Monday, August 24, 2009
Language in Ohio and Illinois
First week in the US takes me back in to the language. I need some days for "to acclimate" in the English language. I learned some differences between British and American English. The Americans were very amused about our British vocabulary like lorry or trouser. Very hard to understand was the Jersey slang in the musical Jerseyboys. The combination of singing and slang wasn't really understandable. But the music and the stage setting was grateful and combination of seeing and hearing allowed to follow the story. Also on of the singers in the Bluesbar "Blue Chicago" I couldn't follow. The black guy spokes slang too, but that was ok but the white guy spokes something that I couldn't identify as English. I think that I have learned a lot of new vocabulary and that I have negotiate the barrier of speaking English. I hope to improve my English in the following weeks more.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"Slang" generally means "informal vocabulary", but I wonder if you were also hearing dialect specific language, which, in that case, would not be slang, but proper dialect. The US has many dialects. At the university we, generally speak the "standard" dialect, which you will hear on the radio or TV, but in many parts of the city, you will hear the Appalachian dialect, the African American dialect, and there is some English usage that is specific to the city of Cincinnati.
ReplyDelete