BuzzFeed Britain Names the States!

British CountiesYou may remember back a couple of years, I introduced you to the Know Your States game at Jim’s Pages. I call it a game, but it is also a great tool to learn your states and where they are. And that’s a good thing, because Americans are hopeless when it comes to geography. I know I am! But I’ve gotten a whole lot better. And by playing the game obsessively for a while, I’ve actually gotten to the point that I know all the states. (The game itself is a lot harder than that; you have to be able to place them pretty accurately on a blank map.)

Bearing this in mind, I was pleased to see that BuzzFeed does a fun thing, We Asked Brits to Label the United States Again, Because It’s A Thanksgiving Tradition. Yes, it is a tradition: this is the second year that they’ve done it. And the main thing that comes across is that the people working in the London office of BuzzFeed are very clever, even if they don’t know much about the geography of the United States.

Most of them are very funny, but you really need to click over to BuzzFeed to see them because they would be too small to read here. But this one makes a serious point:

Brits Draw America

I would go further. I think these Brits actually do a whole lot better a job than the vast majority of Americans. That’s why you should play Know Your States. We’ve got to beat the Brits!

4 thoughts on “BuzzFeed Britain Names the States!

  1. 206 seconds, average error 27 miles. That’s with a bad mouse that slipped a couple of times. Bow to your Canadian overlord!

    Part of me does, another does not, want to know the average performance for Americans, and maybe you feel the same.

    • The first time I did the game, I think I got 83% right. When I did it two days ago, I got 100% in half the time. It does depend upon when the states come in. For example, if Oklahoma or Kansas are the first states, it is really hard to place them accurately without having Texas to guide you. It’s a great game though! I hope they use it in schools.

  2. In 1975 I moved to Bath, England, a very old city in the very new County of Avon, which at the time was about twelve months old. The city remains quite historic and beautiful; the County no longer exists.

    A British County is not the equivalent of an American state. For one thing, no one sews a new flag each time a County is created, or disappears.

    • I agree: that would be unfair. But Canadian provinces wouldn’t be. And I doubt many Americans would get more than two. It’s just for fun. And I was impressed. One of the maps from the UK was perfect. Like I said, that’s what I would get today. But three years ago, I wouldn’t be anywhere close.

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