Welcome!

This is a comprehensive collection of accent and dialect samples to accompany each of the eleven accents explored in African Accents: A Workbook for Actors. There are both male and female native speakers represented for each accent. Most speakers read Diagnostic Passages and Sentences and end with an extemporaneous personal anecdote.

When choosing your samples, keep the following in mind:

1. Choose at least three samples, two of them of the same gender as the character you’re playing, so you will be able to develop a character voice rather than simply being mimetic.
2. When listening to the Diagnostic Passages and Sentences, please note that these are being read and do not reflect the melodic and rhythmic flow of spontaneous speech. They are helpful, however, in isolating the sound shifts for the accent.
3. Work with the Making Your Own Map of the Accent worksheets as you listen to the accent samples. This will guide you into creating your own idiolect of the accent.