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Generican General American Accents

Generican Accent

Using phonetics, audio, and video, Jim leads you through Relaxed Generican, Elevated Generican, and Trans/Mid-Atlantic accents.
$30.00
$30.00

Generican Accent Learning Materials

  • Often called General American, Standard American, Neutral American, or even "No Accent" American, Jim Johnson guides you through three variations of these Generican accents: Relaxed, Elevated, and Trans/Mid-Atlantic (the 1930's style speech). This also serves as an introduction to learning the International Phonetic Alphabet for actors through the lens of an American accent. 
  • This is not intended to serve as materials for a non-native speaker to learn to speak with a neutral American accent - it's intended for actors to gain greater insight into the elements that make up the "neutral" variations of American accents, and it can lay the groundwork for learning other accents through the AccentHelp materials.
  • You'll get a PDF of the teaching materials that accompany the recordings. You'll also get three more versions of the book in various formats: a PDF file to print, MOBI for Kindle, and EPUB for other portable readers.
  • The ebook will include links to over 20 videos that introduce you to each section, and hours of audio of Jim guiding you through elements of these variants. (There's a full listing below, under Audio.)
  • Jim also reads through seven practice monologues in all three accents - Relaxed, Elevated, and Trans/Mid-Atlantic - so that you can listen through these variations and practice them yourself.
  • There is also a volume of actors reading and speaking in conversation in what can be roughly termed a modern Relaxed Generican accent, telling you about where they have lived, and some additional insights on the influence of their speech. (See a full listing below under Audio.) You'll also get a PDF transcript of these conversations - and more will be added in the future, which you'll get for free when updates are available.
  • All of the sound files are in MP3 format so that you can play them on your computer, load them onto your phone, or burn them to a CD. The videos are links included in the written materials.
  • You'll receive a link via email so that you can download all of the materials as ZIP files directly to your computer.
  • You'll also get future updates for free!

5% of all profits from these materials go to diversity scholarships for actors at the University of Houston.

Listen to a Sample!

Audio files in Four Volumes (726.5MB, 479 minutes)

Volume 1: Vowels

  1. Relaxed Generican Front Vowels (13:38)
  2. Relaxed Generican Back Vowels (13:54)
  3. Relaxed Generican Diphthongs (8:02)
  4. Relaxed Generican Vowel +R (14:48)
  5. Trans/Mid-Atlantic Front Vowels (8:43)
  6. Trans/Mid-Atlantic Back Vowels (12:32)
  7. Trans/Mid-Atlantic Diphthongs (7:02)
  8. Trans/Mid-Atlantic Vowel +R (13:18)
  9. Elevated Generican Front Vowels (6:38)
  10. Elevated Generican Back Vowels (12:14)
  11. Elevated Generican Diphthongs (6:31)
  12. Elevated Generican Vowel +R (13:17)

Volume 2: Consonants

  1. Relaxed Generican Consonants 1 (14:13)
  2. Relaxed Generican Consonants 2 (14:47)
  3. Relaxed Generican Consonants 3 (18:09)
  4. Relaxed Generican Consonants 4 (17:43)
  5. Elevated Generican Consonants 1 (12:25)
  6. Elevated Generican Consonants 2 (11:57)
  7. Elevated Generican Consonants 3 (14:57)
  8. Elevated Generican Consonants 4 (15:11)
  9. Trans/Mid-Atlantic Consonants 1 (8:44)
  10. Trans/Mid-Atlantic Consonants 2 (8:27)
  11. Trans/Mid-Atlantic Consonants 3 (9:18)
  12. Trans/Mid-Atlantic Consonants 4 (9:40)
  13. Elevated Generican Consonant Clusters 1 (9:31)
  14. Elevated Generican Consonant Clusters 2 (12:38)
  15. Elevated Generican Consonant Clusters 3 (10:59)

Volume 3: Practice Monologues

  1. Monologue 1 in Relaxed Generican (1:23)
  2. Monologue 2 in Relaxed Generican (1:00)
  3. Monologue 3 in Relaxed Generican (1:11)
  4. Monologue 4 in Relaxed Generican (1:12)
  5. Monologue 5 in Relaxed Generican (1:07)
  6. Monologue 6 in Relaxed Generican (1:26)
  7. Monologue 7 in Relaxed Generican (1:07)
  8. Monologue 1 in Elevated Generican (1:31)
  9. Monologue 2 in Elevated Generican (1:07)
  10. Monologue 3 in Elevated Generican (1:19)
  11. Monologue 4 in Elevated Generican (1:21)
  12. Monologue 5 in Elevated Generican (1:14)
  13. Monologue 6 in Elevated Generican (1:43)
  14. Monologue 7 in Elevated Generican (1:12)
  15. Monologue 1 in Trans/Mid-Atlantic (1:29)
  16. Monologue 2 in Trans/Mid-Atlantic (1:04)
  17. Monologue 3 in Trans/Mid-Atlantic (1:18)
  18. Monologue 4 in Trans/Mid-Atlantic (1:12)
  19. Monologue 5 in Trans/Mid-Atlantic (1:03)
  20. Monologue 6 in Trans/Mid-Atlantic (1:25)
  21. Monologue 7 in Trans/Mid-Atlantic (1:10)

Volume 4: Generican Speakers

  1. Wheeling WV Female reading (1:26)
  2. + her conversation (5:57)
  3. Fairfax VA Male reading (1:22)
  4. + his conversation (6:34)
  5. Olathe KS Female reading (1:22)
  6. + her conversation (7:02)
  7. Phoenix AZ Male reading (1:27)
  8. + his conversation (5:17)
  9. Harrisburg PA F reading (1:02)
  10. + her conversation (7:34)
  11. Mason TX Male reading (1:04)
  12. + his conversation (5:28)
  13. Toronto Canada Male reading (1:32)
  14. + his conversation (7:21)
  15. Beaverton OR Male reading (1:02)
  16. + his conversation (5:11)
  17. Sioux Falls SD Male reading (1:19)
  18. + his conversation (7:25)
  19. Little Rock AR Female reading (1:24)
  20. + her conversation (5:04)
  21. Military Childhood Male reading (1:38)
  22. + his conversation (6:35)
  23. Houston TX Female reading (1:34)
  24. + her conversation (4:46)
  25. Somersworth NH Male reading (1:14)
  26. + his conversation (6:05)
  27. Tucson AZ Male reading (1:16)
  28. + his conversation (6:33)
  29. Pemberton NJ Male reading (1:19)
  30. + his conversation (7:37)
  31. Decorah IA Male reading (1:12)
  32. + his conversation (4:50)
  33. Dekalb IL Male reading (1:14)
  34. + his conversation (5:53)

More native speakers will be added in the future - and you'll get the updates for free!

A transcription of the conversations is included to help you follow along.

Related Accents