Being that I come from a separated family, I would say that both my mother and father had some sort of influence on the way I speak now. I would also say that my settings sometimes influence me to talk a certain way, as well. Whenever my mother talked to me, she spoke "proper", but did not hesitate to add some slang into a sentence in order to get a point across, whether it'd be good or bad. My father, on the other hand, almost always spoke "proper" and always wanted me to speak proper. There were times that I caught him slip out a few slang words, and not even correct it. He wasn't strict with me, though, so if I had let a few slip out, that would be okay, too.
I really picked up on slang being around my young peers in elementary school. I hung out with a lot of different ethnicity groups growing up, so I caught on to how they spoke to each other. At the end of the day though, I try to speak in whatever way is comfortable and understandable enough to get my point across. Regardless of if it was slang or "proper". I think I can come up with my own "lingo", and say that I speak proper slang, or slang in a proper tone.
Hey Dominique. I love how you describe your parents' differences when they talked. I feel that I can relate. My dad spoke to me in Spanish but wouldn't hesitate to throw some Spanish slang in there either. My mom on the other hand would speak more properly and it would be a miracle to get some slang out of her. I also agree with your term of "proper slang." Although we recognize it might not be acceptable everywhere, we strongly feel that our language and the way we use it feels true in our hearts. The only feedback I have is I would have loved if you made your blog even more personal by throwing in an example of the slang your father used incorrectly. I would have loved to read what he said. Great work.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you used the difference between your mother and father and how they spoke. One thing I noticed was that the way a lot of mothers want there children to talk and they way the father deals with it is very different.
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