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Regional Differences In America – Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin Dodds, one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English. Welcome to this month’s vocabulary lesson which is called Regional Differences In America. I have a printout of the text of the conversation here and I’ve chosen some words or some groups of words that I thought you may have had difficulty understanding. And I’ll explain the meanings of those words or groups of words as they relate to this conversation.

Now remember that you might, or probably will see the word “yeah” used a lot in the conversation and that’s just a slang word for yes. And also you’ll probably see “y’know” a lot, y’know. So y’know is actually the combination of two words, you and know. We just, we combine them because when we’re speaking quickly that’s how it sounds. And you’ll see the word “like” and you’ll hear the word like used a lot. So many times like is actually a filler word which means it just…it doesn’t have any meaning. Alright, let’s begin with the conversation.

In the beginning AJ says, “People are quite curious.” So curious: this means interested to learn about.

And then AJ says, “What’s New York like compared to San Francisco.” So New York is a very large city as most people are familiar with it but it’s also in the state called New York. And the state New York is in the northeastern part of the United States. San Francisco is a city in the state of California. It’s where Joe and I live and AJ lives here part-time. So it’s in California and California is on the west coast or the western part of the United States.

And then AJ says, “Compared to the south.” So south: what he’s talking about are the states in the southern part of the United States.

And then I say, “It’s interesting to look at various cities.” So various means different.

And then I say, “It might be stereotyping them.” Stereotyping means oversimplifying an image, oversimplifying an image.

And then I say, “Chicago seems very much like it’s a blue collar city.” So Chicago is a large city in the state of Illinois and Illinois is actually considered a Midwestern state which means it’s in the middle part of the United States. And blue collar means manual or factory worker, manual meaning working with your hands. So blue collar means a manual worker, someone who works with their hands or factory worker.

And then I say, “People who have immigrated there.” Immigrated means moved there from other countries.

And then I say, “And then you’ve got Miami which is down in Florida.” So Miami is a city in the state of Florida and Florida is in the southern part, the southeastern part actually of the United States and it’s shaped like your thumb although it’s actually, it’s more like it would be down.

And then I say, “A lot of Cubans have come up.” So when I say they’ve come up I’m saying they’ve come north from Cuba. They’ve come north to the United States, specifically to Florida from Cuba.

And then I say, “It has a very Latino feel to it.” So Latino means Latin American, so Latin America are countries south of the United States.

And then AJ says, “It’s super influenced by Latin America.” So super here means very much.

And then Joe says, “Among people in the northeast like say New York or Boston.” Boston is a city in the state of Massachusetts, Massachusetts in the northeastern part of the United States. Boston is actually the capital of Massachusetts.

And then Joe says, “When we moved to Pennsylvania.” So Pennsylvania is a state in the northeastern part of the United States.

And then Joe says, “People didn’t know where they were from when…when I asked them.” So he says they didn’t know where they were from, he’s saying they didn’t know where their ancestors were originally from.

And then Joe says, “Their migration is more current.” So migration: this means their move to the United States is more current.

And then AJ says, “Lots of new ideas get generated out here.” So generated means created and out here, he was speaking about the West Coast but specifically California.

And then AJ says, “Other parts of the country sometimes might describe it as flaky.” Flaky means inconsistent.

And then AJ says, “The people are constantly trying to experiment with all kinds of weird new things.” Weird means unusual, not normal things.

And then AJ says, “The hippies from the ’60s.” So the hippies: this was a counterculture group.

And then AJ says, “This is also where Silicon Valley is.” So Silicon Valley: this is a nickname for an area that’s south of San Francisco.

And then I say, “I think a lot of trends start here on the West Coast.” So trends are things that become popular.

And then AJ says, “People here seem like almost uprooted from the past.” So uprooted from the past means not connected to any ancestral traditions.

And then AJ says, “Which is good and bad or has its pluses and minuses.” So pluses means positives and minuses means negatives.

And then Joe says, “There seems to be many transplants out here.” Transplants are people who are not originally from somewhere, so specifically Joe is speaking about San Francisco having transplants so he’s talking about people who are not originally from San Francisco.

And then Joe says, “It’s not conservative.” So conservative means cautious or traditional.

And then Joe says, “People tend to be more laid back.” So people tend to be, people are usually more, tend to be means usually more. So people are usually more laid back. Laid back means relaxed.

And then Joe says, “It’s just indicative of kind of a more laid back approach to life.” So indicative: indicative is a sign or it’s representative of something. It’s a sign of something.

And then I say, “We can’t forget about New Orleans.” So New Orleans is a city in the state of Louisiana and Louisiana is located in the southern part of the United States.

And then AJ says, “Ah, it’s a cool city.” So cool here means interesting.

And then I say, “Totally different than anywhere else in the country.” So when I say totally I mean completely.

And then I say, “It’s got the French part that’s been mixed in with…” and AJ then says, “The Caribbean.” So the Caribbean, these are islands in the Caribbean Sea, so they’re north of South American and they’re east, they’re to the east of Central America and they’re to the southeast of Mexico and the United States.

And then so the next, actually the next few sentences, AJ and I are talking about Creole and Cajun. So I mention the language being called Creole in New Orleans and AJ mentions that the language is Cajun.

And then I say, well, so Creole means the culture and AJ’s like yeah, the culture and the food. Neither one of us was really sure what Creole or Cajun meant when we were in the conversation so I actually looked this up and it was really interesting to learn about this.

So Cajuns were originally people who came over from France and settled in Canada, like the Nova Scotia area, the Nova Scotia part of Canada, and then they migrated or they moved down south through the United States down into Louisiana, certain parts of Louisiana, I think more of the southwest. So there’s not even actually a lot of Cajun influence specifically in New Orleans, it’s actually more Creole influence and I’ll explain what Creole means in just a minute. I wanted to go back to Cajun.

Also the Cajun language is, it’s a very archaic, archaic meaning old, it’s a very old French that’s spoken.

So someone from France coming and hearing it, or even from a French-speaking province in Canada might not…might have difficulty understanding the Cajun French.

So Creoles are the original settlers of Louisiana, the original people who moved there. So they were, they were French settlers and Spanish settlers. So they actually came over from Spain and from France.

And then you have the Native Americans, the original indigenous people living there. And then you also had African Americans there. So Creoles are a mix of all of those people. So that has influenced a…there’s a particular Creole language that’s come out of that mix, as well as food, culture.

There’s particular Cajun food as well and they are different. One is spicier than the other. I think Creole is actually spicier than Cajun if I remember correctly. So anyway, I just wanted to share what I had learned. I thought that was interesting.

Okay, moving on in the conversation, I mention or I say, “Especially in the French Quarter, y’know, the architecture is very different from anywhere else in America.” So the French Quarter: this is an area of New Orleans.

And then AJ says, “Until Thomas Jefferson, I believe, bought Louisiana.” So Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States.

And then AJ says, “So it’s very unique, New Orleans.” Unique means one of a kind.

And then Joe says, “When you guys were just sitting here.” So when he says guys this is a slang term to refer to AJ and I both. Usually it means boys or men but it can also be a mix of both male and female, men and women or girls and boys.

And then Joe says, “One other difference that I think of when I think of different regional differences and that’s accents.” So accents here in this conversation, what Joe means by accents, are different pronunciations of the English language or within the English language.

And then Joe says, “If I’m in LA or if I’m in Denver, Colorado or in Seattle.” So LA, LA, those two letters stand for Los Angeles and Los Angeles is a city, a large city in the state of California. It’s to the south of San Francisco, about five hours driving south from San Francisco. And Denver is a city in the state of Colorado. Denver is actually the capital of Colorado. Colorado is considered a western state so it’s in the western part of the United States. And Seattle is a city in the state of Washington. So Washington, the state of Washington is on the West Coast. It’s north of California, it’s all the way up in the corner of the United States and it borders or it touches the Canadian border, so it touches Canada.

And then Joe says, “I don’t really hear a thick accent.” So what he means by thick is strong, he doesn’t hear a strong accent.

And then Joe says, “These accents stuck with them.” So what he means by stuck is stayed, these accents stayed with them.

And then AJ says, “Whatever’s considered the standard American accent.” So standard: what he means is average.

And then AJ says, “It’s pretty much the Midwestern and western accent.” So Midwestern, as I think I described earlier actually, it’s the middle part of the United States.

Alright, this concludes the vocabulary lesson for the conversation Regional Differences In America and I’ll be back with the commentary.