Do You Speak American Analysis
Do you speak American? American English is not spoken the same by residents from different parts of the United States. Based on America’s history and cultural background, English used in America differs from region to region, among ethnic and social groups, even by age and gender. In this documentary film, Robert MacNeil, a journalist, travelled across the United States to discover how and why people from different regions speak different kinds of American English. From north to south, east to west, it is clear that how a person talks to one another defines whom the person is. Robert’s discovering journey began on the East Coast, from New England to New York, to Pennsylvania, to Pittsburgh, to Ohio, and to Michigan. When Robert was
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Spanish also has a strong influence in Los Angeles. I think being able to speak Spanglish – half English and half Spanish is such a wonderful thing in America. Then I realized Spanglish is not the only Spanish and English hybrid. Chicano English is a thriving street-talk of the Los Angeles Latino community. Considering some children speak non-mainstream English, some elementary schools attempt to teach their students to translate their home language into mainstream English. Robert also moved on to Hollywood, which is responsible for portraying American English to audience around the world. Through Robert’s conversation with a group of teenagers from Los Angeles, I found that California teenagers actually talk and behave the way they are depicted in films and on TV dramas. It is a big feature in Los Angeles that girls speak “valley girl” and men speak “surfer dude”. Both of them have potential effects on California speech. On the other hand, Americans seem reluctant to give offense to anyone nowadays. As for the gay and lesbian community, people’s accepted attitudes change vocabularies associated with homosexuality. This is a good social phenomenon because everyone has the right to choose what kind of relationship he/she wants in his/her life. Homosexuals deserve the society’s respect and acceptance. Along with Robert’s journey, he pursued the voice technology theme at Microsoft headquarter in Redmond, Washington. XD Huang, a Microsoft researcher, described the style of English that computers are programmed to understand. With the development of technology, many voice-automated products are being invented, such as the new BMW sedan and Siri for Iphone 4S. I think voice-activated products are now impacting the whole world and may also affect the language people
Spanish also has a strong influence in Los Angeles. I think being able to speak Spanglish – half English and half Spanish is such a wonderful thing in America. Then I realized Spanglish is not the only Spanish and English hybrid. Chicano English is a thriving street-talk of the Los Angeles Latino community. Considering some children speak non-mainstream English, some elementary schools attempt to teach their students to translate their home language into mainstream English. Robert also moved on to Hollywood, which is responsible for portraying American English to audience around the world. Through Robert’s conversation with a group of teenagers from Los Angeles, I found that California teenagers actually talk and behave the way they are depicted in films and on TV dramas. It is a big feature in Los Angeles that girls speak “valley girl” and men speak “surfer dude”. Both of them have potential effects on California speech. On the other hand, Americans seem reluctant to give offense to anyone nowadays. As for the gay and lesbian community, people’s accepted attitudes change vocabularies associated with homosexuality. This is a good social phenomenon because everyone has the right to choose what kind of relationship he/she wants in his/her life. Homosexuals deserve the society’s respect and acceptance. Along with Robert’s journey, he pursued the voice technology theme at Microsoft headquarter in Redmond, Washington. XD Huang, a Microsoft researcher, described the style of English that computers are programmed to understand. With the development of technology, many voice-automated products are being invented, such as the new BMW sedan and Siri for Iphone 4S. I think voice-activated products are now impacting the whole world and may also affect the language people