Me bloody accent!

[Stargate525]

Alright, my name is Stargate, and I've been suffering for five weeks.

*Hello Stargate*

My British Oxford accent sucks. Hard. I need this thing to be halfway decent within a month, and I'm trying to figure out what to do. If anyone has any suggestions, it'd be great.

[Haphazzard]

Heh, I could have you talk on the phone with my british friend for a while.  Although, the pleasure might be all yours, she's pretty hott (no offense).  That's one of those things you have to be able to hear people to get help with.  What do you need it for?

[Stargate525]

Yes, because you can totally tell over the phone... And with the distortion of a phone, I dunno if it'll help.

It's for a one-act play I'm in, and I keep switching into scottish.

[Haphazzard]

Try and watch british TV shows online and pick a character to talk like.  Then try to emulate his voice.

[Kindling]

British Oxford accent? As in recieved pronounciation? See if you can find any OLD British news... they have a habit of using people with regional accents nowadays (not that that's a bad thing) but in the 80s or something it was pretty much all RP... at least from what I can tell.

Also, what kind of play is it? If it's a comedy, then you can get away with an outrageous caricature of the accent, which will be easier to learn, but if it's serious you'd have to get good enough to make it semi-subtle... which would take a LOT of effort.

[Kindling]

Also, saying "me" instead of "my" more present in regional accents and dialects  than what you're aiming for (or what I think you're aiming for)... Just noticed that in your post title :P

[Kindling]

Try and watch british TV shows online and pick a character to talk like.  Then try to emulate his voice.

If you're after the accent I think you are, a great choice for this tactic might be Rimmer from Red Dwarf. He has a very upper-middle-class/RP accent, and the show's awesome, so it won't be a chore to watch.

[Elemental_Elf]

Watch loads of BBC America, especially the BBC America World News, some of the hosts and guests have Oxford accents.

Also, don't forget that if a word ends in an 'a' sound, drop the 'a' and add an 'r.' Meaning pronounce Pizza, Pizzr and Obama, Obamr  and America, Americr... Actually I'm not sure if that's an Oxford accent but it seems fairly commonplace in British speech.

[Wensleydale]

That's not really an Oxford accent. If you're going for the posh british accent, watch a documentary about Tolkien. Educational AND accent-teaching! Or something.

[Slapzilla]

BBC for sure.  Find an old documentary.  BBC America isn't Oxford, but it is posh.  Something the American audiences like anyway.  Compare it with their news shows and see.

Most NPR stations run BBC broadcasts overnight.  Check out the website for your local NPR.  KUOW.org out of Seattle runs it overnight and they've got a good website, I'm sure you can podcast it.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

"Help me with a British accent" definitely wins a nomination for the most interesting CBG request award.

So good luck with that! Wish I could help.

[Haphazzard]

How's that coming along for you by the way?  All the British tv working out for you?

[Stargate525]

College doesn't supply BBC...