I grew up speaking English with my family, and occasionally hearing my mom speak to her siblings on the phone in Romanian but never being taught it myself. A lot of the way I speak is influenced by my mom, so I asked her about her experience speaking English in the US as time passed. My mom learnt English through watching tv and by reading a lot of novels, and her language use has stayed pretty consistent to it. She did see that cursing casually became a larger thing that happened, but also said that she’s not sure if she noticed more because she was suddenly around a lot more kids and teens as me and my siblings grew up. She says that there are a lot more words always being made up and suddenly used everywhere like in the news that she has never heard, even though I pick them up easy and define them to her. Her accent is different than mine since she grew up speaking Romanian in a different country and I grew up with English in New York. There are words she says I pronounce wrong because I was taught a different pronunciation than her, and there are also words I know I say how she does that are not pronunciations other people use. She says I’m always making up more words when I use slang that younger people online use and it’s fun trying to explain them to her. The spelling system hasn’t changed that my mom’s noticed and she hasn’t had to change how she speaks over the years to add in any new words unless they are for new inventions or concepts (like uber or selfie).

Growing up, I have always spoken two languages: English and Spanish. Because I was born to two immigrant parents with their first language being Spanish, my first language (at one point) was Spanish as well; However, English would eventually become my primary language as I started to speak it more frequently. I find this detail important in relation to this assignment, since I think it really shows how differently I use and speak language in comparison to my mother. For instance, my mother has a very thick Peruvian accent when she is speaking English, and I (for the most part) do not have much of a Peruvian accent when I speak English. If anything, I can say I have an accent (New York/Staten Island) when I pronounce certain words in English as opposed to my mother, especially when I pronounce the word “water”; which I pronounce as “Wha-ter”, with an emphasis on the first wh sound, with my mother (and other family members) pronouncing it as “wah-ter” as they learned it that way. Another example of a difference between me and my mother’s use of language comes from the way that we speak Spanish. For example, Peruvians pronounce the word “frijoles” as “frejoles”, replacing the /i/ sound with an /e/ sound according to the way my mother (and my other family members) pronounce it. I pronounce the word in Spanish as “frijoles”, since I recognize that there is a /i/ sound in the word, and that is the way that my other hispanic friends pronounce the word as well. Overall, I think as the generations go on, the way we use language will drastically change as time flies, as people will find new ways to use and pronounce words.

For this assignment I chose to speak with my mom about the different ways we use language together. She had told me that growing up she would pronounce and spell words differently since she learned English at 16 years old. Spanish being her first language she has a accent, and learned English through popular tv shows and speaking with other English speakers. Since language is always evolving, I will sometimes tell her what new sayings or “slang” is popular today. However, at the time she learned English, she used other sayings among her friends. This shows that over time new terminology is made and forgotten. I would say the way we use English differs greatly between us, as I never learned Spanish. She often switches between the two languages while talking, using English in her everyday conversations. All in all, I would say English changed over time through new slang, writing, and the introduction of new words.

When talking with family from older generations, it’s pretty clear that language has shifted over time. Back in their day, accents were super regional, but now they seem to blend together more, probably because we’re all exposed to different accents through media and travel. And having to do with words, there’s a whole new set of slang terms and tech-related speech that didn’t exist back then. Stuff that used to be normal speech sounds outdated now. Technology has played a big factor in that. With texting and social media, grammar rules have seem to have loosened up. For instance, it’s more normal to use informal language and abbreviations even in more formal writing situations. Upon asking my grandma specifically, she has explained how vocabulary has changed over the course of her life, as the words she uses has changed over time and some words are no longer said. Some of these are slang which are no longer used or have evolved. Language has gotten less formal over the course of time as the way we speak to one another is more casual. Conversion used to be more proper and hold a lot more weight, however as time went on, the need for this type of talk has become far less important. Spelling has pretty much remained the same other than some abbreviations if you were to count that. But overall, it’s interesting to see how language keeps evolving, reflecting all the changes in our lives and the world around us.

My family moved from Egypt in the 1980’s and at this point, my mom and dad had three little boys with them. The oldest was the age of 5 and twin boys aged 3. I spoke with my older brother and he explained to me by the time he went off to high school, that’s when he noticed the language barrier between him and people around him. He explained how middle school wasn’t much of an issue but when he got to high school, he began to feel like he didn’t fit in. My family at the time were only speaking Arabic with little English and wanted to make sure my brothers would learn Arabic at home since they go to school and would eventually learn English. My older brother who is exactly 10 years older than me, explained how it was a hard adjustment but since my family moved to a community of mostly Arabs around, he wasn’t that uncomfortable which made him feel more open to learning English. He said it was like two worlds just mashed up together. One world he knew and the other he needed to adjust too. As we got older, I did notice a few English words that I would hear him say and I would question him like ” where did you hear that before?” or “what does that even mean?”. His response to me would be ” Nobody uses this word anymore?” or ” I can’t believe you haven’t heard this word!” He would tell me all these words he used growing up in the late 1980’s -1990’s that I never heard of before. I feel the main difference is the vocabulary we used not so much of an accent difference. It’s funny because now I don’t understand some word terms or even ever heard these words that my younger cousins are using. Now I look back at how I didn’t understand word terms from my brother and now I don’t understand some word terms that a new generation is using.

I decided to talk to my mother in regard to the English language because we are quite different when we speak it. To start off, me and my mother have different accents from each other. I would be more understandable to someone who may have grown up in the United States, like myself. However, she may be more understandable to someone who, like her, did not grow up in the United States. The words we use are also different. My mother tends to speak with simpler words, and does not have a very clear understanding of more complex words that may appear in a document for example. I am different as I am able to comprehend and use more complex terms like “comprehend” or “evaluate”, words that my mother does not fully understand. Another thing to note is that my mother is from a country which was formerly under British rule. My mother tends to use “maths” as opposed to “math”. In the United States, we use “math”, which is what I use as well. She may use different terms to refer to the same things we are both referring to. She may refer to a couch as a “settee”, and I will just refer to it as a couch. My mother is also used to different spellings like “colour”, which once again is due to her being from a country formerly under British rule. Another major difference in the way that we speak is that my mother does not use certain expressions that are said here in the United States. For example, she does not say expressions like “pain in the neck” or “too good to be true”. I do say these expressions from time to time. 

Speaking with my grandmother about changes in the Arabic language shed light on how language reflects societal shifts. Growing up, she emphasized the importance of proper pronunciation and formal Arabic in education and public speaking. However, she noticed a shift in recent years towards a more relaxed approach, with younger generations favoring colloquial dialects in everyday conversation. This change, she believes, stems from increased exposure to Western media and globalization.

In terms of vocabulary, my grandmother highlighted the influence of technology on language usage. While she grew up learning Arabic words for technological concepts, such as “computer” or “internet,” younger generations often use English terms instead. This reflects the integration of technology into daily life and the dominance of English in the digital world.

Furthermore, my grandmother mentioned changes in spelling and grammar, particularly in written communication. With the rise of social media and texting, she observed a tendency towards shorthand and informal language. While she values the beauty of formal Arabic script, she acknowledges the convenience of digital communication.

Overall, my conversation with my grandmother underscored the dynamic nature of language and its responsiveness to societal changes. From pronunciation to vocabulary and writing style, Arabic continues to evolve, adapting to new contexts and influences. As a bilingual individual, I appreciate the richness of language diversity and the importance of preserving traditional forms while embracing contemporary expressions.

Well, it was interesting asking people older than me about language and the responses were informative, comical, and some a bit hostile.  I spoke to my mother, who was born in 1941, and she doesn’t feel like there is a monumental change in our language (English) but small subtle changes over the years. One thing she says is we seem to speak faster and less formally. An example she offered was growing up people would always ask, “how are you?” and now it’s a simple, “How ya doin’?” which is better than saying, “Wassup?” to her.  Besides slang, she believes the newer generation talks faster and uses me as an example claiming I “babble” quickly, running sentences together without any hesitation for a break. She didn’t seem to notice any spelling differences other than more words are abbreviated than she remembers (admin for administrator was an example she gave) but other than that she doesn’t believe so. Some of my older co-workers have some very strong opinions about words used outside their meaning. Some examples that were given, “wicked”, “extra”, “fire”, and “cray cray.” They said in a rather salty tone, “it’s hard to keep up.”  

I do remember when I graduated from college, way back when, and was doing an internship in Boston, I was taking a cab, after just a few minutes of talking to the driver he exclaimed, “You’re from Brooklyn, aren’t you?”  This really caught me off guard and he said it was my accent, “You can just tell” was what he said, lol. I didn’t know what I had said that labelled me a Brooklyn person but I was completely shocked and yet I could tell he was from Boston because of the way he dropped his r’s.

One thing I have noticed since I was a kid is filler words. I survived the 80’s when the word “like” was used to the point of nausea, like really! As a kid growing up in the 70’s it seemed easier to speak and easier to listen to someone because filler words weren’t used as much (that’s my opinion).  Words, such as, “like”, “um”, and “okay” to name a few. I have actually avoided people at work because of their overuse of filler words. I would rather stand there in silence while their brain searches for the next word than listen to “like” 4 times in a sentence.

After reading about language change and its inevitability, I decided to talk to my father about the changes he has observed in our language, Arabic, over the years. Our conversation revealed some fascinating insights into the evolution of the language.

Firstly, my father noted a significant shift in pronunciation, particularly with younger generations adopting a more relaxed and colloquial way of speaking. He mentioned that in his youth, there was a stronger emphasis on classical Arabic, especially in formal settings. Nowadays, there’s a noticeable trend towards using dialectal Arabic even in contexts where classical Arabic would have been preferred. In terms of vocabulary, he highlighted the incorporation of numerous foreign loanwords, particularly from English and French, into everyday Arabic. This phenomenon was less prevalent during his younger years when Arabic equivalents or adaptations were more commonly used.

Another change he observed was in slang and colloquial expressions. Many phrases he used in his youth have fallen out of favor, replaced by new expressions that often perplex him. Spelling and grammar have also undergone transformations, albeit to a lesser extent. The advent of digital communication has introduced abbreviations and shortcuts, much like in English texting culture. My father recounted how formal writing was more rigid and strictly adhered to grammatical rules, whereas now, informal communication often bends these rules, incorporating elements of spoken dialects and simplified structures.

In conclusion, my conversation with my father underscored the dynamic nature of Arabic. Pronunciation, vocabulary, and informal writing practices have all evolved, reflecting broader cultural and technological shifts. It’s a reminder that language is a living entity, continually shaped by the speakers who use it.