What is an RP accent

About this Video:

Have you ever wondered 'what is a RP accent?'; have you ever wondered 'what is the meaning of RP?'; and more specifically, 'do people in England really speak in RP, and if so, should I speak in RP and how should I go about learning to speak in RP?'. Well, in this video, these are exactly the questions that I'm going to answer.

So RP stands for received pronunciation and in England we often associate it with southern British English speakers, we call them standard British English speakers. And do people in England actually speak like that? Yes, but not many actually. Probably less than 2 or 3 percent these days. And it is an accent that carries class implications, which may or may not be true, I mean these are just stereotypes, but in England we often associate it with people like the monarchy or Royal family, or people in positions of power, or people who have a lot of money. You know, so it does have associations.

The question for you as a non-native speaker, learning to speak English is, should you learn to speak in an RP accent? And really that's your choice, I can't make that for you, but what you should know is if you're trying to really go for this RP sound, that only 2 to 3 percent of English people speak in this way.
Whereas the accent that I'm speaking in right now, uses RP as a model, I have many, many, many of the characteristics of RP, and some people would even call me RP, but I'm more of this sort of general standard southern British English, which in 2016 is considered to be the sort of standard British English accent.

So, should you learn to speak RP? That's your choice, and you should know that that has a very specific association and stereotype attached to it, and what I talk in is this sort of standard southern British English.

You know the question for you is how do you go about working on RP or standard southern British English, and I guess you could do that in a number of ways. You could get a personal coach to take you through all of the sounds of English and all of the intonation pattern. You could get a couple of good eBooks, a couple of good books, with some CDs or audio. You could look for some free material online. You could go on youtube as you are probably now looking at this video and search for RP accent or British English accent or southern British English accent or standard British English accent, and see what comes up. There's a load of really useful stuff out there.

I've got a couple of great free resources that you might be interested in that focus on the 5 most commonly mispronounced vowels sounds and the 5 most commonly mispronounced consonant sounds. So you can click here at the end of this video and there are a couple of links that will take you to my website where you can download those for free and get started on your standard British English pronunciation.

So look, just before you do that, if you enjoyed this video and you want to find it easily again, then click like. And just before you do that why not subscribe to this channel because I post weekly videos here every Tuesday at 8.30GMT local London time. So I hope to see you here next week.

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[marcmarc]

RP english is the clearest and easiest form of English. Believe a foreigner!

[calincucuietu]

Probably the best Modern RP male voice on youtube. Your efforts have borne fruits. It is something most Romanian people do when they move to Bucharest. This antiRP movement in UK is insane and aticivilisational.

[ricardosilveira]

You have a really pleasant voice and pronunciation, I'm aiming the RP.

[Brainophoning]

what a wonderful, soft, relaxed and comforting voice and the manner of delivering the material... love it, thank you, good sir ^^

[Andy-wvxj]

thanks for your work :)
i have been looking for a youtuber who has a native RP british speaker :) for a long time

[rd]

watch this in 2020. love just the way you speak! thanks for sharing this

[tiborbarcsik]

great video. English is not even my first language and I've got a cockney accent lmao. as far as I know RP was used by the upper class and cockney by the working class.

[sixtaaugusta]

Hello! I've just find your channel and it has very useful information. thank you!

[NgocNguyen-tzgb]

I wish you had made this channel earlier. I have tried to find such videos 3 years ago to learn more about British English. Unfortunately there weren't so many. I have spent years to pick up the accent and until now I really don't know if my accent is really standard British. Some native speakers told me my accent sounds almost like London accent. Some of my friends know British people and said my accent sounds "heavier" than their British friends. I have no idea what I am speaking now. But still, the source I am using to improve my British accent is reliable (From British Youtubers). I think I pick up a little RP accent, It won't sound weird if we use a little RP when we speak I guess.

[noon]

I fancy your accent .. would love one day to speak it

[linsey]

Definitely reminds me of the stuffy, high-class, elder, brit stereotype. Actress Maggie Smith is the first person I think of; of course, she is the absolute coolest brit I can think of.

[surykantg]

Amazing Pronunciation ....Pl make more videos in your voice to follow you...

[MiTmite]

I wish you could give examples, vocally, of differences between Southern British and RP accents.

[billwells]

Here in the US we accept you as the authority. We are still trying to get it right after 250 years.

[shygwaps]

a friend that I like is rp accent 😍😍😳😊 I love this accent too.

[receivedSE]

I would like to know who sings English songs with an RP accent. Julie Andrews?

[tejasdalsaniya]

I want to RP Accent. Can you guide me for that?

[wisdomcompassion]

As a non-native speaker, I enjoy listening to the British RP accent. It has nothing to do with its history of being spoken by people in the upper class, with power and status.

The pronunciation and intonation overall sound more pleasantly. Not to mention the grammar used is more accurate. I think it's better for a non-native speaker to learn a language properly with as few grammatical errors as possible.

In my opinion, if one doesn't have a good voice, when one speaks with an RP accent one would sound more pleasingly.

[sarahalshareef]

which city in uk use rp english accent pls tel me

[sarahbrennan]

Like the video, all the others I have watched are very snobby.. very natural video 🌝