I was born and spent most of my life before I turned 11 in northern Illinois. In the month after I turned 11, my family moved to North Carolina. My mother is from the mountains of southwestern Virginia and my father speaks English as a second language. I learned to speak and formed most of my vocabulary while living in Illinois but my time in the South has also influenced the way I speak. As I spend time with my grandparents both in Japan and in Virginia, my syntax and cadence change as well as the words I use, creating a unique accent that fits many places yet nowhere. I call a group of people “guys” even when females are present, but I use the term interchangeably with “y’all”. I say yes ma’am and no sir, I use a very slight case of Japan-glish,
Besides coating your hotdog in a thick layer of ketchup, or implying that the Packers are better than the Bears, there is nothing that makes a Chicagoan cringe more than suggesting that we have an accent. You always get the same repudiate answer; “What do you mean I have an accent? I don't have an accent, you’re the one with the accent.” Chicagoans, are struck with one of the worst cases of “Midwest accent denial syndrome” we simply don’t hear it, and we can’t fathom the fact that we sound different to those in other parts of the states. There are hundreds of accents within the English language, and dozens within American English, and contrary to popular belief, Chicago is among one of them.
Throughout history society has created many stereotypes and assumptions based on race and nationality to confine us into categories. The reality is, not every individual fits a specific category because we are unique even within the same ethnic group. In “On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black person” Allison Joseph illustrates some speech stereotypes that come hand in hand with her racial background and how even people from the same racial background and house hold don’t all sound alike. The author portrays that race and linguistic has such a huge impact on our daily life and how society sees her differently to others when they see she does not fit in the stereotype of sounding “like a black person” and feels frustration to being compared
Finegan says this is something “living languages must do”. For me, I was raised in a military home in which we moved to a new region every couple of years. Coming from Germany, moving to Rochester, and then to Lowville, my dialect is a combination of all three speech communities. It is different than my parents, and will mostly be passed down to my children. As I age and move locations it is opted to change again as well. So it is not that I speak differently or incorrect than the rest of my family, my speech community is merely growing and changing as it is passed generation to generation. Richard Lederer stated in his article, “We are a teeming nations within a nation, a country that is like a world.” (150) He was portraying how our country, with a universal language, can be so diverted by each region’s version of the English language. I agree completely that although we all “sing” the same song of the American language, “we talk in melodies of infinite variety.” (150) The way our country was built was by different American regions doing their own work, for example, the south had plantations, where my ancestors were small town farmers who worked with manufacturing in mills and
So far this year, I felt pretty satisfied with my progress this semester. I feel like I am slowly adapting to the new way papers and assignments are handled. All my college work depends solely on me now. No one is going to baby me anymore and whether I succeed or fail depends on how much effort I put into something. For the first time in my life I wrote a paper. Not just a five paragraph essay but actual pages, which is extremely challenging. It’s also been my first time studying for five hours straight so I can pass an actual test. I didn’t know I possessed this level of dedication, it’s probably because it isn’t free.
The first and second year after moving from China to the United States, I was afraid to talk to strangers because my English was not very well. I had to depend on my husband for dealing with my personal business, such as making a doctor’s appointment, calling to the bank, or questioning to DMV officers. Douglass says, “being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart” (62). For myself, being a dependent and helpless adult is a shame. Moreover, I lacked of extra money to go to school to improve my English. Thus, I stayed home all the time to avoid embarrassment of talking to strangers. After a while, I realized that improving English speaking skills are the essential to gain my self-confidence. So, I spent time to read various articles on the internet and watched English dialogues’ videos on YouTube. As a non-English speaking immigrant living in the U.S., I inevitably encountered a series of difficulties to integrate myself into a new
Although printed American English is consistent throughout the nation, there are many distinguishable differences in the pronunciation of words in the spoken language, depending on the region of the country. Eastern New England has one of the most distinct American dialects. “The letter ‘R’ is often silent, and ‘A’ is normally pronounced ‘AH,’ so we get ‘Pahk the cah in Hahvuhd yahd’” (Delaney). Unlike Boston and additional urban pronunciations, New York City’s dialect doesn’t show much similarity to the other dialects of the area. New York City’s pronunciation is the most rejected and mocked of all the American dialects. “‘IR’ changes to ‘OI,’ but ‘OI’ becomes ‘IR,’ and ‘TH’ becomes ‘D’ as in ‘Dey sell tirlets on doity-doid street’(Dela...
Personal narratives allow you to share your life with others and vicariously experience the things that happen around you. Your job as a writer is to put the reader in the midst of the action letting him or her live through an experience. Although a great deal of writing has a thesis, stories are different. A good story creates a dramatic effect, makes us laugh, gives us pleasurable fright, and/or gets us on the edge of our seats. A story has done its job if we can say, "Yes, that captures what living with my father feels like," or "Yes, that’s what being cut from the football team felt like."
Language and dialects as unintelligent and not beautiful. Folk linguistics can be visible when comparing Standard English and African American language. Some individuals
In Robert MacNeil’s article “Do You Speak American?” MacNeil discusses how the United States English started to become more diverse through the ongoing changes in the way English is being spoken throughout the States.MacNeil includes different demographics, groups of people and dialects to depict the progress that has come about over the years. With this in mind, he wants people to view this change as a step in the right direction.He aims to persuade people who are against this shift, so they can grow to tolerate and view this growth in a more positive manner. Since this article was published after his show on PBS in USA magazine he aims to convince people who have an above average knowledge of the English language to view change as a progressive
All begin with the title and the first paragraph. I have to make sure that my first paragraph and title are not generic, this is a key factor to understand what my essay is about. I had to improve my writing style to be eye-catching, to make it easy to understand. The introduction of the thesis is the clickbait of my assignment; it has to be clear and focus and reach the reader.
living on Long Island, that contribute to what others perceive as odd dialect. Its the culture that I
I am not the kind of person who talks or writes much. Putting my thoughts on papers is something I have always struggled with doing. I believe this class will help me improve on transferring my thoughts to paper, in an organized fashion. I look forward to becoming a better writer because of this class.
I stepped up to the stage when my name was called over the microphone. I walked over to the man that was handing out the certificates and letters. I smiled at the audience that was clapping politely. My mind rushed back to a couple months before when I was writing my piece for the Scholastic Writing awards. I always hid my writing from someone if they walked by while I was writing, in fear of someone judging my writing and not liking it. I remember the countless nights I stayed up writing and deleting and rewriting work on the memoir I wrote trying to get it edited welI enough to submit for the writing contest. I wouldn’t of never thought of myself as a good writer until one time my teacher asked to talk to me after class and talked to me about how well my memoir was written, and that I should think of entering my work into writing contests. After that, I forgot about what he said for a couple months until a week before the deadline of the Scholastic Writing awards. I remembered what my teacher told me a couple months ago, and after that I worked harder than I ever had on my memoir to submit it for the contest. After submitting to the contest, entering completely slipped my mind, and I forgot about the
The American class system is divided into three sets of social categories: upper class, middle class, and lower class. These class divisions are determined based on an individual’s status and power in the society and may also be determined through an individual’s education, occupation, and income. Having a divided society based on social and economic status leads to the formation of different conversational styles. The use of standard or nonstandard English dialects often reflect an individual’s social class and it will vary according to the social group one is categorized. Language is affected by the social structure because individuals will differ from one another in the way an individual speak. Being divided by
As far as definite pronouncements go. I’d always love British shows and books so this was only natural to happen. I fear that the continuous changes of language and significant accents I’ve been exposed to have strengthened me a unique way of talking. It’s more likely standard English but I’m able to blend with distinct crowds in language specifically my more native and first tongue of Western American which is most prominent since I lived on the East