Chicago to Pittsburgh

It is strange to imagine that there can be language barriers throughout the United States. People often forget that America is made up of a variety of cultures. The fact that it is so large and diverse creates numerous dialect differences such as accents and certain words or phrases. After moving from Chicago to Pittsburgh, I came to the realization that there are many differences throughout America.
After living in suburban Chicago for thirteen years, I became very familiar with the culture and way of life. I learned how to speak and associate with others during this time. I could not imagine having any problem talking to other people in my own country. The summer before eighth grade, my family moved to Pittsburgh. I hated being the new kid in school. Every time I told someone where I was from, they would make fun of how I said the word “Chicago”. They commented on how I pronounced my “a’s” when I said any word with a long A sound. I never noticed this before and became very self conscious of this issue. I tried very hard to change the way I spoke. People also pointed out other variations in my language which was different than their own.
I soon realized that people from Pittsburgh had other language differences that made me not as self conscious as I had been. At the time, the most unusual word I heard people say was “yinz”. I had no idea what this meant. My mom explained that people use this word when saying the word you plural; similar to “y’all”. Another word that stuck out was hoagie. People in Pittsburgh seem to use this word to describe any sub sandwich. The first time I asked what the word meant, I received many strange looks. They did not understand why I was so confused about this word. Some other unusual phrases I heard were “keller” which is color and “worsh” which is wash. For the first few months of living in Pittsburgh, I felt like I did not belong. I felt like I was thrown into an unfamiliar culture. It was difficult to adapt. Soon enough, all of these words became the norm. I did not find it strange for people to say these words that do not actually exist in the dictionary.
Going to school in Ohio, I have come to experience culture similar to that of Chicago. It is strange to imagine that places that regions that are geographically close to one another have such distance in language. I could not imagine moving anywhere else and having to deal with language and cultural barriers. I do not enjoy feeling like an outsider and having to deal with ridicule for speaking in a manner that is normal to me.