Language and Place

I think the language that people speak really does shape the place that they live. Many locations around the United States and the entire world have different words for all kinds of things. The pop example is very true and is something that I have experienced before. I have gone to restaurants before and asked what kind of pop do you have, and the waiter looks back with a strange face and says what is pop?

I think language is something that helps identify who a person is. If you have never spoken with someone before and you first meet them, you can tell a lot about that person by just hearing them speak. The accent that they have can tell you where they come from. Most people from different countries all have different accents when they speak. If they do not have an accent, you can probably get a good idea where they are from by the different words they use. For example if you talk with someone from the west coast in California, they will obviously speak different from someone in Dayton Ohio. People on the west coast say things like “I’m stoked” or “that’s rad.” Someone from around Dayton would be a lot less likely to speak like that. They would say something like “I’m excited” or “that’s awesome.” This same kind of idea can definitely be seen if you look at the type of slang that Australians use. They have all different words to describe some everyday things. Another example has to do with Canadians. Canadians are known to say “A” a lot when they speak. If I heard someone say “A” a lot I would probably assume that they were from Canada. Just by talking with someone like this, it would be clear that they were from another part of the country, or even the world.

I think if I lived in another part of the country, or the world, I would pick up their kind of language or slang. By being around that kind of talking all the time, I think it would just rub off on me. I would be eager to learn a new type of language or slang if I lived in a different area. That is definitely part of the culture of that area that I would be interested in. I like hearing new words that people in different cultures use. I think it is very interesting that different places around the world have two completely different words for one thing. It makes me wonder where the two different versions of the word have come from.

I think that language and the place where someone lives really do go hand and hand. The different languages that someone uses can help you tell a lot not only about that person but also about their culture.