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  • [Queen's Voice] Hello you laah-v-ely people,

  • [QV] Welcome, one and all, to today's lesson in how to talk like the Queen of England-

  • - side note, Elizabeth II is actually Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

  • That's over 16 countries, and no, she doesn't own them all anymore because, yes, we worked

  • out that owning other people is a bad thing- it just took us some time because apparently

  • we're slow but now we're really, really sorry about it.

  • Except for Wales, Scotland and Northern Irelandwho we're never letting go.

  • Probably. Maybe.

  • We'll see. Again, so sorry.

  • Not you, Cornwall, you're English, get over it.

  • Subscribe for more red, white and blue fun!

  • Oh waitthat describes a lot of different flags

  • Today I'm going to give you my 'top tips' for speaking like a royal- just in time for

  • the new series of The Crown to come out on Netflix.

  • - [QV] And for you to irritate everyone around you.

  • Is it weird to be getting voice lessons from a deaf girl? Maybe. Watch my 'Why I Have

  • A British Accent' video for more on that. But basically: I put a lot of work into this

  • voice, I should use it for something! Also, lipreading is fun and that's how I work

  • out what people sound like so I thought I'd share some of my learning.

  • Tip number 7:

  • [QV] Avoid modern conventions.

  • By which I mean: Americanisms. The Queen does not use the word 'like' as punctuation.

  • Don't drop your 't's or your 'h's and avoid slang.

  • [QV] Obviously.

  • Tip number 6:

  • [QV] Slow down and pronounce everything.

  • The Queen has an incredibly languid way of speaking becausewell, she's the Queen,

  • no one is going to tell her to hurry up!

  • This means that she pronounces almost every bit

  • of a word.

  • For example, in my normal voice I'll say 'particularly':

  • 'pehr-tic-uly' but

  • in my Queen voice I would really take my time and hit all of those vowels with:

  • 'par-tic-yoo-lahr-ly.'

  • It's longer.

  • Equally: February: feb-rue-air-ree

  • Why...?” I hear you ask.

  • [shrug]

  • She's the Queen. You can wait for her to get to the end of the sentence in her own

  • darn time.

  • Tip number 5:

  • [QV] Purse your lips, open your throat and drop your jaw.

  • But try to look attractive… I guess?

  • According to my mother: In finishing schools they used to make girls talk with the stone

  • of a plum between their teeth and that's how they learnt to make very rounded sounds.

  • And why we call that accent 'plummy'.

  • Broaden your sounds and imagine that plum stone.

  • Tip number 4:

  • [QV] Strange vowels.

  • Long vowels are particularly important when mimicking the Queen's accent.

  • Firstly, always use long vowels: [QV] bath, grass, dance and can't.

  • And then just mess everything up. Take your vowels and smush them together.

  • For instance:

  • The Queen makes the /æ/ vowel found in BAT, MAN, ACTION and THANKS with a close jaw and

  • a sort of smile like the /e/ found in MET & MEN.

  • So take the /e/ and you have: BAT, MAN, ACTION, and THANKS.

  • She also eats her /o/ sound so GO and SLOW become GO and SLOW

  • And she loves an 'oo'! The Queen makes her /uː/ sounds very far back in the mouth,

  • a standard British speaker would have the tongue further towards the centre in words

  • like TOO, NEW, SOON, WHOM so they become TOO, NEW, SOON and WHOM.

  • If you get stuck just keep saying 'ears' when you mean 'yes' and the rest will

  • fall into place.

  • Tip number 3:

  • [QV] 'Y' not 'ee'.

  • If a word ends in a weak 'y', British people will make a short, weak /i/ sound,

  • but the Queen will say /ɪ/ a more open sound: so SILLY becomes SILLY

  • So, when I say the word 'marry' my mouth finishes with a smile, when the Queen says

  • it she ends with her mouth closed: [Q] marr-eh. Try it with the word 'finally': finall-eh.

  • Although it is most noticeable in words that end in a y like [QV] carry and hurry.

  • Tip number 2:

  • [QV] Make space around your 'r's.

  • British people tend to use an 'r' at the end of a word to roll straight into the next

  • word. For instance 'mother. and. Father.' would be said 'motherand father'. The

  • Queen leaves a gap as she pronounces every word so the 'a' of and stands alone: 'mother

  • and father.

  • However, funny things happen to 'r's in words like INSPIRE and POWER as the 'r'

  • is, again, eaten becoming INSPIRE and POWER.

  • But 'r' can also be powerful such as VERY and MERRY becoming VERY and MERRY.

  • [QV] And finally..

  • Top tip number 1:

  • [QV] Make your words dance.

  • A distinctive feature of the Queen's speech is her intonation pattern: it's high-falling

  • but doesn't quite hit the bottom tone and instead glides down rather slowly:

  • [QV] The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.

  • Or my grandfather's favourite:

  • [QV] There was a young gourmet from Crediton, who took pate de fois gras and spread it on,

  • a chocolate biscuit, he murmered 'I'll risk it' and his tomb bears the date that

  • he said it on.

  • In conclusion: it's mainly her vowel sounds that are different from a standard GB accent,

  • but one must also focus on one's intonation and one's delivery.

  • Now let's pronounce some words together in the Queen's accent. Say it with me as

  • you see it on the screen:

  • [laugh, scough]

  • Yeah...

  • A fun fact for the end of the video:

  • The Queen's English is not considered an accent. It's a slower speech pattern distinguished

  • by elongated vowel sounds.

  • And give yourself a gold star if you get this joke (warning: it's niche)

  • Q: What's the definition of a crèche? [/krɛʃ/ /kreɪʃ/]

  • A: It's a collision between two motor vehicles in Kensington.

  • [crickets sfx]

  • Nevermind.

  • Thank you so much for watching, let me know in the comments what British based videos

  • you'd like to see me make next. Are there any burning questions you have about the English

  • that you're just dying to know? Are you also confused about the difference between

  • the United Kingdom and Great Britain? (Don't worry most of us are)

  • I really enjoyed making this video so looking forward to having more fun making similar ones.

  • See you in my next video!

[Queen's Voice] Hello you laah-v-ely people,

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