Welcome to MEDEA

– the accents and dialects resource from the Centre for Voice in Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Our unique identity as a world leading Performing Arts Institution attracts students from all over the globe allowing us to record a variety of contemporary accents and dialects of English. All voice recordings are authentic – gifted by our students (and occasionally staff!).

Why is MEDEA different?

This living archive is designed to complement existing web-sites such as www.dialectsarchive.com and spi:ki:zi but also offers additional features:

Heritage Dialects reflects the contribution of the African Diaspora and is part of our commitment to anti-racism.

Click here to listen to i-DARE (Identity: Dialects, Accents, Race explored) – six podcasts released on World Diversity Day2021 featuring RCS students in conversation about their voices.

Conversations is a series of dialogues between accents that share similar features (and which often get confused!). Listen to Australia and New Zealand, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Canada and Standard American. Speakers discuss their differences and offer tips to help you develop and embody these dialects for yourself.

Dialects in Performance contains visual recordings of contemporary monologues written in specific dialects. Grateful thanks go to the playwrights who have contributed their work in support of this project.

Research contains a digest of articles that reflect the latest thinking on dialects.

Getting started with MEDEA