What American accent do you have? | Comments

Goodness. I just moved back to the USA - Connecticut more precisely - after 30+ years in Europe (France)where I taught English using British classroom materials... But I was not raised in CT, I was born in AZ, raised in TN - my dad was from there and my mom was from OH. I never did have - and I have listened to recordings of myself many times - a "southern" accent, either. (and no I do not say "pop" for Cocola... hee hee. ) Purrhapz eet eez ay rizeeduelle beet of ze Fronsch akzent? Or maybe the Connecticut accent is creeping in already... haha... go figure... :) But it was fun to play this game...

My accent rated 100% Midland North. I grew-up outside of Chicago and have always wondered why the people in that city have two different pronunciations for it? The ca sounds either like call or car. Can anyone tell me which one is

correct or why there is a difference? My father was from the Southside of Chicago and he said it like car and I say it like call.

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

I'd like to know what the percentages mean. Please provide a description of what the percentages mean. I'd like to see them mean that I have a 70% chance of having a Boston accent, versus a 15% chance of having a New York City accent, a 10% chance of having a Philadelphia accent, or a 5% chance of having Buffalo accent (total 100%). However, please make a descriptive statement about what your percentages mean.

Sorry - I was born and reared in South Texas, 2 degrees from UT Austin, lived in Europe (Germany and Holland) for 7 or 8 years, lived in NYC for 17 years, lived in Canada (Toronto and Montreal) for 20 years. My wife was from North Carolina. Have rarely visited Philadelphia! ;-)

Interesting. I have lived in South Carolina for 70 years. Had a Gullah nursemaid as a baby and young child and spoke Gullah before I learned standard English. The test indicated my accent was from Philadelphia ??? I have been to Philadelphia once, for a couple of days. Very curious.

Please do not glorify accents to second language learners. The closer you can speak to standard English, the better your chances to be understood. This is also true for native speakers but we build shrines to various accents never realizing that ANY accent involves mispronunciation of words.

Anyone who teaches, who works meeting the public in sales work, etc. should work hard on speaking clear, clean, standard English.

Strange.... I got "North Central" and I spent most of my childhood on the west coast, then moved to Montana at age 15. People here (myself included) do not sound ANYTHING like the movie "Fargo" or Canadian. I've seen the movie (one of my Dad's favorites) and been to Canada several times. Not sure who set the quiz up, but I think they are a bit off. Still fun though!

You were a little off. Born & raised in Northern WVa. Educated in California, North Carolina, Philadelphia and lived 30 years in Akron, Ohio area. Now live in Pittsburgh. Guess I picked up several speech patterns all over. Just glad I do not sound like I am from Pittsburgh!!

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

Im not from any of those places. . . lol

Interesting. I'm originally from Russia and lived in Los Angeles for 7 years since 15 years old. However, after another 10 years of living in various places in the U.S., several people have asked me if I was from Wisconsin. This quiz nailed it dead on -- Inland North -- even though I've never even been in that part of the country.

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: The Inland North

You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."

i am from wisconsin! but i call soda soda duh! u have a great quiz! everything in that sounds dif except mary, merry, and marry! maybe there waz 1 more thing that sounded the same but whatevs u get the point! XD

This quiz said I was from Philadelphia. I was born and raised in the deep South. I have traveled extensively and when in Texas, I am always asked where in South Texas I am from. This is so funny, "My Homes In Alabama." I live in Southeast Alabama. People do have a hard time with figuring out my accent, but always guess somewhere in the South.

Nope -- not from New York or New Jersey. I've lived in Atlanta all my life. The quiz author must be from up north...the southern accent is very much misinterpreted. I do have a southern accent but it is quite different from north Georgians or south Georgians accent. Also different from Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Virginia, N. Carolina, etc.

Your quiz states that I am from the North; Wisconsin or Chicago. I am from neither. I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a point of information, I retired from Naval Aviation after 42 years and I have in fact traveled all over the world. I do not believe you quiz is accurate.

Results said my accent was from the north central region of the US. Quite interesting as I have not lived in that area of the US in years, and then not for long. I lived in Salina KS 1/2 a year when I was 5, in Denver CO 1/2 at year at 6, and in Topeka KS 1 year at age 8. Otherwise, I lived in southern CA for 4 years, Okinawa for 2 years, Utah for 2 years, FL for 2 years, AL for 1 year, France for 1 year, Italy and Germany for 2 years, northern CA for 2 years. Since age 18, I've lived mainly in the south - GA, and NC.

I am a 64-year-old American teacher who was raised in Singapore, Jamaica and Hawai'i, my ancestral home. I attended boarding school in Virginia, college in Evanston, IL, north of Chicago, and taught school in Lancaster, PA, for 9 years. I have lived in Arizona for almost 20 years, where I teach high-school English and Reading, and middle-and-high-sch ool English Language Learners. As I was always taught proper diction, I model it consistently for my students; I took the test carefully and out loud. Although perhaps my being dubbed "Middle Northeast," might be vaguely correct, I am NEVER mistaken for anyone from Wisconsin or Chicago, Thus, I find the test disappointingly inaccurate.

Taking the test carefully, I pronounced every word.

My results were no accent, but I have a very thick western accent, which the creator of this quiz forgot to include. I live in a small town in Texas, and my friends make fun of me for my accent all the time, because I say words like "worsh" (wash). They also left out a few more varieties of accents. If you going to tell people they have an accent, you gotta do it right.

It was totally wrong for me. You see I was born, raised and lived most of my life in Australia. I sound nothing like someone from Philadelphia as the test results suggested. In fact I live in Panama City Florida and I am the only man in town who speaks English without an accent.

Sorry to disagree with one or two comments - Not everyone has an accent. There is a flat absolute phonetic pronunciation that orators of all sorts covet, and often spend a bundle to achieve - however some people just come by it naturally, and actually with the exposure that we get electronically to all areas of the USA and outside of it these days it is getting more common!! Most linguists would be, um - let's just say 'skeptical' that a few self answered questions in a quiz would be anywhere near to universally accurate - after all since everyone's voice sounds different internally than externally you are not completely able to judge how you sound when speaking. Another point, because it is completely possible to read without associating sound to written word (yes, those who have never heard a single sound can read) let alone associating the precise sound you actually use in speech... Well you get the picture!! Yes, of course I realize this is all in good fun and certainly not in need of such over analyzing - but for those that are wondering why it was so completely incorrect in their results... Hey - it was fun anyway!!

Wow! The whole time I was taking this, I kept thinking the questions were stupid and of course the words sound the way I hear them, how could they sound any different? But then I read my result. I got North Central, which is pretty legit, as I'm from Michigan. I hear Canadian accents a lot, but I never dreamed that I had one. Very good and spooky accurate quiz.

Your Result: The Midland

"You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.

yep xD

The West

Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.

Yup I'm from SoCal.

Being a native South Carolinan, I scoffed when I received the "Midland" result. As I read further, however, I saw the name of my beloved home town, Charleston, mentioned by name. Maybe this quiz is more accurate than I originally thought. As an aside: I agree with Wolfie up there. Those chainmail comments are REALLY irritating.