Activity 6: Do You Speak American?

I thought these quizzes were really fun and interesting. They made me think about the different regions of the United States and how people from different regions speak and communicate differently even though we are all Americans. This activity reminded me of my grandmother. I'll never forget watching television with her and how she had the hardest time understanding President Bush's Texas accent. She would make me repeat all of his speeches and called me her "interpreter." At the time, I rolled my eyes and thought she was ridiculous, but these quizzes showed me that I can't understand everyone either.

Although I've lived in America my whole life, I apparently don't distinguish between accents very well. The first quiz asked you to listen to various American accents and identify what part of the country they were from. I had no problem identifying the southern and western accents. To my ear, these accents are very distinctive. I could also identify the midland and northern accents, but I switched two of them around. It was embarrassing the mess up on an accent from my home region! I also mixed up two of the Mid-Atlantic and New England accents. Perhaps I don't interact enough with people from these regions and therefore have a harder time separating their accents. Before this quiz, I would have told you that I could easily separate American accents, but I learned that it is harder than I thought it would be.

I think that to be able to understand and distinguish between accents, you must be very familiar with the language being spoken and you must have experience with people from the various regions, either through the media, travel, or meeting someone from a certain region. When I was traveling, I met an Englishman who told me that all American accents sound the same to him. I laughed, but he then pointed out how many different "British" accents exist in the United Kingdom. After thinking about it, I realized I probably couldn't tell most of them apart because I do not have enough experience with people from this country. I also met many people who could not tell an American, British, and Australian accent apart. To me, these accents are very different. So to better distinguish between American accents, I guess I need more practice.

I did much better on the second quiz than on the first. This quiz asked you to listen to a series of words, each one spoken with a different American accent, and write down what the word was. I got all of the words correct excepts for "socks." I could have sworn she was saying "sacks." I believe this was a Mid-Atlantic accent, although I could be wrong (as demonstrated by my first quiz). For me, this accent was the hardest to understand. Accents can often cause misunderstandings or communication problems. When I was living in Italy, I often spoke with a horribly fake British accent because my Italian friends had learned English from British people and had a difficult time understanding my American accent. This shows how important accents can be in communication.

After taking these quizzes, I realized how many communication barriers exist even within the Unites States, between people who are all speaking the same language. Accents, how quickly someone speaks, and regional slang or idioms can all cause misunderstandings in communication. Have you ever experienced miscommunication because you couldn't understand a different American accent or another person couldn't understand you?