And where are you guys from?

Over the past two months, one of the most common questions Rob and I have been asked is, "And where are you guys from?" The answer to this question was simple at first, "The US." But then people ask, "Okay. Where in the US?" 

This is where it gets tricky. I say, "Idaho" and Rob says, "Michigan...but we live in Idaho." 

The response is normally, "Oh! Idaho? That's near the Great Lakes, right?" 

I think most people get Idaho and Iowa/Ohio confused, like Idaho is a hybrid of the two. I have started saying, "No, Idaho is in the Pacific Northwest" and when I still get the deer in the headlights look, I resort to saying, "It's near Seattle?" and most of the time, by this time, they nod like, "Oh, yeah...I know where that is."

As we've gotten to know people better, they've been more honest with the fact that they can't place us in the US, based on our accents. I think most UK-ers think that Americans all talk like they are from Kentucky or Louisiana.  Our good friend, Dawn (a Scot) says things like, "Hiiiiiii. I'mmmmm Ameeerrriiiiicaaaaannnn" in a long, drawling, southern accent, and it crack us up.

But it got me to thinking, do Rob and I really speak that differently? I mean, I make fun of the way he says, "Cahllege" instead of "College" and "Mawm" instead of "Mom," but honestly, how different could we really sound?

Turns out, quite differently. You may have seen this NY Times link floating around Facebook: "How Y'all, Youse, and You Guys Talk" so it was perfect timing to test it out.

This is a pictorial representation of my results. Pretty spot on, if you ask me!

Faith's Results

But the "most similar" area on my map is quite large. Granted, I was born outside of Portland, used to live in California, and have spent most of my life in Boise (pretty cool that Boise was one of the three cities that popped up!). But, I thought, okay, it's just one of those tests that gives everyone a very generic result.

So, here was the real test: what would Rob get? His results are below and my mind is officially blown. Look at his "most similar" area - holy moly! Grand Rapids? Toledo? Detroit? Are you kidding me? 

Rob's Results

Best. Test. Ever.

-F

PS

And not to get all teacher-ish, because it's break and my brain is pretty wiped out from the last two months of teaching, but can you imagine being an ELL in a system that has English Medium Teachers from all over the world? Ireland, Scotland, England, US, South Africa, Australia. I make fun of my friend Dawn for saying things like "Mum" and spelling "favourite" incorrectly...man, can you imagine trying to learn English from a Pacific Northwesterner one year, a Scot the next, and then, oh, I don't know, a Kiwi the next? Makes it a little difficult for me to hold misspelled words against my current students.