Over the past three years of living in Philadelphia my language has changed dramatically compared to when I lived in Delaware. Not only did I move to a totally different state with a different way of living, talking, dressing, etc., but I got older as well. Living in Philly I definitely have picked up the slang that’s used on a daily basis. When I am with my friends we use different slang words then someone maybe from south Philly. My weekends are full of fun random sayings that we make up.

My friends that live in West Philly, together we call each other The Mob. In the Mob my closest friend is Shania. She Is the one closest to my age (17). “Shine bright like a diamond” a song by Rihanna (my sister Shania’s ringtone) begins to play as my day is interrupted by her daily text messages or phone calls. Most the time she is calling or messaging me to ask if im going to come down there that day to chill or go to a party. “Yo shawty. Whats up? Instead of just “Hey” or “Hi” those are usually the things she’ll say. My response mainly sounds something like “Hey love. How r u?” I use love as a way to show I care about you on some level. If I call you my love its basically like calling you my friend or my homie.  Majority of the Mob’s conversations involve finding out the swerve (the move; activity) of the day/night. They can also involve a lot of plotting and planning sessions.

Our conversations go on they begin to get sillier and sillier. Someone will say something that someone else should have already known the answer to. Or (usually) Shania will ask a dumb question like five times in four different ways. We are the youngest of our crew of about 20 people (we are 16). The oldest direct member of our family will be 21 this year. Shania and I being the young ones, they basically took us in as there lil sisters/ young bulls. For someone who doesn’t hang out with us on a daily basis they would think we are they WEIRDEST people alive. One thing that we do to basically laugh at each other is what is called Follow ups. “That’s one…follow ups”; this is usually stated when someone does something wrong or says something totally Stupid off. What happens is that you get hit on the shoulder back arm area by everyone around you. You can say “No Follow ups” Saying this is basically acknowledging that you screwed up in some way. It also yells “dont hit me!”

Another language that is used a lot in my life is the language of arts. Whether its rap poetry or singing its always happening (especially if im with my friends) We use it to not only express ourselves but to make things more fun. We could be walking down the street and someone will randomly start singing or rapping about what we are doing. Seven out of the 15 people in The Mob rap and go to the studio. When PurpVarsity (the rap group) with Cazz, Drew and two people not from The Mob throws parties they preform and give other people the opportunity to perform as well.  The arts have become of big part of how I communicate to strangers and very close people. Its not pressuring, its comfortable and fun.

For the most part, I talk just like those around me, never really had a language barrier. My friends accept the way I talk and so do I, but my parents seem to have another outlook on it.

"Hey mommy, can I have some of your juice?"

"Are you forgetting something?"

"Mom, can I PLEASE have some of your juice?"

"It's not can, it's may." she replies.

"Mom, MAY I PLEASE have some of your  juice?"

"There we go."

They do not speak the most proper grammar and have their slang on certain words, but it's nothing in comparison to how I speak. 

"Old Slang" is what they like to call it. Because my slang is actually present day and not from the '70's, it's "not acceptable" . I didn't grow up in their time and that's what they fail to realize. Anything I say that is slang or a word that may not be found in the Webster's dictionary is "foolish" or "sounds stupid" but it's just how I talk. 

I never grew up speaking the best english because as a child they never corrected me. They waited until I was older and already comfortable with how I spoke to address what they believe is a problem. I see it as them trying to change me . I mean, I talk to a point where it's understandable to practically anyone. Can't that just be enough?

Besides my parents never correcting me, I also went to predominantly black schools in West Philly. With that being said, it can only get so proper. These schools  "attempted" to force proper english upon me with english/grammar classes yet they spoke around us (students) with the least bit of properness. It seems as if I grew up being taught that properness in language was only there to impress, and doesn’t have to be present every conversation. Even currently in high school, properness is seen in essays that I write. I guess that it’s understandable since I’m gonna have to write formal papers in the future such as resumés. But it isn’t forced to make me talk like I’m going to the White House or dinner with an ambassador all the time. 

Around my friends, I don't care to impress and that's why when it comes to language, I don't care as to how proper I sound. To us , slang is like “future english”. So many words that were once addressed as slang are now in the dictionary.  As slang spreads pass neighborhoods and gets a definite definition, it is capable of becoming a word in the Oxford or Webster dictionary .

Even the slang that parents do not seem to approve of may not be in an well known dictionary there has been a dictionary created just for slang and the terms that are being used in this day and age. It called Urban Dictionary (online dictionary). Slang may not be respected by those who are older but the younger generation has been raised around all of the slang and will rarely listen to the proper way that they are suppose to speak because it may not sound correct. 

"Nigga, pass me that jawn next to ya. Nah, not that, the apple juice, dumb ass."

Any and everything can and will be said. It's just how I act around them. I'm comfortable enough with them to hear me talk freely without putting a load of thought into the wording of the statement rather than the content.  

Parents don’t accept the slang we use because in some ways they may find it disrespectful to talk to people with some of the things that we use with the people in our generation. Most parents were brought up with knowing how to speak proper and not being allowed to use profanity or many slang terms with the people that they were around or anyone at all. Parents really may have a problem with the slang and profanity because it can make the person using it look bad as well as it may make their family look bad, because people would think that at home the child using this slang and profanity wasn’t taught the proper way to speak to people at home and may have little or no home training. Parents also may not like the slang and profanity that children use in this day and age because it doesn’t make sense and they may have no clue on it means and wouldn’t know if it is a good or bad term. Also parents don’t like it because if you get to used to something you will use it at all times and parents want their children to talk to adults with respect . If they are always using profanity and slang then they may forget to try and use the proper and respectful language that they were taught to talk to an adult, and if an adult feels disrespected then they may want to take it out on the parent and start an argument due to the way that the child talked to them. 

I understand my mom’s concern for my language, but majority of my language isn’t even profanity, more so just slang. Of course I know how to code switch between my slang  and my proper language, but I don’t understand why my language is expected to be “perfect” at all times. Around my parents, I expect to be comfortable enough to express myself without a chain on my thoughts, not letting me use certain words that aren’t even near profanity. 

“You’re not going to make it out in this world talking like that,”  they said. 

My language is what molded me into who I am today and I’m proud of it if I say so myself. They act as if I’m not going to achieve anything in life just because of my slang, even though I have control over it . Slang surrounds everyone, everywhere and my parents seem to think that it is only me who uses it.  I will be successful, no matter what my language is, because my language is me . If my parents can't change my language, then they might as well accept it .

Donesha Lee

Speak

“Say Good morning the way you do?”

“Gud Monninnnnng, SugaFoot!”

“Why do you finish everything with a cute nickname?”

“Force of nature buttercup.”

“That is to funny, you’re so Southern.”

I growled at my friend as he walked to his class, the smile disappearing from my face. According to everyone I have seem to come into contact with has explained that I carry an "undercover Southern accent" within my voice.I marched to my class just saying “Hey” to everyone else that day.

The sound of someone applying the “Southern tongue” to my voice annoys me to my highest level. It is not something I have been proud to take pride in, because most kids seem to make fun of my undertone.I try and defend myself as though I don't know that it is there,but it seems that I have been lying to the world for hiding who I truly am. Although it is safe to say that I am not the only one such as myself that has this internal conflict. My friend Leah just happened to get her retainer on the other day right after I did the week before, and she is having the same trouble as me. I had saw her and told her to “Ophen upppp luv!”She opened her mouth so I could see her pearly whites.“It feeeels fonny in my mooouth. She said.”I laughed and told her “Eht feeeelsa like tere iss soo mucha schpit in ya mouf luv.”She cracked a smile and said “You schound fonny! she began to laugh.”I told her she didn’t sound much better, entering our classroom, which made her laugh even harder because apparently I  sounded like I said “Yoou dhooon’t schnound mushh beffer.”We walked in the class and I stayed quiet for most of the class period.

The society we now live in has constantly put a pressure on us to have the what I guess people call a "sophisticated accent" that was forced upon everyone to learn.According to The Women Warrior, also known as Tongue Tied by Marine Hong Kingston what stats that, “-I have never come into contact with a black person who doesn't want to speak.”After I heard that from the story I can say that I am now a little bit older and have a lot of self confidence in myself.I am an “African-American” who speaks a lot because I like to hear myself give words to this world. I can now say that "I am happy the way I speak. No one can take that away from because it represents me in my unique way. No!I don't sound very proper all the time. No!I don't care that the hidden Southern accent comes from my grandmother, who's from down south. No!I will not give my peers the satisfaction of hearing me try to speak like someone I'm not.This is me, and I speak my way.” It just sucks that people now don’t just pick on my little “southern tone”, but a lisp that was forced on me by my dentist too.

It seems as though it has just been so much easier in life to just speak the way I originally have throughout life. Which means, I don’t try to use big fancy words, I don’t try to change my voice, and I don’t try and speak all “proper”. It just comes out that way sometimes. It seems as thought the way I ten to reflect myself is just as a Southern Speaker , but it is mostly because of my grandmother. I don’t mean to sound as though I blame her for my way of speaking. Although, I just truly believe she is the one that has most of the persuasion toward it. I will always remember the day when I went to my grandmothers and sat down in one of her chairs in her house. She said 

“How ye doin donesha?”

“i’m guud.” I replied.

She then asked “How ye doin in school?”

But at that exact moment when I wanted to reply back, it was as if something jumped inside my throat and made me speak the way I did.I wasn’t able to make out to what I wanted to say because what I actually said shook me up a lot. Instead of saying “I’m doing fine.” I soon found myself saying

 “i’m doin quit well thank ya ma’m.”

 It scared me so much that I didn’t want to say anything the rest of my stay there. It felt as thought someone had officially slapped the fact that I as a person born in the North, raised in the North, and proclaimed to be a Northerner was forced to sound as a complete Southerner. So now it has just come to my attention that I carry a Southern accent. It may not be the best thing to some people, but it truly reflects who I am as a character or person. People still will always point out my little Southern tone, especially around my grandmother, but I wouldn’t want to have it any other way. It completes me, and now that I am older I actually tend to get a little upset if someone doesn't point out when I first meet them. As a person I have utterly seemed to shock a lot of people with mu confidence in the language I speak, but if it wasn’t for that little Southern sound who is to say that that little undertone is not the help that caused me to get into a good school, or get a great job. No one. So on that note I will portray my Southern accent confident and fulfilling. I would not have it any other way. Now, that I have  come to realized this and have successfully understood my language, I  must say that I can honestly speak well with others, and portray the “little lady with a Southern voice” as my grandmother might say.

https://vimeo.com/57875818

“Proper” and “Ghetto”

Let’s be honest here, we all know that the way we talk in front of our friends is way different from the way we talk around our parents, teachers and other authorities. I know mine is. When I’m talking or texting my friends our conversations sound more like this.

“Yo whatchu doing today?”

“I don’t know, what you trynna do?”

Oh yeahh, that’s the language. This may look very familiar to some people. But we all know once we start talking to our mother’s, the conversation has to change to something a little more like this:

“Hey mom, what are you doing today?

“I’m not sure, what do you want to do today”

The difference is very easy to see. Why we do this, is very clear. It’s not that they don’t know what were saying, it all comes down to who you are. But why not talk the same way to everyone? When it comes to language, age, race and gender has everything to do with it. For some reason, when it comes down to speaking, everything changes.

Since I’m a teen, female and African American from Philly, people tend to think that my sentences should sound more like this:

“Hey, you know whatchu doing on the jawn.”

From my point of view, this can be seen as a stereotype but to others, it could just be the way they grew up and heard a person of these characteristics speak, which to them can be seen as normal. Now when others tend to see a person of the same characteristics speak more like this, especially to another peer, it could leave many shocked faces:

“Excuse me, do you fully understand what you are doing on this?”

This statement doesn’t say much but, it seems way better than the first sentence and it shows that this person may have more of an “educated” side to them, this too is a stereotype. By both speaking in different ways, someone could put the label on that the first statement is “ghetto” and the other sounds more “white”, when realistically they just have different ways of speaking. Now that they have both shown their speaking styles, their colors no longer matter, leaving them to now be judged off of their language. 

            As we all know, there are two categories of speech in this world. “Proper” and “Ghetto”. It doesn’t matter what language we speak, every language has these two categories. That’s just the thing, both of these things we’re not invented to be a type of speech, especially ghetto. “Ghetto” truly means a part of a city, a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups. Not once did it say anything about language, so where did we get this from and why do we mostly use it to signify African Americans? The answer lies within the same reason people signify the term “That’s so gay” as a way of saying something isn’t cool or normal to them. Just as people don’t like that term, well black people don’t always like to be called ghetto. It’s all about the way people address things.

            When it comes to my speaking, I like to mix them all together. I don’t really have a particular language when it comes down to speaking to other people, I guess it all depends on the person and the kind of conversation we’re having.

Neighborhood friends:

“Yo, what time you coming out?”

“I’m not sure yet, what time you gonna be out

 I like to talk the way I talk but that can only happen when I feel comfortable, as of everyone. No one should have to change the way speak because their scared that someone will judge them by the way they talk. This is why I feel as though the way I speak is one of my identities., this is everyone’s identity when they take the time to think realize it. 

“Oh, well I think that the when humans are put into environments where they are forced to activate their survival skills, they become desensitized.” 

“Nicely put, but what does that have to do with Katniss’ love life.” She gazed at me with a perplexed expression. 

“Nothing at all.” I responded underwhelmed. 

The only time I’ve ever used language to my advantage is when manipulating them to the best of my abilities. Although others might view me as pretentious, I think it gives you the ability to feel professional or powerful. As though you have a chance in the “real world”. This is can be seen in the essay “I Just Wanna be Average” by Mike Ross, represented through the quote “He also loved words, enjoyed picking up big ones like salubrious and equivocal and using them in our conversations-laughing at himself as the word hit a chuckhole rolling off his tongue.” This quote shows how words and language can be articulated and used in a particular way to illustrate your dexterity. Although, just because you have a wide span vocabulary doesn’t necessarily mean you are a master of speech. 

Unfortunately, language has the potential to make someone feel unintuitive, but despite this, it doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.

People may think that when students don’t strive to be the best they can be, that it shows signs of a slacker, but some kids are just more aware of the fact that they’re not all going to be president. They don’t all have access to their intelligence because of the institutions that they attend, therefore they will not all be presented with the best opportunities. This, however, sits better with some students then it does with others. This is shown through a quote in the essay “I Just Wanna be Average” by Mike Ross, “Reject the confusion and frustration by openly defining yourself as the common joe.” This quote conveys how you are able to escape or avoid all of the nonsense of trying to be a perfect human being and achieving everything that you’ve ever wanted to do by accepting the fact that not everyone is going to make a massive, positive impact on the world with their actions. Although, not only is it the words that you use that come into play, but the way you pronounce it as well. 

“Hi, I’m Jaime. I guess I like gymnastics.”

“Why you keep talkin’ like you white or somethin’?” 

“Because I am.” 

Well I thought that question was only slightly ignorant. My first day at Masterman was certainly one to be remembered. I had never been in such a diverse environment before, though it didn’t make a great first impression. I thought I was supposed to benefit from this, not be judged immediately when I first opened my mouth. I thought all of these kids were supposed to be accepting and open minded, thats why I began going here in the first place. I had never considered why I “talked white”, but it had also never been brought to my attention before. As I thought about it more, I realized it just the surroundings I grew up in. Seeing as how the neighborhood and the school that I attended in elementary school were both predominately white, I could see how that would have had an affect on me. As the school year progressed, people continued to ask me the same questions, constantly. I began to just say what I knew they wanted to hear. 

“It’s because I went to private school” or “It’s because I grew up around white people.” 

It seemed like the simplest solution. They would bring up the topic so much I would start to believe it. If they pushed further and asked if I was mixed, I would say something along the lines of “Oh, its because I’m Indian.” I hated these questions, because I felt almost ashamed to be African American. I always cringe when people use the word “Black” to describe the race because it never seemed natural. It sounded almost hateful. 

What I’ve learned from my experiences there, about myself and this topic in general is that, you can’t act a certain color, period. In my opinion, every race was assigned a sort of quota by society that helps people associate and group others together. This doesn’t always have to be bad, but rarely is it a good thing. If you’re in the wrong setting, or you say something that doesn’t agree with the people there, then the situation could become very dangerous, which is something that I have also learned through personal history. 

I’ve learned more about myself through writing this essay. When I first began it, I was hell bent against the fact that I had any personal experiences with language, accents, labels or identities, but now I realize that its something that literally everyone has a unique background with. I thought that I only spoke one language and my accent was the same as everyone else’s around me, which I realize now is not true. The language I speak with my parents is completely different from the language I speak with my friends; and with those different languages, comes different accents and personas. This has allowed me to create various different diverse friendships that I am proud to have.