HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE "ROUTE"?

George Mason University has one of the coolest collections in the linguistic world: an archive of American accents.
You can click on the atlas below, choose a city and listen to a native speaker read a paragraph. There’s a phonetic transcription and detailed analysis of the speaker’s accent.

http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_atlas.php

(As for pronouncing route "rowt" or "rute", both versions are correct. The consensus seems to be that the "rowt" pronunciation is more East coast, whereas "rowt" is more westerly. Is that your experience?)

For now, just explore a paragraph read by 3 speakers in 3 regions you choose. Then choose a speaker for whom English is a second language. Listen carefully to the difference among the speakers. There’s even a chance for you to record your own sample and add to the archives.

What kind of accent do you have?

Write the News: After listening to 4 samples, write an analysis of the differences in some words and phrases you hear in the samples. The write 2 paragraphs on the differences.

Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-medium-t.html where Virginia Hefferman discusses the TV show “Jersey Shore” and its effect on regional accent

Jill Scott-Conklin, writer of this feature, has taught English and French, headed the Newspaper in Education Department at The Denver Post, and worked as editor in both the publishing business and as a freelancer. She and her husband live in Denver and Penobscot, Maine.
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