As an actor, working privately with a professional dialect coach can be the most rapid, reliable, trouble-free method for mastering an accent, and there’s no disputing that the addition of a key dialect coach to one’s professional team can go a long way to helping an actor to become more competitive.
While the rewards of private coaching may be great, the price tag for working privately with a qualified dialect coach is not necessarily one the average working actor can take lightly. Reputable dialect coaches in major metropolitan areas charge anywhere from $120–350/hour for their services depending on the project requirements and the number of lessons purchased in advance. Contrary to what less scrupulous coaches may advertise, the average actor tends to need around 12 private coaching hours spread out over six-to-eight weeks in order to completely learn and fully integrate a performance-ready accent.
Allow me to clarify: Can a dialect coach explain the components of an accent in the course of a few lessons? Yes. Absolutely. In a lesson or two the average actor can receive academic training about any given accent, but knowing about an accent and actually being able to speak convincingly in an accent
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