Learn 25 English accents through TV Series (with Examples & Recommendations)

Hello everyone and welcome back to English with  Lucy. Today, I've got a slightly different video  

for you. I'm going to show you lots of examples  of all different types of English accents  

and the different TV shows and films that  you can watch to hear these accents and  

if you want to learn these accents. I'm going  to show you examples of the British and Irish  

accents. So we've got English, Welsh, Scottish,  Northern Irish, and also the Irish accents and  

I'll give you lots of examples of films and TV  shows that contain these accents and dialects.  

We'll also look at the Americas, so we've got  the Canadian accents, the accents from the United  

States, and I will briefly touch on Caribbean  accents as well. We'll then move on to Australia  

and New Zealand accents and we will take a brief  look at some African and Asian accents as well.

Now, there are so many English accents and  dialects all across the world. It could be  

possible, but it would be a very, very long  video if I were to go into each and every one and  

provide a media example for them. So I've taken a  small selection of accents at a small selection of  

films and TV shows. If you'd like to add anything  to this list, if you want to show off your accent  

or you have some more recommendations for TV  shows for another accent, please do contribute  

in the comments section down below. As always  I have created a free PDF for today's lesson.  

It contains the full transcript and all of my  recommendations. If you'd like to download that,  

just click on the link in the description box, you  enter your name and your email address. You sign  

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Quickly before we get started, I would just like  to thank the sponsor of today's video, NordVPN.  

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Let's get started with my recommendations of  films and TV shows for different accents and  

dialects. Okay, let's talk about British and Irish  accents. Focusing on England first, we have the  

RP accent which is received pronunciation. Now  RP is often referred to as the Queen's English or  

the King's English, depending who's around at that  time. So of course, I'm going to recommend to you  

The Crown. The Crown is a Netflix drama that  covers the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. And  

in this series, we have some amazing examples of  the RP accent to varying degrees as well. Prince  

Charles in the latest season has a particularly  strong King's or Queen's English version of RP.

You're not what we expect from royalty.

Well, that's because I don't think of  myself as royalty. First and foremost,  

I'm a wife and a mother, that's  what's most important to me.

So very, very posh. Let's now take a look at  Estuary English. And my example for Estuary  

English is The Office. Make sure it's the UK one  though. You won't find much Estuary English in  

the US version. This accent is associated with the  area along the River Thames and its Estuary hence  

the name. To me, it sounds much less posh than the  RP accent. When I speak, I speak with a modern RP  

accent, but I do have elements of Estuary English  in that too. Now the Office is a fantastic  

comedy. It's actually a mockumentary, which means  it's a fake jokey documentary. It was written and  

directed by Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant. It  follows the somewhat boring day-to-day lives  

of all the workers in an office in Slough,  which is a town about 20 miles west of London

On a more positive note, the good news  is I've been promoted. So every cloud.

We have all had a boss or coworker  like that. And if you haven't, then you  

are that boss or coworker. Moving on to  the Cockney accent, which I have to say  

is one... I do have many, but it is one  of my personal favourites. You can hear  

fantastic examples of the  Cockney accent in the TV comedy,  

Only Fools and Horses. It's quite old, but don't  be fooled, it's wonderful. It's set in Peckham  

in Southeast London and it follows two men, two  brothers and their attempts to get rich quick.

Think we're on a winner here, Trig.  Alright. Play it nice and cool, son.  

Nice and cool, you know what I mean.

Cockney is a dialect used in and around London,  especially in the east end. Right, let's move on  

to the west country. And the TV show that has  fantastic examples of the west country accent is  

This Country. This is quite a new TV show  and I devoured it. I absolutely loved it.  

It's another mockumentary sitcom and it follows  the day-to-day lives of two cousins. But I think  

in real life, they're actually brother and sister.  The Cotswolds is a beautiful area of outstanding  

natural beauty in the UK. It's characterised by  honey coloured stone buildings. It got a massive  

tourism trade. If I had to pick somewhere to live  in the UK, I would pick the Cotswolds. However,  

there's a big wealth gap and a lot of young people  that don't actually have many opportunities.

Few rules. No moaning, no  complaining, no negative Nazis.

Okay.

If you don't like the work, the circus is  intense and they're always looking for claims.

Right. Yeah.

Thirty minutes for lunch.

Right.

Any longer than that gets  taken out your wage packet.

Okay.

So although this is a comedy, it does actually  show how difficult a rural life can be for young  

people in the UK. It's something I relate to, to a  certain extent because I grew up in a tiny village  

and it was very small, very boring.  There was one bus per week. If you  

didn't drive or you didn't have parents  who were willing to drive you places,  

you just have to be bored. And bored  teenagers get up to very surprising things,  

surprising yet predictable. The West Country  accent is a rhotic accent and you can find it in  

Gloucestershire, all in the Cotswolds, but also  in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorsett as well.

Let's talk about the Geordie accent. To me, this  is one of the most unique British accents. The way  

it sounds is just so different. I love it. The  Geordie accent is typically found in Newcastle.  

I'm going to recommend a film that's based  in county Durham and the accents are kind of  

half Geordie, half Teesside. It is the most  fantastic film, we watched it the other day,  

again, probably the fourth time. It's about a  young working class boy. He's pressured by his  

family to do boxing and other manly sports, but he  actually wants to be a ballet dancer. All of this  

is going on during the miners' strikes in the  '80s. I love this film because it doesn't just  

paint England as being this wonderful happy place.  It shows the harsh reality of the '80s in the UK.

You know quite nicely.

What? What are you trying to say, Dad?

You're asking for a hiding, son.

No, I'm not, honest.

You are Billy. Billy.

I remember watching this film as a young girl  and wanting this accent. I felt so cross that  

I didn't have a cool accent like that.  Now let's move on to the Scouse accent.  

This accent is found in Liverpool. It's  named after a stew called Scouse. This  

was eaten by local people and sailors. I'm going  to recommend another slightly older film to you,  

but it's got a wonderful example of the Scouse  accent. It is Educating Rita. This film stars,  

Julie Walters and Michael Caine. And Rita is a  Liverpudlian hairdresser, but she just wants more  

from life. She wants to go and get an education,  but she's not from an area or family that really  

encouraged that. She ends up attending  university and Michael Caine is her tutor.

Wait a minute. Listen to me. I'm on this course,  

you are my tutor and you're  gonna bleeding well teach me.

There are other teachers I told you.

But you're my tutor. I don't want another tutor.

For God's sake woman, I told you.

But you're my tutor, look.

I told you, I do not want to do it.

It's such a great film. It's an absolute  classic. Let's move to Yorkshire. I have  

a fantastic recommendation for this accent,  these are some of my favourite films ever.  

For the Yorkshire accent, I recommend Wallace  and Gromit. And if you haven't heard of them,  

oh you are in for such a treat. These animations  are actually claymations meaning they're made out  

of some sort of moulding clay. They take years to  produce because every single movement needs to be  

captured, and they depict a man from Yorkshire  and his dog. Now you won't learn much English  

from the dog, but you will from Wallace the man.  They're just absolutely lovely. But in particular,  

I recommend their film. I think it was their  first feature film, if I'm not wrong there.  

It's called Wallace and Gromit  and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Look. This flipping vegetable competition  causes nothing but trouble every year.

Here we go.

If you ask me...

Get on with you.

You know, I tell you. If  you ask me, this was arson.

Arson?

Aye, someone arsin around. That's  right, one of you lot. A man.

It's one of my favourites and basically  it depicts this small village that has a  

yearly giant vegetable competition, but  a giant were-rabbit, a massive rabbit  

goes through and destroys it. And it's a big  hullabaloo. Just watch it, it's fantastic.  

Let's move on to the Brummie accent. And of  course, I'm going to recommend Peaky Blinders.  

So the Brummie accent is the accent found  in and around Birmingham. This is a crime  

drama and it follows the story of a gang and  their criminal activities around Birmingham.

I had a dream about a black cat last night Poll.  

A black cat dream means there's a traitor  close by. It was you told me that.

If you find an accent hard to understand,  please do watch with subtitles. A couple of  

times you will be amazed how quickly you start  to get used to it. The last accent that I have  

for England is Multicultural London English,  MLE. Now this compared to the previous accents  

is actually quite new. It's rooted in the  migration from the Caribbean to the UK after  

the second World War. It's very prevalent, as the  name suggests, in multicultural parts of London,  

that is such a fantastic series that really  demonstrates this accent and that is Top Boy.  

Oh, my word, I loved this series. It's a crime  drama set on an estate in London. It follows lots  

of young people there and their struggles  balancing having an education with crime.

Listen, there's a lot of gangsters Randy's  ends and to find out what you're doing there,  

things [inaudible 00:13:12] like it. I'm  just parsing out some good advice, Dave.

I highly recommend this series. It also  shows some Jamaican English as well. Right,  

let's move on to Scotland. Obviously Scotland  is a lot smaller than England, but it still has  

a really, really diverse range of accents. One  series that I can recommend is Outlander and this  

is set in the Highlands. It's a very interesting  concept. A married former World War II nurse  

is transported back in time to 1743, I think. And  there she meets a very handsome Highland warrior.

Well, it is your fault. Had you stayed put where  I ordered you to stay, none of this would have  

happened. Ah, but no. No, you won't listen to me.  Why mind me? I am no but your husband. If you take  

it into your mind to do as you damn please, and  next I can find you flat on your back with your  

skirts up and the worst scum of the land between  your legs about to take you before my very eyes.

I begged you to take me with you.

A Highland dialect is strongly influenced by  Gaelic. There is a wide variety of accents  

within this series. There's a fantastic  video that I found talking about all of  

these accents. So if you are interested in  Outlander and also the variety of accents,  

then click on the link in the description box I've  left there for you. I've left lots of information  

about everything I'm recommending. I'm not a  Scottish accent expert, but we've got one here  

and she can do a much better job. I do have one  other recommendation for Scottish accents though,  

and this is for the Glasswegian accent.  It's a TV show which sadly got cancelled,  

but it's worth watching the first two  series, it's called Lip Service. I  

loved this TV show when I was younger. It  follows a group of queer women in Glasgow.

I was bang out of order, I'm sorry. I  have been selfish and thoughtless. And  

I know how difficult your job must be or maybe I  don't. Obviously, I have no idea because you just  

get on with it while I moan about everything.  And you're right, nobody died. It's no big...

Cat...

I just wanted to apologise. You were  absolutely right, I deserved it.

And this was the first TV show for me that  followed a group of gay women. I'd never seen  

anything like that before and it was fascinating  and it's really, really worth a watch. Let's move  

on to Wales. I have one recommendation for  Welsh TV shows and that is Gavin and Stacey.  

It's half based in south Wales and half based in  Essex. In Essex, they speak Estuary English and  

also a lot of Cockney because a lot of the  Cockney speakers who lived in the east end  

have moved out to Essex. This depicts the  love story between a Welsh girl and Essex lad.

He then sells them around the back  alleys. He's been doing it for years.  

It's totally legit. And the thing is it's  incredible value. These steaks are 87 pence.

Right he's good, 87 pence for a steak.

No, no. Not 87 pence each, 87 pence for free.

Even though geographically Essex and south Wales  aren't so far apart. Culturally, they can be  

quite different so it's really funny look at the  differences between the two types of families. We  

always watch it on Christmas day and I absolutely  love Gavin and Stacey on Christmas day. Let's move  

on to Northern Ireland. I love... I know I've said  I've loved so many accents, but the Northern Irish  

accent for me is really, really attractive. There  is a fantastic comedy set in Derry in Northern  

Ireland called Derry Girls. Follows a group  of young girls in the 1990s when the troubles  

were going on in Northern Ireland. This was a long  period of conflict between the '60s and the '90s.

John's really dying for peace, like,  isn't he? It's all he ever goes on about.  

I hope it works out for him.

Aye, I sort of hope it works  out for all of us, Sarah.

Totally recommend. It's so funny. And those women  are just hilarious. They're so funny in real life  

and in the comedy. I have one other recommendation  for the Northern Irish accent and this TV show,  

it's not based in Northern Ireland. There's only  one character who's Northern Irish, I think. Yeah,  

just one, I think. It's actually got a really wide  variety of accents in it and it is my favourite TV  

show at the moment it's called Line of Duty.  If you take anything away from this video,  

take Line of Duty. It's so, so good. It is  smashing the ratings in the UK at the moment.

No, no we're not asking for a  suspension at this particular time.  

We don't think he's a threat to his fellow  officers or indeed the public in general.  

Now why should the citizens of this country be  denied his selfless service? Interview terminated.

My favourite character in this TV show is Ted  Hastings played by Adrian Dunbar who has the most  

gorgeous Northern Irish accent and he says so many  hilarious catch phrases. This is a crime drama.  

It's quite serious. It's definitely not a comedy.  And it follows the anti-corruption unit of a  

fictional UK city of a fictional UK police force.  One thing I really love about this show is that  

each season only has six episodes. My pet hate  is when each season has 21 episodes and I think  

that all an hour long I'm going to have to spend  an entire 21 hours in front of the TV to know what  

happened. Let's move on to Ireland. There are so  many accents and dialects in Ireland. I'm going to  

pick one that I really, really liked one TV show,  and that is Moone Boy. It stars Chris O'Dowd and  

it's semi-autobiographical. It focuses on a young  boy growing up in Boyle and his imaginary friends.

Ever wanted to be the imaginary friend  of an idiot boy in the west of Ireland?  

Me neither. But there you go.

Right. We're done with the UK and Ireland.  Let's move on to the Americas, starting with  

Canada. For TV show with a Canadian accent, I  recommend Heartland which is based in Alberta  

and it follows two sisters on their  family ranch. So if you like horses,  

this TV show is for you. It really is lovely.

Oh, they look good for now,  I had to get going, so.

Wait, I thought you said you're going to help me.

Well, I am. I mean, I did.  I can't be here 24/7 Amy.

No one's expecting you to be.

Moving it to the US. We have a great TV  show to watch if you're interested in  

Southern American accents, the TV series,  Nashville, which is based in Nashville, Tennessee,  

and it follows the fictitious lives  of a group of country singers.  

I warn you that TV show is very addictive  and it will have you listening to lots of  

country music. And I don't think I've ever lost  that. I still listen to country music in my car.

All of you out there who want me to beg for  forgiveness. Who want to burn my records  

and cancel my concerts. Who want to put my  career in the garage. This one's for you.

An accent that you will hear a lot  is the Californian accent because  

so many TV shows and films are based in LA. One  film that I highly recommend is Clueless. This  

follows a teenage girl, a very rich and popular  teenage girl. She befriends a new student and  

attempts to give her a makeover. That  was one of my favourite childhood film.

So?

The shopping with Dr. Seuss?

But at least I wouldn't skin a Collie to make  my backpack. So, hello, there was a stop sign.

I totally pause.

Yeah, okay.

Lastly, we have African  American Vernacular English.  

For this variety of English I highly  recommend Empire. This series focuses  

on Empire entertainment. It's a fictional  hip hop music and entertainment company. It  

depicts the founders and their families and  all of the drama as well. It's excellent.

Sweetheart, it's what he does. It took  me half my life to understand that  

I'm saving you from a bullet,  Yana. You should thank me.

Lastly, I'm going to briefly touch on Caribbean  accents. I've mentioned Top Boy before they have  

some fantastic examples of the Jamaican  dialect, the Jamaican English accent.

Would have thought in a bit?

I would thought of [Ilman 00:21:36].

You feel like safe buy item on  from Sugar [inaudible 00:21:39],  

please, we'll have another one.  Which buyer could have poison one?

With Donovan.

I've also found a really good video depicting  quite a few of the Caribbean accents. I will link  

that down below because it's really, really  interesting to hear the differences because  

they are so different from one another. Let's  move on to Australia and New Zealand. Starting  

with Australia, I have one recommendation,  but it does contain a variety of accents.  

It is Underbelly. This is a fantastic crime  drama. Well, it's actually a real life crime  

drama. There are lots of series and each series  is based on a real life event. The series is  

sort of based in different areas as Melbourne,  Sydney and New south Wales that I can remember.

These emergency numbers are dead.

You know why? Cause they knew which I dial.

Okay. Hey, there's got to be like  a Melbourne bus, right? Or a train?

No, they'll kill us if we leave.

Our phone is going to kill us if we stay here.

For New Zealand, I really recommend a film I  watched this last year with Will because Will,  

my fiance, lived in New Zealand for a while. The  film is called Once Were Warriors. It tells the  

story of an urban Maori family. It shows their  problems such as alcoholism, domestic violence.  

It's a hard watch. It's not a comforting happy  story, but it's an amazing one or the same.

Ms. H, could you read me one of G's stories? I  can't that's why she reads to me. I mean used to.

Yeah, the one about the Taniwha.

Okay.

I love films that show real life and I  think Once Were Warriors is a fantastic  

example of that. Let's move  now to Africa, in particular,  

South Africa. Now English is not the  number one spoken language in South Africa,  

but they have a very distinctive accent. The film  I'm going to recommend to you is Nelson Mandela,  

Long Walk to Freedom. It stars Idris Elba and  Naomie Harris, and they do a fantastic job.  

And this film is based on Nelson Mandela's  autobiography Long Walk to Freedom.

It is an ideal which I hope  to live for and achieve.  

But if needs be, it is an ideal  for which I am prepared to die.

It's such a moving watch. I watched it a while  back, but actually I've just added it to my list  

of things I want to do this weekend. I just  need to watch this film again. Now there are  

so many different accents in the continent of  Africa. I cannot claim to be an expert on them,  

but I did find a really lovely video of two  girls. It's quite short, comparing their accents,  

Nigerian English and Ghanaian English. Again,  I have linked that down below. Finally,  

let's touch on Asia. I have got two films here  and both of them, I just love. One is probably  

my top films of all time. And that is Slumdog  Millionaire. This follows a little boy growing up  

in the slums of Mumbai and he grows up to an adult  to 18 and he ends up winning the Indian version  

of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, and it's a  story of how he did it. It's absolutely amazing.

Good evening [foreign language 00:24:45].  Welcome to Who Wants to be Millionaire?

Are you ready?

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Please give a big round of applause...

Good luck.

... to our very first contestant of the night,  Jamal Malik, from our very own Aamchi Mumbai.

My other recommendation is Bride and Prejudice.  And this is based on the story of pride and  

prejudice. Two parents want to marry off  their daughters as quickly as possible  

and as successfully as possible, but  one daughter wants to choose her husband  

and she ends up meeting an American  man and it doesn't all go to plan.

I really like this place. It's not at  all where I expected you to take me.

Uh-huh (affirmative), you see.  I told you, you misjudged me.

The band is great.

I want you to show them how it's done.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

No, I guess your guitar playing can't  really compare to your sister's snake dance.

It's a wonderful musical comedy and I  highly recommend it. Right. That is it for  

my recommendations. Do you think I missed any?  Yes I did. I can already say that. As I said,  

I've got loads of links in the description  box showing you lots of examples of different  

accents. Please let me know in the comments  section, if you have any other recommendations,  

maybe I've missed your accent and you can think  of a really good example in TV or in film.  

Don't forget to check out nordvpn.com/lucy.  You can get 70% of that two year deal  

and a month free. But hurry, that deal is  ending very soon. Don't forget to download  

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If I do say myself, you can click on different  phonemes and you can hear me pronounce them.

E, no, ae.

I will see you soon for another lesson. I've  tried a new hairstyle and I don't like it. So it's  

going back next time. I heard on TikTok that side  partings are going out of fashion. So I panicked.  

I feel really weird with it though because it's  not what I'm used to. That's a no for me. Sorry,  

I'll never do this hair style again. I really  enjoying. Which is a town outside of London.  

It's actually in Berkshire. [inaudible 00:27:48].  In this video. This is a grime. Well, I can't say  

that, I know I sound that sort of [inaudible  00:28:00] one. I... The lives of a group of  

clear women... queer women. I loved this TV show  as a child. Was I too young to watch, I felt like  

I hid it from my mom that was watching it. Now  I've made my hair greasy. This is a nightmare.  

Okay.