First Blog Post

Jennifer Conley

Mrs. Hughes
English 1101
21 August 2009

Throughout my life I've been exposed to many languages. Does that mean I understood all of them? No, more than half the time I could not understand what any of the people were saying. I have taken a beginning course on French but that was six years ago and all I can remember is the alphabet and I have also taken Spanish 1 and 2, but only because I had to in high school to graduate. Spanish helped a little when I went over to my friend Abel's house once in a while and it even helped me in a few soccer games, but because I have not tried to keep learning or using the language I have pretty much forgotten mostly everything. Now outside of what I cannot remember from the classroom, there is an abundance of languages I have heard or people talk to accents I have heard. I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and was raised there for seven years and a lot of people down there have a French background. Because I was so young then, I really do not remember if anyone spoke French around me, but I do however remember their accents. Yes, they are from the south but they have a whole different type of accent. From there I moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Honestly the people there just had regular voices. Virginia is considered a southern state but I never heard anything close to a southern accent there. I am not sure if it is because of how far from the "deep south" it is or maybe because of the location of where I specifically lived, so I consider that to be a neutral area when it comes to accents. The only time I heard any type of accent there was if I went to see my dad on the Navy base, where there are many different people with different dialects and accents. Then when I moved from there to Georgia I was surrounded by southern accents. And now I have grown accustomed to the southern accent and it is weird to hear people with other accents. Even through the exposure of different languages I feel that my life has not been impacted by any of them except for the English language because it has gotten me to where I am today.

Jackie Hand's Post

Jackie Hand
English 1101
Dr. Hughes
Blog 1
I believe that the part of the world one live in plays a HUGE role to one’s grammar, accent, etc. Both of my parents are from Pennsylvania, my mother from Pittsburgh and my father from Scranton. My father has his doctorate to teach Kinesiology, and he took a lot of grammar classes. He has always corrected me for as long as I can remember. I think that is why I have so many pet peeves when it comes to talking.
When I was younger, my family moved around a LOT, from Louisiana to Georgia to Pennsylvania to New Jersey and several other places. So I was never really in one place long enough to develop any certain accent. When I was in fifth grade, we moved to Cedartown, which by the way is a tiny hick town. Everyone there has the stereotypical southern accent, and since I went to school with those people for eight years, I picked it up. I think its funny how my parents are so obviously from the north, but when people talk to me, they think I’ve lived in the south my whole life. I really like having a southern accent though. It is a great conversation starter!
My brothers and sister, however, have not picked up the “southern drawl.” I’m not really sure why. Another strange thing about my way of speaking is that whenever I have been up north for a little while, I start to lose my accent. I guess because I’m usually around both accents every day. When I’m away, people from home will call me and often say, “Jackie? Is that you? You sound so…northern!” It’s funny because a lot of people from Cedartown say I sound like a “Yankee” but people from up north say I’m a little southern bell. I think a lot of people don’t realize how different sayings and slangs are within our own country. That is one thing that has always been so fascinating to me. My friends from up north always make me say things like “heeey yaaa’ll” and quotes from movies like Sweet Home Alabama. And boys up north always want to meet me because everyone loves southern girls!
Honestly I would not change a thing about the way I talk. I have the cute drawl, but I also have excellent grammar. Also, I always try to broaden my vocabulary because I don’t want to be put into that stereotype of a “dumb southerner.” I am glad that things worked out how they did for me, because I think my accent says a lot about my personality. I just would not be Jackie without it.

Southern Accent

Steven Holland
Engl 1101
Dr. Hughes
Blog 1

Having grown up in Georgia for my entire life, I grew up speaking English with a somewhat Southern accent. It may not be as pronounced as other Southerners' accents, but it's there. Almost my entire family also grew up in the South, so therefore they also inherited the Southern accent. My dad's side of the family seem to have originated from the South(but not really) because they've lived in the South for so long. It seems like that whole side of the family has a Southern accent. However, my mom is from the North. She is always correcting the rest of us when we say something wrong or mispronounce a word. She sometimes has to come to me or my brother for a "translation" of what my dad is trying to say because he often mispronounces or misuses words. The funny part is that we have actually somewhat converted her to the South.
English is really the only language I know. Even though I took French in middle and high school, most of it has one way or another worked its way out of my brain. In high school, I had a lot of friends who spoke Spanish. Since I didn't speak Spanish, I often had no clue what they were saying to eachother half the time. I would always ask one of them what the others were saying and then jokingly say, "you've got to teach me Spanish some day."

Blog 1: A Tale of (limited) Linguistics

Jon Cuccia

English 1101

Dr. Jennifer A. Hughes

21 August 2009

My linguistic history is somewhat limited, but all the same, it continues to broaden with each passing day. I can confidently say that English is my only fluent language, and that I have had relatively little exposure to other languages. I probably had never even heard another language be spoken until I was nearly in high school. Growing up in Blairsville has that drawback, although the community seems to be diversifying at a rapid pace now.

My only real experience with a language other then English was during my first two years of high school, when I took the only foreign language offered: Spanish. I took to the language quite quickly and even managed to sound authentic in doing so. It wasn’t long into the course before I became very interested in the language and the associated culture. Through the small class, I gained a better understanding of not only the Spanish language and Spanish-speaking culture, but even of the English language. Noticing the similarities between the two really emphasized their common Latin base. Unfortunately, the next year when I returned for the Spanish II course, the normal teacher was on maternity leave. My knowledge and familiarity of the Spanish language has only decreased since my first year of high school, tragic as it may be.

Finally, the only other mildly interesting I can say about my linguistic history is concerning my family. As I first read over the prompt, I dismissed my family’s part, as they all speak English. Upon further consideration however, I realized that growing up with the family I have had influenced me in a unique way. My two younger siblings have struggled with mental disabilities all their lives. Their methods of communication are not always clear, especially when verbal, and living with them for 14 years has really made me better at interpreting language in different ways.

Conclusively, my linguistic history has been straightforward, but enjoyable. I earnestly hope that throughout my college experience, it can continue to grow.

My Personal Language

Samantha Redden
August 21, 2009
Blog 1
Dr. Hughes
My Personal Language
My language, my own personal dialogue, changes every day. I may learn a new way of saying a certain word, sometimes more educated, other times teenage slang. I may hear a word or phrase I use on a typical basis in a different language and substitute it into my English, for example, “Hola! Como estas?” The changes I make to the way I speak add character into my voice. They allow someone to analyze the type of person I am by the way I speak to them. That is being prejudice; however, everyone does it without realizing. My vocabulary, dialect, diction, and sentence phrasing is constantly developing due to my family, friends, and type of environment I am in.
Often, my stepmother, an English teacher, will correct the way I speak, attempting to make me talk more sophisticated. When I am in my home with my family my “personal language” evolves in order to convince them I have a scholarly vocabulary. However, the minute my bedroom door closes and I get a phone call from a friend “ya’ll,” “ain’t” and other typical southern words come pouring out of me. The way I speak, particularly my vocabulary transforms from one environment to the next within a split second. One minute I am in my dorm room kicked back on my bed with a friend using my beautiful slang, and the next I am sitting in a formal classroom setting dissecting the meaning of language.
Because my language changes according to who I am with or where I am doesn’t not mean that I necessarily try to “fit in.” Everyone at some point in their day changes the way they use their words because of who they are talking to. If I spoke to my friend in my dorm room the way I speak to my classmates, she would look at me as if I had three heads. No one expects anyone else to speak the same way everywhere you go no matter who you are with. The way I speak and the vocabulary I use is all a part of my own language, one in which is changed by those around me and my environment, but still a language that defines me.