{"id":1247,"date":"2025-07-22T09:56:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T08:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2025-07-22T16:20:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T15:20:44","slug":"think-you-know-northeast-accents-test-your-skills-at-the-discover-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/2025\/07\/22\/think-you-know-northeast-accents-test-your-skills-at-the-discover-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Think You Know Northeast Accents? Test Your Skills at the Discover Festival!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ever thought you could pinpoint exactly where someone\u2019s from in the Northeast just by hearing them talk? Well, we put that to the test at the&nbsp;<strong>Discover Festival<\/strong>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<strong>7 June<\/strong>&nbsp;at the&nbsp;<strong>Great North Museum<\/strong>\u2014and let\u2019s just say, it was&nbsp;<em>much<\/em>&nbsp;harder than people expected!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"769\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image1-1024x769.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image1-1024x769.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image1-768x577.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image1-1536x1154.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image1-2048x1538.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Was Happening?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The festival was packed with over&nbsp;<strong>100 research stalls<\/strong>&nbsp;on all kinds of cool scientific topics scattered around Newcastle. Ours? A fun (and tricky!) game all about&nbsp;<strong>recognising Northeast accents<\/strong>. Visitors could drop by anytime, have a go, and maybe learn something new about the way we speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"766\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image3-766x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1243\" style=\"width:453px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image3-766x1024.jpg 766w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image3-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image3-768x1026.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image3-1149x1536.jpg 1149w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image3-1532x2048.jpg 1532w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image3.jpg 1736w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 766px) 100vw, 766px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Accent Challenge: How Well Do You Know the Northeast?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We set up a two-level game where participants listened to short voice clips (7-10 seconds) and had to guess where the speaker was from by clicking on an interactive map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Level 1: County-Level&nbsp;\u2013 Can you tell if someone\u2019s from&nbsp;Northumberland, County Durham, or Tyne &amp; Wear?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Level 2: Borough-Level&nbsp;\u2013 Even trickier! Now, pinpoint the exact borough in&nbsp;Tyne &amp; Wear:&nbsp;Newcastle, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland, or Gateshead.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people found it REALLY hard\u2014and honestly, so did we researchers! Turns out, Northeast accents are more subtle (and similar) than we think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"766\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image4-766x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1244\" style=\"width:429px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image4-766x1024.jpg 766w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image4-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image4-768x1026.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image4-1149x1536.jpg 1149w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image4-1532x2048.jpg 1532w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image4.jpg 1736w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 766px) 100vw, 766px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why This Game?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The point wasn\u2019t just to stump people (though that was fun!). We wanted to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Make people aware<\/strong>&nbsp;that accents are all around us\u2014and we often judge people subconsciously based on how they sound.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Show that while&nbsp;<strong>accents alone<\/strong>&nbsp;might not tell us much about someone\u2019s background (like education or social class), other things\u2014like&nbsp;<strong>certain words, phrases, or speaking styles<\/strong>\u2014can shape how we perceive them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who Came Along?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We had&nbsp;<strong>all ages<\/strong>&nbsp;giving it a go\u2014from kids to grandparents\u2014and loads of great chats about how accents change even within short distances. Some were convinced they\u2019d nail it\u2026 until they actually tried!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image2-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1245\" style=\"width:583px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image2-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image2-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image2-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image2-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/image2-2048x1532.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Shout-Out to the Team!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Big thanks to the organisers\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/people\/cong-zhang\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/people\/cong-zhang\/\">Cong<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/people\/dan-duncan\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/people\/dan-duncan\/\">Dan<\/a>, and Mary\u2014and our awesome student helpers&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/people\/yanyu-li\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/people\/yanyu-li\/\">Yanyu <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/people\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/people\/\">Scarlett&nbsp;<\/a>from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/\">P&amp;P group<\/a>&nbsp;for making it all happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Final Verdict: A Success!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>People loved the challenge, learned something new, and left with a fresh appreciation for the&nbsp;<strong>diversity of Northeast voices<\/strong>. Maybe next year we\u2019ll make it even harder\u2026 or easier? (Probably not!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Think you could do better?<\/strong>&nbsp;Let us know in the comments\u2014we dare you to try! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Link to the game: <a href=\"https:\/\/ne-accent-game.ncl.ac.uk\/\">https:\/\/ne-accent-game.ncl.ac.uk\/<\/a> <\/em><br><em>More on the project: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/research.ncl.ac.uk\/ne-accent-games\/aboutourproject\/\">https:\/\/research.ncl.ac.uk\/ne-accent-games\/aboutourproject\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Did you play our game? How many did you get right? Share your accent stories with us!<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"766\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/museum-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1246\" style=\"width:634px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/museum-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/museum-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/museum-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/museum-1536x1149.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/files\/2025\/07\/museum-2048x1532.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever thought you could pinpoint exactly where someone\u2019s from in the Northeast just by hearing them talk? Well, we put that to the test at the&nbsp;Discover Festival&nbsp;on&nbsp;7 June&nbsp;at the&nbsp;Great North Museum\u2014and let\u2019s just say, it was&nbsp;much&nbsp;harder than people expected! What &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/2025\/07\/22\/think-you-know-northeast-accents-test-your-skills-at-the-discover-festival\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12157,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[60,67,66,46],"class_list":["post-1247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-event","tag-accent","tag-gamification","tag-science-open-day","tag-sociolinguistics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1273,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/1273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phonphon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}