How To Do The Minnesota Dialect

Holy Cow, the Minnesota Dialect is a fun one! Hard not to smile when you’re listening to somebody doing it, dontcha know:)

Here are the 3 things that you should focus on while doing the Minnesota Dialect:

1. The Resonance - The Resonance in the Minnesota Dialect is between midmouth and front of mouth. Specifically, it is right under your nose (inside your mouth) You should focus on bring the voice up and back while doing the dialect. This is not to be confused with letting your voice go nasal. It's not necessarily a dialect with nasality BUT the voice does travel up and back. As with any dialect, the resonance makes up 95% of the dialect. Plain and Simple - Nail the Resonance and you Nail the Dialect.

2. The Key Sound Change - The Key Sound Change to focus on in the Minnesota Dialect is the "oh" sound. The "oh" sound is easily discernible when listening to the Minnesota Dialect.

Think of the "Oh" in the Minnesota Dialect as 2 Sounds.

A. The first sound is the "oo" sound. The "oo" sound will make up the bulk of the sound in the "Oh" when doing the Minnesota Dialect.

B. The final sound will be the actual "Oh" Sound. It will be short and crisp. The "oh" sound will cap off the "oo" sound thus creating the distinctive Minnesota "Oh" sound.

For example, the word "Know" will become "Nooo-oh".
the word "You" will become "Yooo-oh".
the word "Phone" will become "Fooo-ohn"

3. The R sounds will be hard and the consonants will be crisp. There are NO Dropped R's in the Minnesota Dialect. You will lean into and use the heck out of the "R" sound while doing the Minnesota Dialect.

If you are interested in learning the Minnesota Dialect (or any dialect) from an experienced teacher and all around nice guy, Book a Private Coaching Session Here.

Remember, the secret to mastering *any* dialect is to focus on the 3 main parts of that dialect and then build upon that foundation. I can help you do that quickly and easily :)

Do Awesome Things,

Donald