Walt Interviews Sandi Small – Divided by a Common Language

Stand Up and Speak Up

George Bernard Shaw said, “The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.”

Sandi Small is an accent coach. She trains American actors to British up their accent and their role.

Sandi noticed that American actors were confused about the numerous British accents and many coaches are too generic in accent training: they teach all of the accents, but do not specialize in one. She decided to specialize in the standard British accent, otherwise known as ‘received pronunciation’ or RP.

Sandi observed that American actors wishing to train in the British accent would need much more than a change in the phonetic sounds. They would be learning a different language in many respects, because British and American English differ in so many areas, such as vocabulary, grammar, word stresses, and voice intonation.

She also noted a lack of cultural awareness from the American actors wishing to train in the British voice. Language and culture are interlinked. She decided to train American actors in inter-cultural awareness. Her holistic approach allows for a full immersion into the British accent.

Sandi has a background in applied linguistics and has been a film buff for years, as well as a fan of classical theatre and literature. She has been in the teaching and training industry for 20 years, including schools, colleges, universities, and training centers.