How to Be a Dialect Coach

A dialect coach trains people to speak with a specific accent from a culture other than their own. Actors use dialect coaches predominately to prepare for roles requiring a certain type of speech. They help pubic speakers lose their native accent.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Enroll in a public speaking class. Most public speaking instructors teach their classes in standard Midwestern dialect as this is the most widely used dialect in broadcast journalism.

2. Learn about voice, diction and the phonetic alphabet. This helps you learn the different sounds and which languages use them.

3. Become a student of different languages. This doesn't necessarily mean you have to learn to speak a foreign language. Dialect involves the way things are said not necessary what is said.

4. Listen to the nuances of the different languages found in your own community.

5. Pay attention to dialects spoken on TV and radio. Practice using the different accents and inflections heard on a daily basis.

6. Study acting with trained dialect coaches. Qualified dialect coaches have spent years training under others who are experts in their field.

7. Take on a few students to perfect your craft. Offer training to your first few students for free in exchange for website or mailing recommendations.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no standard course work requirement for a dialect coach. The typical educational pattern is an undergrad degree in some field of public speaking, acting or theater arts. Follow this with a Master's in Fine Arts or Broadcasting. Some Master's programs allow for a specialization in or a thesis on different dialects.

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[Myshashi]

on 10/30/2009 A dialect is a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class.

A dialect that is associated with a particular social class can be termed a sociolect. Other speech varieties include: standard languages, which are standardized for public performance (for example, a written standard); jargons, which are characterized by differences in lexicon (vocabulary); slang; patois; pidgins or argots. The particular speech patterns used by an individual are termed an idiolect.

A dialect is distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation (phonology, including prosody). Where a distinction can be made only in terms of pronunciation, the term accent is appropriate, not dialect (although in common usage, "diale...