This was actually pretty fun. Online quizzes are generally thought of as pretty fun or at the least not the worst way to spend a fifteen to twenty minutes. Today was not a disappointment, not only were the quizzes fun, they were challenging.
The first quiz, which was about matching dialects to areas was very challenging. The snippets that we were given were very succinct, which made it hard to get many clues from speech patterns. Also, many of the voices were very different so comparing slight differences in similar speakers was pretty much a non option. I was pleased that I got two correct I guessed that voice C was midland and that voice K was south. However, no one voice form the choices had strong accents, and therefore it was essentially straining your ears for the barest hint of a clue. Basically the test confirmed that I have barely ever been out of West Allis/Minnesota.
I did better on the Vowel Power quiz. I got two right again, but I came very close on most of the others. I got socks and desk correct; however, for buses I guessed boss's and grind and grade are pretty close. However, for block I guessed like. This quiz had such short snatches of sound that it was very difficult to understand it if you didn't get the word immediately. In fact the only one that I replayed was the one that I got the most incorrect.
The only real issue with the quizzes was getting to them, the first few times that I tried the links they just flat out did not work. I tried many options, shutting down the internet and then powering off my computer. Nothing. The next time around I tried what seems silly to me that I tried that late to make the links work. Instead of just clicking on them I copied them into a new window and then they worked just fine. I wounder if the problem was opening them from a pdf? I have no idea if that was the case or not, but it seems the most plausible.
It would have been nice to have more data to go on than the quick little samples that we heard, but I can understand their reasoning for giving such brief samples; it really made me pay attention. I had to give the samples my entire focus and concentration and I still got most of them wrong.
I am not terribly surprised that I got so many wrong, as I have almost never been out of Wisconsin. The grand total of my travels include: New York, Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina--but only an airport layover, Washington D.C., Florida, and well anywhere that my buss made stops in between Wisconsin and Florida/D.C.
What areas/regions of the country were you most able to identify the dialects of? Why?
Were you easily able to identify the middle/midwest dialect? Why or why not?
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I identified most with the south, I thought I could tell what they sounds like the most. I think that was the only area that I got both right. I thought I would for sure get the midwest ones right, but wasnt even close. I think we had more of a different type of sound to our voices but I guess I couldnt pick it out!
ReplyDeleteI found that is was the easiest to distinguish between the south and the eastern accent that sounded almost like a british accent to me. I did not get the middle/midwest and it threw me for a loop because there was no distinct accent in them. They sounded just plain and nothing special. That is what sets it apart from the other accents though I guess.
ReplyDeleteI only got one of the south dialects right. I didn't think it would be so hard. It makes me wonder how they selected people to make the sound bites.
ReplyDeleteI think I got like 3/5 right in the other quiz. You are right, the more I listened to a word, the farther off I got. Case in point: word number 5 was grade. I guessed crime.
I did so darn bad on this activity, but the middle of the country was the dialect that I recognized more than the others. I can assume this is because I've spent my life in the midwest and must be able to recognize others that sound most similar to me.
ReplyDeleteI did awful on this distinguishing the langueages. I couldn't tell any difference between them. English is my second language, and I think I haven't heard any other language from the other are in the US. I don't think I can tell it even I hear it, though.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I couldn't identify any of groups collectly. Every language was tough!