Culture and Language Essay

CULTURE AND LANGUAGE In today's societies of the world, there are many cultures inside of one country. All countries have their own unique ways of life in the differences of how people are raised and their different locations. Many people migrate to other countries and feel lost due to this. More frequently, nations have been trying to mingle their own ways with others in America to create diversity that goes around the world. I have been raised mostly in the southeastern coastal region of the United States. There are a lot of different slang terms in the south; the most famous one being "ya'll." Since the south is still predominantly black, the language of ebonics is also a very strong influence. My mother's side of the family is from the west, and the dialect differentiates widely from the east side of America; this also affects the way i was taught to speak. Now, i live in Texas and many legit Africa africans live here as well as people from Mexico. So, all of these things i have mentioned have greatly influenced me and the way i talk around others depending on who i am around in order to communicate with them in a way that is familiar. Around my friends i talk with a mix of everything since that is what makes me ME. For example, around my best friend morgan i can talk like i have no sense at all, i can use my southern slang, and also a little bit of ebonics along with terms known to basically ALL teenagers. When i am at school, then i use mostly street language and teenager languge to reflect the fact that i know just as much of it as the next person, if not more so. Meanings can generally get long and complicated and sometimes you can not even find the words to accurately get the meaning across. To conclude, my point is that American's have different cultures all over the country for all ages and races and regions. What adults use as what used to be their way of speaking 20 years ago, is now confusing and way out of date with anybody not part of their generation, no matter what state they were raised in! Some things never change with time though, and remain no matter what year or race. An example of that is saying the word "pop" instead of saying soda; or saying "Would you like a coke?" and then bringing whatever soda happens to be available at the time. Language and culture will always be mixed and slang will always be there in the American mix as well. America is simply a melting pot.