You talk funny
August 3, 2008 10:50 AM Subscribe
Can you guess where my accent is from? A flash game from the Language Trainers' Group -- listen to lines of poetry recited by people from different countries and try to guess their origin.
24 points. The woman from Chicago didn't sound at all like it to me. The girl from Miami almost had an Australian inflection over the valley-girl one.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 11:08 AM on August 3, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by Solon and Thanks at 11:08 AM on August 3, 2008 [3 favorites]
31 points - my knowledge of northern European accents is obviously sadly lacking...
posted by Reverend Robbie at 11:10 AM on August 3, 2008
posted by Reverend Robbie at 11:10 AM on August 3, 2008
The samples are too short to say, and some of those people seem not to have native accents for the place they're recorded.
posted by empath at 11:14 AM on August 3, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by empath at 11:14 AM on August 3, 2008 [3 favorites]
that was really hard! I did get the hungarian guy, though, for which I feel impressed :)
also, lots of tricky ones, I guessed the guy from Cheshire to be Welsh, that barely qualifies as a mistake!!! right?
posted by supermedusa at 11:15 AM on August 3, 2008
also, lots of tricky ones, I guessed the guy from Cheshire to be Welsh, that barely qualifies as a mistake!!! right?
posted by supermedusa at 11:15 AM on August 3, 2008
good thing there was an "about" in that Canadian's piece or it would have been impossible!
Same for the Spanish fellow; if he hadn't said 'axthent' I might never have guessed.
posted by carsonb at 11:17 AM on August 3, 2008
Same for the Spanish fellow; if he hadn't said 'axthent' I might never have guessed.
posted by carsonb at 11:17 AM on August 3, 2008
39. Man, Lithuanian threw me for a loop.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:31 AM on August 3, 2008
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:31 AM on August 3, 2008
I've been to Europe a number of times, and fancy that I can differentiate these things, but I only scored 29 points. I'm not too embarrassed to have missed Portugal vs. Spain, as I've never been there, but I'm shocked to have missed Ireland vs. Scotland.
Of course, being video, it's possible to glean clues from the people's physiognomy, the background architecture, and foliage.
I thought the gal from Miami was from Southern California, but given the alternative cities, I made the right guess.
posted by Tube at 11:31 AM on August 3, 2008
Of course, being video, it's possible to glean clues from the people's physiognomy, the background architecture, and foliage.
I thought the gal from Miami was from Southern California, but given the alternative cities, I made the right guess.
posted by Tube at 11:31 AM on August 3, 2008
Two lines of a poem doesn't really provide a sufficient sample, especially when they're using, for example, people from Miami who don't have a representative accent of the area at all.
posted by oaf at 11:41 AM on August 3, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by oaf at 11:41 AM on August 3, 2008 [3 favorites]
13. And I've taught a course on English phonology that included accents.
posted by Epenthesis at 11:57 AM on August 3, 2008
posted by Epenthesis at 11:57 AM on August 3, 2008
I identified the girl from Miami, so she wasn't too far off the standard.
posted by Karmakaze at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Karmakaze at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2008
she wasn't too far off the standard
Except for the part where she read the first line like she was from southern California, and the second like she was from Australia. Really—she doesn't sound like any of the couple dozen people I know from Miami.
posted by oaf at 12:04 PM on August 3, 2008 [4 favorites]
Except for the part where she read the first line like she was from southern California, and the second like she was from Australia. Really—she doesn't sound like any of the couple dozen people I know from Miami.
posted by oaf at 12:04 PM on August 3, 2008 [4 favorites]
29 points. I also thought Miami Girl was from Australia.
posted by Pendragon at 12:24 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Pendragon at 12:24 PM on August 3, 2008
32 points, I'm pretty chuffed with that given that I'm usually fairly rubbish at recognising accents. I am once more impressed with the ability of foreigners to speak English, that Lithuanian girl was amazing.
posted by greytape at 12:28 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by greytape at 12:28 PM on August 3, 2008
24. I thought the Miami girl was Canadian, though I got the canadian guy right.
posted by milestogo at 12:33 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by milestogo at 12:33 PM on August 3, 2008
13 pts. I'm from Miami, and i thought she was from Australia.
They're playing tricks on us.
posted by motorcycles are jets at 12:36 PM on August 3, 2008
They're playing tricks on us.
posted by motorcycles are jets at 12:36 PM on August 3, 2008
35 baby.
That dude was not from Chicago.
posted by Justinian at 12:37 PM on August 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
That dude was not from Chicago.
posted by Justinian at 12:37 PM on August 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
24...and I'm usually pretty good with accents having half my family in England, having gone to an international school and having lived in Spain for a while.
I too thought the guy from Cheshire was from Wales. But then, I thought the South African woman with the posh accent was from England, and I thought the Kiwi was South African. Not great examples...
posted by jimmythefish at 12:54 PM on August 3, 2008
I too thought the guy from Cheshire was from Wales. But then, I thought the South African woman with the posh accent was from England, and I thought the Kiwi was South African. Not great examples...
posted by jimmythefish at 12:54 PM on August 3, 2008
35 here as well. Got none of the US cities right, which is OK since I'm from the UK. Got none of the UK cities right either, though, which is shameful. None of them was anywhere I've lived, which makes it slightly better. My father's from one of them, though, which makes it even worse.
posted by xchmp at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by xchmp at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2008
30pts. There were a few tricky ones there, I don't think I'd have gotten the one from New Zealand even with a longer piece for instance. Same with the Spanish guy who could just as well have been from Argentina or Chile (to my untrained ears).
posted by bjrn at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by bjrn at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2008
I would pay $20 to play on a site that had hundreds of these. But only if it's well done, of course (this isn't bad, though the editing is a bit choppy and the sound is not very even).
posted by crapmatic at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by crapmatic at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2008
Don't know why Miami girl was so hard. I IDed her, though few else (22 points).
posted by Weebot at 1:11 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Weebot at 1:11 PM on August 3, 2008
Uh, Ontario isn't a city in Canada.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 1:15 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Armitage Shanks at 1:15 PM on August 3, 2008
43, and it would have been higher if I hadn't stupidly said Ireland for the Glaswegian.
posted by scody at 1:32 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by scody at 1:32 PM on August 3, 2008
I'm rather poor at this stuff, but 29 points place me as average on mefi, so it can't be all bad.
posted by monocultured at 1:40 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by monocultured at 1:40 PM on August 3, 2008
the background architecture, and foliage.
Yeah this threw me too at times. I'm pretty sure most if not all of the "outdoors" videos were shot in Brighton, UK. Tho I may be biased, living in Brighton. But I'm pretty sure I'm right.
posted by ClarissaWAM at 1:59 PM on August 3, 2008
Yeah this threw me too at times. I'm pretty sure most if not all of the "outdoors" videos were shot in Brighton, UK. Tho I may be biased, living in Brighton. But I'm pretty sure I'm right.
posted by ClarissaWAM at 1:59 PM on August 3, 2008
Is Michael Caine Lithuanian, because that girl sounded just like him.
posted by bjork24 at 2:04 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by bjork24 at 2:04 PM on August 3, 2008
23 points. I'm bad with eastern Europeans. And Indiana, apparently. I thought she was from the south.
posted by emelenjr at 2:05 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by emelenjr at 2:05 PM on August 3, 2008
A poor 18 points - and I thought Miami was Australia too, gaming us she was!
posted by benzo8 at 2:07 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by benzo8 at 2:07 PM on August 3, 2008
24, and thats all from North America and a few Brit....Thought all the New Zealanders were Australians and the Australians were something else.
Would have had 26, but apparently Ontario counts as a city for the Canadian guy (I thought it was there to throw off silly foreigners).
posted by shoebox at 2:26 PM on August 3, 2008
Would have had 26, but apparently Ontario counts as a city for the Canadian guy (I thought it was there to throw off silly foreigners).
posted by shoebox at 2:26 PM on August 3, 2008
29 points. They really ought to identify "from" be where someone grew up, or where their parents are from, not where they are now. I mean, nobody is from Miami.
posted by orthogonality at 2:59 PM on August 3, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by orthogonality at 2:59 PM on August 3, 2008 [2 favorites]
I went into this thinking 'I am going to do very, very badly', and lo! I did.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 3:10 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by flibbertigibbet at 3:10 PM on August 3, 2008
For Crapmatic. Maybe pay the 20 to someone to randomly click the links while you guess them?
posted by dydecker at 3:11 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by dydecker at 3:11 PM on August 3, 2008
20 points and gosh dang it, is NOBODY from Wales?!
posted by katillathehun at 3:12 PM on August 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by katillathehun at 3:12 PM on August 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
Did the bloke from Glasgow only move there a month ago?
posted by pinkbuttonanus at 3:21 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by pinkbuttonanus at 3:21 PM on August 3, 2008
Yeah, that was Glaswegian Lite, but I guessed right anyway. I keep forgetting, though, that a lot of real-life Scots accents are lighter than you expect from what you hear in the media. The dead giveaway for me every time is the subtle-to-overt lengthening of the "o" sound: "That's not it" gets closer to "That's note it."
Special added bonus: New Zealanders, like Canadians, have tighter, perter dipthongs than their brasher, more charismatic neighbours. The Aussie I work with says that the single word "pen" is invariably pronounced "pin" by Kiwis, but that may be the American version of claiming that all Canadians say "aboot" or "aboat". Sadly, the classic Canadian Raising site at York University seems to be gone, so I can't link to sound files, so -- Wiki.
posted by maudlin at 4:01 PM on August 3, 2008
Special added bonus: New Zealanders, like Canadians, have tighter, perter dipthongs than their brasher, more charismatic neighbours. The Aussie I work with says that the single word "pen" is invariably pronounced "pin" by Kiwis, but that may be the American version of claiming that all Canadians say "aboot" or "aboat". Sadly, the classic Canadian Raising site at York University seems to be gone, so I can't link to sound files, so -- Wiki.
posted by maudlin at 4:01 PM on August 3, 2008
I thought I'd do well on this, but only 29 points. But the Glaswegian was easy, they don't all sound like Rab C Nesbitt...
posted by Blackadder at 4:12 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Blackadder at 4:12 PM on August 3, 2008
Wow, and usually I'm so good at telling a Ukrainian accent from a Lithuanian accent. *rolls eyes*
I guess part of the challenge is the brevity of the poem, but a bit longer poem would make it better.
posted by zardoz at 4:13 PM on August 3, 2008
I guess part of the challenge is the brevity of the poem, but a bit longer poem would make it better.
posted by zardoz at 4:13 PM on August 3, 2008
32, but I blew all the Eastern Europeans. I got two of the bonus American cities, though.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:02 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:02 PM on August 3, 2008
Oh, and thank god they threw "about" in with the Canadian.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:03 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:03 PM on August 3, 2008
30. Got the Miami gal (generic Valley Girl, but the other options were mostly Deep South) and, amazingly, pegged both Birmingham and Perth on educated guesses. But to my American ears, the South African woman's accent was not distinctive enough, nor was the Scotsman.
The Chicago person had none of the many accents I recognize from the city, where I lived for 15 years, and the woman from Indianapolis had more of a southern tinge. She certainly sounded nothing like David Letterman.
Fun, anyway.
posted by stargell at 5:27 PM on August 3, 2008
The Chicago person had none of the many accents I recognize from the city, where I lived for 15 years, and the woman from Indianapolis had more of a southern tinge. She certainly sounded nothing like David Letterman.
Fun, anyway.
posted by stargell at 5:27 PM on August 3, 2008
35 and Miami and Indianapolis are both liars. (Indianapolis definitely US, but from the South.)
posted by DU at 5:28 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by DU at 5:28 PM on August 3, 2008
I didn't do too poorly, and I might have done better had my European boyfriend not stood over my shoulder and said "No way that guy's German" for the last one.
I've even lived in Germany, and yet I trusted him!
Oh well. He brought me a donut, which is more than I can say for the quiz.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:40 PM on August 3, 2008
I've even lived in Germany, and yet I trusted him!
Oh well. He brought me a donut, which is more than I can say for the quiz.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:40 PM on August 3, 2008
Cool Papa Bell, you must be enormously popular in Eastern Europe.
I was awful at this. And, Lithuania Girl sounds cockney to me.
posted by Lou Stuells at 5:45 PM on August 3, 2008
I was awful at this. And, Lithuania Girl sounds cockney to me.
posted by Lou Stuells at 5:45 PM on August 3, 2008
I got 31, thanks in part to Flight of the Conchords (for New Zealand) and Lethal Weapon 2 (for South Africa).
posted by Guy Smiley at 5:53 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Guy Smiley at 5:53 PM on August 3, 2008
32-guessed most of the English-as-a-First-Language ones (but didn't even think the Chicago woman was from the US-and I'm from there), but did horribly on guessing which Germanic country (in terms of language) the person with the kinda-German accent was from.
About the Indianapolis woman-the difference between northern AAVE and southern AAVE is pretty tiny-I think it's in the pronunciation of the A's. All I know is that she sounded more like someone from the South Side of Chicago than someone who grew up in Louisiana.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:53 PM on August 3, 2008
About the Indianapolis woman-the difference between northern AAVE and southern AAVE is pretty tiny-I think it's in the pronunciation of the A's. All I know is that she sounded more like someone from the South Side of Chicago than someone who grew up in Louisiana.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:53 PM on August 3, 2008
The hard part on the Miami girl is that she says the "I'm" in "Can you guess where I'm from?" weirdly. And that's the last part you hear, so it overrules all the obvious American bits earlier, for some odd reason.
posted by smackfu at 7:29 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by smackfu at 7:29 PM on August 3, 2008
A lot of those accents weren't pure, ie they'd mostly picked up a lot of Southern English, and in one case quite a bit of Australian. That made it much harder. The weirdest thing about accents is that native speakers aren't always the best judge of authenticity. For example, Americans think that Bob Hoskins's American accent in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is perfectly acceptable, but to the English it sounds horribly fake, as we can hear his real London accent showing through.
posted by w0mbat at 7:49 PM on August 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by w0mbat at 7:49 PM on August 3, 2008 [1 favorite]
I got the Americans, and the Canadian (too bad about them not fact checking to discover that Ontario isn't a city, sheesh), the Kiwi and the South African were pretty obvious to me, though for some reason the aussie threw me off. And one of my best friends is from Perth! I think the clips were just too short. I got Belgium and Lithuania by pure luck.
posted by Hildegarde at 8:12 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Hildegarde at 8:12 PM on August 3, 2008
An asian guy goes to the dentist, the dentist tells him "I'm sorry sir but you have cataracts."
The asian guy responds, "No, I drive a Rincon Continental"
posted by BrnP84 at 8:34 PM on August 3, 2008
The asian guy responds, "No, I drive a Rincon Continental"
posted by BrnP84 at 8:34 PM on August 3, 2008
The NZ accent stands out because of the HRT (high rising terminal), the Aussie accent because of the tense high front vowels. I couldn't pick the Eastern European ones (except for the Hungarian), and I only picked the Belgian one because I thought she may be of Congolese origin. Thing seemed to stop playing video two-thirds of the way through - that happen to anyone else?
posted by Paragon at 8:50 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Paragon at 8:50 PM on August 3, 2008
An asian guy goes to the dentist, the dentist tells him "I'm sorry sir but you have cataracts."
So why was a dentist examining this guy's eyes?
posted by xchmp at 8:58 PM on August 3, 2008 [3 favorites]
So why was a dentist examining this guy's eyes?
posted by xchmp at 8:58 PM on August 3, 2008 [3 favorites]
I agree - Miami and Chicago were total ringers! They don't sound like people who were raised in those areas.
posted by Miko at 9:04 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Miko at 9:04 PM on August 3, 2008
(Indianapolis definitely US, but from the South.)
I spent 3 weeks in Indianapolis last fall, and a lot of people sounded like her, so I believe it. It is a kind of Southern accent, but is a result of the Great Migration in the early 20th century - people leaving Southern sharecropping to come work in the mills, stockyards, and railroad cities in the Midwest.
I was surprised to hear similar accents in Chicago the first time I visited.
posted by Miko at 9:06 PM on August 3, 2008
I spent 3 weeks in Indianapolis last fall, and a lot of people sounded like her, so I believe it. It is a kind of Southern accent, but is a result of the Great Migration in the early 20th century - people leaving Southern sharecropping to come work in the mills, stockyards, and railroad cities in the Midwest.
I was surprised to hear similar accents in Chicago the first time I visited.
posted by Miko at 9:06 PM on August 3, 2008
So why was a dentist examining this guy's eyes?
Eh... because he actually went to the optomotrist...
posted by BrnP84 at 9:06 PM on August 3, 2008
Eh... because he actually went to the optomotrist...
posted by BrnP84 at 9:06 PM on August 3, 2008
Apparently I can't tell where anyone is from when they're speaking English. In real life I can usually spot a Norwegian speaking English from a mile away, sort of like the effect w0mbat describes, as I'm Norwegian myself.
posted by Harald74 at 9:58 PM on August 3, 2008
posted by Harald74 at 9:58 PM on August 3, 2008
28. Miami girl was easiest for me to guess because she sounds like I do (a Florida girl raised by a mother who was raised in Miami).
I had three different people pegged as Welsh. I think I just really wanted someone to be from Wales.
posted by mewithoutyou at 10:12 PM on August 3, 2008
I had three different people pegged as Welsh. I think I just really wanted someone to be from Wales.
posted by mewithoutyou at 10:12 PM on August 3, 2008
If the Super Furry Animals live show is to be trusted, people from Wales can barely speak English in the first place.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 2:14 AM on August 4, 2008
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 2:14 AM on August 4, 2008
I got 41, which is pretty good, I suppose. It seems a bit unfair to have both Germany and Austria as multiple choice answers for the woman from Austria, though. Is there that much of a discernible difference? She sure sounded German to me. None of the US cities were identifiable, I guessed on all of them. Especially the woman from Indiana, who sounded pretty southern to me.
The Canadian guy was adorable. "I'm from CANA-DAAAAAA!"
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:03 AM on August 4, 2008
The Canadian guy was adorable. "I'm from CANA-DAAAAAA!"
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:03 AM on August 4, 2008
38. Wow, I totally guessed on the Latvian accent Can someone shed some light on it and why is sounds so completely different then the other Eastern European accents?
posted by jourman2 at 3:57 AM on August 4, 2008
posted by jourman2 at 3:57 AM on August 4, 2008
I surprised myself on some of the English ones, not being all that good at placing different regional accents. The guy who was from Birmingham, when I heard him speak I could just imagine him saying "Birming'm" and I was right.
posted by emelenjr at 4:00 AM on August 4, 2008
posted by emelenjr at 4:00 AM on August 4, 2008
36. That was fun!
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:06 AM on August 4, 2008
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:06 AM on August 4, 2008
29. I nailed the New Zealander because a NZ guy I met taught me a difference between NZ and Aussie... New Zealander's go to a "dahnce" and take a "chahnce", Australians go to a "deeance" and take a "cheeance".
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 9:32 AM on August 4, 2008
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 9:32 AM on August 4, 2008
64 points! The second time...
posted by sportbucket at 11:42 AM on August 4, 2008
posted by sportbucket at 11:42 AM on August 4, 2008
12 points! Why, no, I've never traveled out of the south - why do you ask?
posted by bookwo3107 at 12:04 PM on August 4, 2008
posted by bookwo3107 at 12:04 PM on August 4, 2008
infinitewindow: I was really impressed with Amy Walker until she started doing American accents. And so now I assume the rest of them would only be acceptable for someone from somewhere else. Brooklyn was just awful.
I got 34 on the quiz. I got Lithuania, by the expedient of guessing wildly. Is it just me or is a Lithuanian accent surprisingly hot?
And the Kiwi said something that was a dead giveaway, like the Canadian's "aboot".
posted by rusty at 1:56 PM on August 4, 2008
I got 34 on the quiz. I got Lithuania, by the expedient of guessing wildly. Is it just me or is a Lithuanian accent surprisingly hot?
And the Kiwi said something that was a dead giveaway, like the Canadian's "aboot".
posted by rusty at 1:56 PM on August 4, 2008
I honestly have no idea how you Americans and Brits can identify us Canadians so easily.
Also, I assumed everyone who sounded vaguely british but not quite was from Wales, and NOBODY WAS FROM WALES. Oh, but I did get the New Zealander, due to watching Flight of the Conchords way too many times.
posted by tehloki at 11:24 PM on August 5, 2008
Also, I assumed everyone who sounded vaguely british but not quite was from Wales, and NOBODY WAS FROM WALES. Oh, but I did get the New Zealander, due to watching Flight of the Conchords way too many times.
posted by tehloki at 11:24 PM on August 5, 2008
35 and Miami and Indianapolis are both liars. (Indianapolis definitely US, but from the South.)
This is definitely an urban Indianapolis accent. A bit southern, a little Chicago. A suburban Indianapolis would be much closer to the 'neutral' midwestern, but faster and a shit ton of dropped g's.
posted by xorry at 12:10 PM on August 9, 2008
This is definitely an urban Indianapolis accent. A bit southern, a little Chicago. A suburban Indianapolis would be much closer to the 'neutral' midwestern, but faster and a shit ton of dropped g's.
posted by xorry at 12:10 PM on August 9, 2008
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posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:03 AM on August 3, 2008