Has anyone been asked this question? I am asked this quite often. I work from home and I speak to people on the phone (people do still talk on these things!) from all over the country from Maine to Hawaii. Oftentimes, at the end of our sessions, the person on the other line says something like, “I just have to ask, where are you from?” or “Where are you located?” I always smile when I get that question. It’s because I have an unmistakable Appalachian accent. Years ago, I felt very self-conscious of “how I talked”, but now I embrace it. Sometimes, I lay it on thicker than other times, which is usually in the company of family members who might just be a little more country than me. I am very proud of my accent and I want others to be proud of theirs too.

Growing up, I really thought I was living in the south. But then, I moved to South Carolina and I realized that mountain culture and southern culture are two different things. The accents and dialects are also quite distinct. In fact, I realized in South Carolina that I was way more hillbilly than I was southern and I am quite proud of that.

Recently, a friend shared a neat YouTube video on Facebook which showed a man from East Tennessee pronouncing a list of words and doing an “accent tag”. I had never heard of such a thing! So I did a little research and apparently, people from all over the world are making and viewing these videos to hear different regional accents. I personally think this is fabulous! If you are interested in this, or would even like to upload your own video, check out this story from Public Radio International:  Do you have an accent? These are the words to try

In that link above, you can see a list of words to pronounce and a list of questions. Give it a try even if you don’t make your own video.

Please let me know if you’ve ever had someone ask you “where are you from?”