گفتگو

Regional Differences In America – Conversation Lesson

AJ: One of the most common questions or requests that I get online from our fans and our students is about the different…the differences within the United States. Y’know, people are quite curious about, y’know, what’s New York like compared to San Francisco or compared to the South. And some people realize that there are actually some large differences in culture within different parts of the United States and a lot of people don’t realize that. I think they think of America as just being the same everywhere and don’t realize that there are quite a few differences depending on where you go within the country.

Kristin: Yeah, y’know, I think that it’s interesting to look at various cities and, it might be stereotyping them, but to…the characteristics that they have about them. Like, y’know, Chicago seems like it’s very much a blue collar city and people who have immigrated there are a lot of Eastern Europeans.

AJ: Mm-hm.

Kristin: And then you’ve got Miami, which is down in Florida so a lot of Cubans have come up and it has a very Latino feel to it.

AJ: Almost like…I almost think of Miami as sort of the…the capital of Latino culture in a way, at least in American pop culture, y’know, that lots of Latino movie stars or music stars are down there and it’s super influenced by Latin America, especially Cuba, but Latin America in general.

Joe: Yeah, y’know, one of the things that I notice that’s different like say, among people in the Northeast, like say New York or Boston is there seems to be a greater cultural identity. And what I mean by that is people know their roots, their cultural roots, y’know, where their ancestors are from. You know what?

When I lived in New York, I didn’t live in the city of New York, I lived in the state of New York, but, y’know, my family was well aware of its cultural roots, that being that my family moved here in the 1920s or the 1910s from Italy, my mom’s family from Italy and my dad’s from Germany. And, y’know, when we moved to Pennsylvania, people didn’t know where they were from when…when I asked them. So I think there’s a greater cultural identity and maybe that’s because a lot of people when they came to the United States, they came from or they came from Europe to New York in the early 1900s, at least. Now, obviously, the cultural identity is even stronger with the Latino population because their migration is more current.

AJ: And I guess the West Coast also has sort of a reputation, especially California, as being, I don’t know, I would say…one way to put it would be innovative, meaning that lots of new ideas get generated out here. Other parts of the country sometimes might describe it as flaky. Y’know, the people are constantly trying to experiment with all kinds of weird new things. There’s still a leftover idea of the, y’know, the hippies from the ’60s. But this is also where Silicon Valley is so it’s where all the tech industry and innovation is really being generated and driven from the West Coast, so that’s a whole different sort of culture, too, in a way.

Kristin: Yeah, I think a lot of trends start here on the West Coast and move over across the country to the East Coast. For sure, I’ve noticed that.

AJ: Yeah, and so I guess it’s a little bit the opposite of what kind of Joe was saying about the East Coast in the sense of people here seem like almost unrooted from the past. Like everyone’s just looking to the next thing that’s coming in the future, y’know? They’re not so focused on roots or ancestors or things like that or don’t seem to be as connected to it, which is good and bad, or has its pluses and minuses, I guess.

Joe: Yeah, there seems to be many transplants out here.

AJ: Mm.

Joe: I mean when I meet people in San Francisco it’s uncommon that they’re from San Francisco. Now that’s not to say I don’t know people who are from San Francisco, I do. But more likely the situation is that the people have moved here from somewhere else. But, y’know, another thing that I noticed living here on the West Coast is politically it’s a lot different. It’s not conservative and people tend to be more laid back in other ways, too. Like you don’t have to dress up in a suit when you go to work here unless maybe you’re a lawyer who’s going to appear in court that day…

AJ: Hm.

Joe: Or maybe if you’re a businessman and you’re going to see some customers, that’s kind of different.

But I think that casual dress in the workplace started out here. Y’know, I think it was in Silicon Valley even that it started. But it’s just indicative of kind of a more laid back approach to life, y’know?

Kristin: Actually, Southern California is kind of conservative, though. You said the West Coast was… AJ: Politically.

Kristin: Politically, yeah, but I was going to say we can’t forget about New Orleans. New Orleans is like…

AJ: Ah, it’s a cool city.

Kristin: Totally different than anywhere else in the country. Y’know, it’s got the French part that’s been mixed in with…

AJ: The Caribbean.

Kristin: Yeah, the Caribbean.

AJ: Hm.

Kristin: Yeah, and it…it has what they call, I guess maybe it’s this language called Creole.

AJ: Hm.

Kristin: Yeah, this mix of kind of French Caribbean…it’s a really interesting place.

AJ: I guess the language is Cajun, I would think. Creole’s…

Kristin: Creole’s the culture.

AJ: Culture, the food, I think.

Kristin: Okay, yeah, I couldn’t remember…I think you’re right. Cajun. But yeah, it’s…you go there and you feel like, especially in the French Quarter, y’know, the architecture is very different from anywhere else in America. And just the mix of people, you don’t feel like you’re really in America when you’re there.

AJ: And it’s because they…it was basically a French colony for a fairly long time in America’s, y’know, that New Orleans and Louisiana, the state that it’s in, was ruled by the French until, well, until Thomas Jefferson, I believe, bought Louisiana and that whole…and all that area that the French controlled, and purchased it for the United States. But until then, it was…it was very much French and managed and run by the French. So there’s still elements of that culture. And then mixed in with all that Caribbean culture, so it’s very unique, New Orleans. I like that about it.

Joe: Y’know, when you guys were just sitting here talking about language, it kind of made me realize one other difference that I think of when I think of different regional differences, and that’s accents. When I’m in the western part of the United States, I don’t hear accents that are as strong as the ones I hear on the East Coast. Like, for example, New York has a very strong accent. People from, who are from New York, they speak with a very strong accent. And the people who live in the South have a completely different accent. And I don’t really recognize that as much when I’m say, in San Francisco or if I’m in LA or if I’m in Denver, Colorado or in Seattle. I don’t really hear a thick accent and I don’t know why that is. I guess maybe, maybe the accents are just a lot thicker back east because people immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s and, y’know, these accents stuck with them? I’m not sure.

AJ: Yeah, well, y’know, whatever is considered the standard American accent, which is what you hear on national newscasts and most national TV shows, it’s pretty much the Midwestern and Western accent, y’know? I mean that’s…it’s not very strong because it’s the standard accent. And then, like you said, in the Northeast and the Southeast, New Orleans, some places, maybe like in Florida you might get more Latino accents, but yeah, you’ll get these regional accents in other places but the Midwest and the West are very much the standard accent.