Received Pronunciation

What does the RP mean?

Received Pronunciation, or RP for short, is the closest to a “standard accent” that has ever existed in the UK.  Although it originally derives from London English, it is non-regional. Popular terms for this accent are:

• Oxford English
• BBC English
• The Queen's English

The Received Pronunciation accent is not an official way of speaking, but because school children ‘learn’ this accent at the most expensive schools in England, it used to be, and to some extent still remains, a sign of ‘a good education’ and a ‘certain social position’. However, if you have a Received Pronunciation accent that is too posh nowadays, then people think it is ridiculous and possibly that you are an old-fashioned aristocrat with outdated opinions.

Only an estimated 3% of the population speak with an RP accent, mostly in England.

Before the Second World War, almost all television and radio broadcasters used this cut-glass accent. But nowadays the media features a range of dialects and so Royal pronouncements and the Queen’s annual Christmas speech are always marked by their strict use of Received Pronunciation.

In fact it’s rumoured that one particular British prince never says the word ’yes‘, but ’ears‘ instead.

TASK 1

Watch the videos and write down in the comments the main features of the RP accent.

Part 1

Part 2

Where can you hear the RP?

You can hear this accent in Jane Austen adaptations, Merchant Ivory films, and Oscar Wilde plays. Other notable speakers:

•  Actress Dame Judi Dench 
•  Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher 
• Author Christopher Hitchens

How can you change your accent?

Try to follow these simple steps to improve your RP:

1. Get a cassette tape of someone who speaks English with the accent that you would like to have, at least twenty minutes long.
2. Listen to the entire tape all the way through once or twice, just to become familiar with its content. Don't write it down or try to memorize it.
3. Listen to a brief sequence - just a sentence or two. Rewind the tape to the beginning of that sentence.
4. Say the sentence aloud with the tape. Don't repeat it after the tape as is done in traditional foreign language courses - speak with the speaker. Don't worry about making mistakes, just do your best to speak simultaneously with the speaker.
5. Rewind to the beginning of the sentence and do this again, several times. (Ten times is not too many.)
6. Move to the next sentence and do the same thing.
7. Continue until you've worked your way through the whole tape speaking with your chosen model speaker.

For more useful information look at the instruction "How to speak the RP English Accent".

TASK 2

Practice your RP accent using the VoiceThread: