Since so many of you enjoyed taking the American accent quiz, we wanted to share another engaging online linguistic tool — this one is especially notable for its accuracy. The dialect quiz comes from the New York Times and is adapted from academic datasets, so the results are grounded in real linguistic research.
Like many dialect tests, it asks how you pronounce certain words…
…and it also asks which terms you use — for example: firefly or lightning bug, semi-truck or tractor-trailer, yard sale or garage sale. Those choices help narrow down the region your speech patterns most closely match.
The quiz generates a dialect “heat map” of the United States and identifies the three cities whose dialects are most similar to — and least similar to — yours. We found the results to be very accurate for both of us. I was born and raised just outside Washington, D.C., near Arlington, Virginia, and my map reflected that background.
Sherry grew up in northern New Jersey, and her heat map highlighted the New York City/New Jersey area with striking accuracy.
One interesting observation: my map appeared “warmer” in a broader region, suggesting my speech is relatively more generic across several nearby areas. Sherry’s map was more concentrated, indicating a dialect that’s distinctively tied to the NYC/NJ region.
If you want to try it yourself, search for the New York Times dialect quiz — the questions can vary slightly each time, so you may get different results if you take it more than once. For example, one run of the quiz even matched me to Richmond.