I know I sound funny sometimes and my kids tell me so (imagine a Filipino trying to do a British accent or Scottish burr -- I do a decent Indian accent though, I think ), but we have fun with it anyway. My kids do it all the time too, sometimes doing Brian Jacques character accents (Basil Stag Hare -- wot wot!?) ; Aisa when she was little did Texan/Southern, but their all-time favorite? JAMAICAN!! Yah Mon!!
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JennGM
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Dh and I both do accents and dialects when we can. We also adjust our voices to imitate male and female characters, children and adults, contrast of characters, etc. Of course, it does depend on how much energy I have reading.
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ladybugs
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Totally....I read Lissa's Little House in the Highlands to the kids and - in my mind - was able to really get the accent down - I think it helps with the telling of the story...
After all, the characters think "in accent." kwim?
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CathinCoffeland
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somehow i always end sounding like a pirate no matter what 
maggie
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lapazfarm
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I try. I fail. I keep on trying! 
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guitarnan
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One of my worst days ever was my first day in high school American Literature class after my exchange semester in Ireland. This California kid came back with an Irish accent you could cut with a knife. Mom didn't understand me at all. The nightmare? Being asked to read aloud the opening chapter of Huckleberry Finn.
"You don't know 'bout me without you've read a book called The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mr. Mark Twain...." and it goes on from there.
You'd have thought I'd grown five heads and three noses, right on the spot.
The accent wore off, mostly. Not the memory!
(Still, I'd go for the accent! Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as Laura Ingalls Wilder's Ma would say!)
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Chari
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I could do all accents pretty good, for my kids anyway ..........till I read Lissa's Martha books......now, almost all of my accents sound Scottish  ...and it has been YEARS. My kids often beg me NOT to do an accent now........."you always sound Scottish"
....ah, well, we all get a great laugh out of it.....and, I DO use an accent, even IF my Frenchmen sound like they are from the highlands
Have fun, Dawnie!
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Dawnie
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Ah, so maybe I shouldn't be so worried about the "performance"?
I read a chapter out of Prince Caspian to the kids tonight...complete with English accents. At least, I *think* it was an English accent. The kids loved it. My oldest is going around talking in an English accent all the time now. It's hilarious.
Dawn
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Mary G
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I do accents when the words are written by the author so that I can do it ... I figure if they've taken the time to try and SPELL the dialect, I should try to say it .... for instance, in Lissa's Little House in the Highlands she's got just enough dialect that I can do it.
In the Darby O'Gill and the Good People which we read for St.Pat's day, we really had fun with the brogue and the phrasing of sentences.
I think the kids enjoy the book when Mom gets silly and acts/dramatizes the words ... they understand that the reading of the words is just part of the overall experience. By getting into the dialect and using different voices, the kids realize that you "live" good literature!
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JodieLyn
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Kids are the least critical of audiences.. unless you teach them otherwise.
I loved doing the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe with different voices.. I don't get too out there but I'd do a bigger deeper (funny coming from me) voice for Aslan etc. But seperating people is harder.. I noticed tonight that I was doing it more by the pacing of what I read than tone necessarily.
But we all enjoy it more when I "slow down" enough to really get into it and help differentiate the characters by vocal cues and such.
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Corrine
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I use voices all the time. The hardest part is keeping them staight. When I read the girls Little Women I had an awful time keep all the March girl's voices different. I really would like to know how the people who read books on tape keep it all straight.
I use my hands a lot when I talk, as well, and if I'm not careful I start waving my hands around when I'm reading. I can always tell when I'm getting too dramatic because they'll start giggling.
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almamater
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Yup, I use the accent. Sometimes, too, I will give a character an unusual voice quality or a quality reflective of their very young/very old age. It is fun and how I miss being involved with theater!
Dawnie, that is quite an amazing avatar you have!
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stacykay
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I am like Mary G. I read with an accent when it is written that way.
Like the Cottage at Bantry Bay books (Irish,) and then Rolf and the Viking Bow (actually, I don't know what kind of an accent that was!  )
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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Lissa
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Chari wrote:
I could do all accents pretty good, for my kids anyway ..........till I read Lissa's Martha books......now, almost all of my accents sound Scottish ...and it has been YEARS. My kids often beg me NOT to do an accent now........."you always sound Scottish"
....ah, well, we all get a great laugh out of it.....and, I DO use an accent, even IF my Frenchmen sound like they are from the highlands
Have fun, Dawnie!
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LOL, Chari, I ruined you!
I always read with accents, good, bad, or otherwise. That's my favorite part of reading aloud. And in many cases, if a book was written by a British author I think it sounds stilted and awkward in an American accent, so I've been known to read entire novels in a Brit accent, narration and all.
Hey Dawnie, if you REALLY want to nail an accent, you can get cheap dialect tapes for actors. I listened to one repeatedly when I was preparing for the first Martha book. I started out as a drama major in college and we had to get a whole set of those tapes!
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Dawnie
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Lissa wrote:
Hey Dawnie, if you REALLY want to nail an accent, you can get cheap dialect tapes for actors. I listened to one repeatedly when I was preparing for the first Martha book. I started out as a drama major in college and we had to get a whole set of those tapes!
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Now this appeals to my perfectionist tendencies!
Where would I find these tapes, Lissa?
Dawn
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Lissa
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http://www.paulmeier.com/booklets.html
http://www.dialectaccentspecialists.com/learning.shtml
Here's two options, both rather pricey (and forgive my laziness in not making links--am typing while nursing a squirmy girl). I'll see if I can find my Scottish tape & check who makes it. Maybe Amazon carries it, I don't know.
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Lissa
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Dialects and reading aloud
