How to Do a Queens Accent | Accent Training

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Now let's work on your Queen's accent. Queen's is big, so this accent is one of many, many, many Queen's accents. But the oral posture for this one, I want you to sigh through the sound aw, as in four, born. Try this phrase, I was born in Queens, New York. What do you notice about the oral posture of that phrase? The lip corners are coming forward, the lip corners are doing a lot of work that the jaw is not doing. So the jaw stays more still, and the lip corners do it. I was born in Queens New York.

This accent will create some, so rafter and calf, become rafter and calf. Sometimes the ew, and the oh, sounds, tend toward schwa, tend toward the uh, that general American uh sound. So, I'll see you tomorrow, sometimes become, I'll see ya tomorrow, I'll see ya tomorrow. Got it?

The aw sound becomes a. So thought, dog, law, become, thought, dog, law. Notice those lip corners coming forward each time. You get into that oral posture and some of these sounds kind of take care of themselves. The th sound, thin, thick, this and that, become very dentalized and very flat. So thin, thick, this, that.

So what's the musicality of this accent, it's definitely an urban accent, but Queens is a very residential place. It might not feel as like hard edged as some of the other New York accents so, give it a shot. Listen to some native Queens speakers, and figure it out for yourself.