Can this quiz guess your accent correctly?

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Dialect and accent are  important parts of a story for both writers and readers. Dialect is the form of language specific to a particular region. (It’s the reason some folks say “pop” and some say “soda.”)  It’s also colored by those nifty accents. Writers strive to recreate authentic dialect in our stories and you, the reader, imagine the accent in your mind. It’s a tricky balance because laying on the dialect with too heavy a hand, or writing out the dialogue with accents in place, can make the book hard to follow. For example…”Vere is de vonderful veisswurst vich Mama has cooked up in de kitchen?” Errgh. Too cliched and hard to follow. A whole novel of that would drive a reader crazy! There should be just a hint of dialect, a sprinkling in of regional words so the reader can imagine the character’s accent. Less is more when it comes to dialect and accent.

Do you have an accent? Here’s a quiz you can take which is supposed to pinpoint the region in which you live. (Disclaimer, it’s only applicable to American accents.) Would love to hear if the quiz was able to identify your region! Giving away a triple prize this month! 

http://upopin.com/type-american-accent-quiz/

29 responses to this post.

  1. Very strange, but my results came up as “Your American accent is New England.” LOL! I’m from West Michigan and have a very distinct West Michigan accent. I answered all of the questions honestly, and still came up with New England. I’ve been there numerous times, but I don’t share their dialect. Haha… Facebook wouldn’t share my results for some reason. This was fun!

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  2. Posted by Christina Spicuzza on November 15, 2014 at 10:01 pm

    So I took the quiz you posted Dana, and also the one that Aerykah posred, and both said New England. They’re close, I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which s about 2 states away. Technically I live in the North mid-Atlantic region.
    That was fun! Thank you for posting and also the chance to win. Books are my third love! (Behind God and my family of course) 🙂

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  3. Posted by Jeanie Dannheim on November 15, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    It worked for my birth state – inland Midwest. Have lived more than half my life in SW, surprised that I still talk primarily Michigander!

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  4. Posted by susanmsj on November 15, 2014 at 2:58 pm

    Missed by a mile. It said mine was Inland North, and since I am from west Texas I am pretty insulted. lol.

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  5. […] I pretty much only take them if a friend suggests a particular one to me.  When I came across this post on Dana Mentink’s blog, Fiction 4 Writers and Readers, I took the quiz and was quite […]

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  6. Posted by Samantha B on November 15, 2014 at 1:07 am

    I got New England dialect.
    I took the test, but I’m actually Canadian and my first language is French 😉

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  7. Inland North

    Wait. WHAAAAT?!?! That is so off! I’m an Oklahoma girl born & raised — southern Oklahoma at that — and I’ve never lived anywhere else. I have met people from that area and I sound absolutely nothing like them! Though I can fake their accent pretty well. 😉
    And I see I’m not the only person it got wrong. There’s got to be a better accent quiz out there…

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  8. Quiz said my accent is Midwest. Not sure how that was surmised because I’m from N.Y.C.!! Way off.

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  9. Posted by Valri Western on November 14, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    It said New England but I don’t think so! I’m Southern California all the way!

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  10. Posted by Pat Moore on November 14, 2014 at 6:07 pm

    Said New England – Maine, NH, etc. Born and spent the majority of my life in Alabama. Can’t get much more southern than that. I have lived in Florida, KY, GA, Germany and spent some time in SC. Never lived outside the southern states other than when my Dad was stationed in Germany. Way off base.

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  11. Posted by Lynsay on November 14, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    New England dialect area encompasses Maine, New Hampshire, and eastern Massachusetts (including Greater Boston). It possesses enough distinctive features of its own to distinguish it from the North as a separate dialect system. Southern New Hampshire has been reported as retreating from some of the more distinctive features of the Eastern New England dialect region.

    Definitely off, Never been there. Maybe the quiz needs better questions. I know I have a Philly accent, especially with how I pronounce water.

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  12. Missed by a mile. It said I’m mid-Atlantic, and I’ve never even been there. I grew up with a thick West Texas accent which I lost over the years of living in Wyoming and Alaska. I still say y’all, which I believe should become standard English for the plural of you.

    (For the record, most Alaskans don’t sound like Sarah Palin. To me, she sounds like she’s from Minnesota.)

    I’m interested to see if it’s more accurate with people who still live in the region where they grew up.

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