Focal Press African Accents: A Workbook for Actors

African Accents: A Workbook for Actors from Focal Press is a comprehensive workbook for actors, covering the key characteristics and profiles of a wide range of African accents of English. The workbook's unique approach not only addresses the methods and processes by which to go about learning an accent, but also looks in detail at each example. This lets the reader plot their own route through the learning process and tailor not only their working methods but also their own personal idiolect.

African Accents is accompanied by a website with an extensive online database of audio samples for each accent. The book and audio resources guide actors to develop their own authentic accents, rather than simply to mimic native speakers. This process allows the actor to personalize an accent, and to integrate it into the creation of character rather than to play the accent on top of character.

The book was written by Beth McGuire, who is a professional dialect and vocal coach for theatre and film. She is Director of Speech and Dialects at Yale School of Drama.