AA:I'mAviArdittiwithRosanneSkirble, andthisweekonWORDMASTER: acollectionoflifestoriestoldinjustsixwords.

RS:Butfirst, wehaveareportonalinguistinVirginiawhocollectsaccentsfromacrossAmerica, andacrosstheworld, andpoststhemonaWebsite. ReporterNancyKingspokewithhim.

STEVEWEINBERGER: "Everybodyhasanaccent. Andifwesimplylistentopeople, wegetanimmediateimpressionofthem. Wecomputetheirsounds. Andwemakejudgmentsaboutthem."

NK:That'sSteveWeinberger, alinguistatGeorgeMasonUniversity. Hebelieveswearetaughtearlyoninourlivestomakebiasedsocialjudgmentsaboutpeoplebasedontheirspeechpatterns. Whilethisisnormalhumanbehavior, theresultsarefrequentlyflawed.

STEVEWEINBERGER: "Thiswillgiveyouanexampleofhowwejudgeaccents. Let'slistentothisBrooklynspeaker:

SPEAKER:"PleasecallStella, askhertobringthosethingswithherfromthestore."

STEVEWEINBERGER: "It'savery, verydistinctaccent, andpeoplemightbestartledtolearnthatsheisaPhDandaprofessorofFrenchatamajoruniversity."

NK:Somuchfortheabused"WorkingGirl" stereotype. Howandwhendowelearnouraccent? Well, surprisingly, Weinbergersays, it'snotfromourfamily.

STEVEWEINBERGER: "Wegetthemfromourpeers, mostlinguistsbelieve. Somewherebetweenagestwoandfivewedevelopournativelanguage. Andwetypicallygetitfromourplaymates. Ifwegotouraccentsfromourparents, thenwe'dallspeaklikeimmigrants."

NK:SteveWeinbergerrunstheSpeechAccentArchive, anonlinecollectionofnearlyninehundredexamplesofaccents- frombothnativeandnon-nativeEnglishspeakers.

Thesiteisusedbylinguists, researchersandtheoccasionalactorwhoneedstomasteranaccent. ButWeinbergersaysthat'sonetoughjob.

STEVEWEINBERGER: "I'msuretheseactorssoundperfectlylegitimatetolistenerswhoaren'tnative. So, forexample, maybeDickVanDykesoundsOKtous."

(MOVIESOUND)

"ThatcockneyaccentgoesoverquitewellforyoungAmericanchildrenwhowatch'MaryPoppins.'ButforanyLondoner, it'sjustsimplyhorrible."

NK:YoucanfindtheSpeechAccentArchiveataccent.gmu.edu. I'mNancyKing.

AA:Thatreportcametousfromtheradioprogram"WithGoodReason," producedbytheVirginiaFoundationfortheHumanities.

RS:Now, ontothosesix-wordmemoirs. EarlierthisyearonWORDMASTER, ourcolleagueAdamPhillipstoldyouaboutabookcalled"NotQuiteWhatIWasPlanning." It'sacollectionofmorethaneighthundredmemoirsallsixwordslong. Forexample: "Foundtruelove. Marriedsomeoneelse." "Young, skinny: ridiculed. Old, skinny: envied."

Theywerechosenfromamongmorethanfifteenthousandsix-wordmemoirssubmittedtoSmithMagazine, anonlinejournaldevotedtostorytelling.

AA:Theeditorsofthebook, RachelFershleiserandLarrySmith, offeredWORDMASTERlistenersfiveslotsintheirnextvolume. Well, here'sabonus: we'regoingtoreadyousevenofthem.

RS:GraceLiuinTaiwanwrites: "Unexpected, surprised, change, Ilovechallenge!" Graceexplainshersix-wordmemoirthisway: "Everythinginmylifeisalwaysfulloftheunexpected. Ihavetoaccepttheworldaroundme, butthesechallengescouldinspiremetoovercome!"

AA:Ki-HongParkfromSouthKoreawrites: "I'minterestedinlearningEnglishthoughIdon'thaveanychancestouseit. Anyway, hereismysix-wordmemoir: OutofHere, butStillHere."

RS:AlistenernamedAustinGarrubasentusthisone: "Baptized: Conformed: Revolted: Disillusioned: Born... Again!"

AA:FromIndia, KarmaLhamowrites: "Wasbornconfused, willdieconfused!"

RS:W. K. ErandafromSriLankasentusthissix-wordmemoir: "Listentoyourmomunlessdeaf."

AA:AliAlmasiisamedicalproductsengineerintheAmericanstateofPennsylvania. Hesentusasix-wordmemoir-- plusatitle: "3T'slaw: Trustheart. Thinkseriously. Takeactions."

RS:AndCarmenMcGeeisaclinicalsupervisorinTexasattheUniversityofHoustonspeech, languageandhearingclinic. Hersix-wordmemoir? "Masterofnone; okaywiththat."

AA:Andthat'sWORDMASTERforthisweek. TofindAdam'soriginalstory, gotoourWebsite, voanews.com/wordmaster. WithRosanneSkirble, I'mAviArditti.