I thought this was a really interesting idea. When I took the first quiz called "American Varieties," I only got one correct. I already knew how some parts of the United States sounded, but this really showed me that you need to listen to someone for more than one sentence before you can assume where they are from. I liked the first quiz but I thought it was difficult to determine where everyone was from. People move all the time throughout the United States and one person cannot assume where they are from by hearing a person speak one sentence. Someone may have a southern accent but live in Maine. This quiz shows that our diverse nation speaks differently all over the country, not one region speaks exactly the same.
The second game "Do you speak American?" was a little easier. Although I only got one right, I was really close on two others. I could hardly understand what people were saying. I had to listen to them each a couple times before I had even a little understanding of what the answer might be. The two answers I was really close to getting right, I was only off by a vowel. That was the purpose of this quiz, to show people use vowels differently in different parts of the United States.
The United States is a very diverse country, one should not assume where someone is from when meeting them for the first time. If someone has an accent they may speak more than one language or have moved from a different part of the U.S. or a different country. People get made fun of because of their accents, that person could be a lot like you but their accent may make it difficult for people to be open minded about relating with that person. I think people have stereotypes when it comes to accents. They are so quick to assume something about someone with an accent instead of getting to know that person for who they are. The U.S. is a very diverse nation people need to be more open to those of different cultures and nationalities.
Which quiz was most difficult for you? Why do you think that one was more difficult?
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The quiz were you place the letter on the region of the US was the most difficult for me. The vowels quiz I was off by only a vowel as well, so this was a bit easier, although I couldn't have guessed without the hint "phrase." The first one was most difficult because I'm used to a Midwestern accent. As a server I've encountered many accents over the years, and I'll eventually have to ask for clarification at some point during our conversation. I don't think it is something to be ashamed of if you don't initially understand an accent--the speaker wants you to understand and appreciates the clarification so their idea is heard correctly.
ReplyDeleteWhere the Speaker is from was most difficult for me. I think that that quiz was the most difficult because I am not very familiar with other regions and their dialects. I think that to truly have an understanding of the way in which people speak in different countries you would have to live there for awhile.
ReplyDeleteI think that I did equally horrible on both of the quizzes. However, I would say that the regional dialect quiz was more difficult because of the subtleties that exist between certain regional dialects. I still am stunned that I got all of the midwest and north regions completely wrong. As I stated in my blog, I think it may be hardest to identify dialects from one's own region simply because we don't think of ourselves as having a distinct dialect. The quizzes were very enlightening, and I thoroughly enjoyed this activity!
ReplyDeleteI think that the first quiz "Sea to Shining Sea" was more difficult because there were so many slight differences in the way each person pronounced things. While with the second quiz "Do you speak American" I feel it was also a bit difficult but still easier to figure them out if you really listened closely and kept replaying them. Made more sense though after I got a couple wrong and listened to them to hear what they really were.
ReplyDeleteI think the quiz that you had to place the phrase with the correct region was a little more difficult for me. Most of the phrases seemed to sound the same and some of them didn't work :/ I tried my best but I just couldn't tell a difference! There were a few that I was like oh yeah this is obviously from this region but there were multiples that I really had no idea.
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