Fixin' to learn me some English, ya'll!

This blog was prompted by this comment from one of my students this week: "Hey, you can learn Romanian and English while you're here (in Moldova)!" This comment was said in good fun and was followed by laughs from all, but it got me thinking.

From the time I first walked through the 'Gates of Opportunity' at my college, I've heard this question over and over again, "Where are you from?" This question undoubtedly was asked in reference to my southern drawl. My reply was always, "TN." The next comment was always something in reference to my accent or "I thought so." Now, I know I have an accent and I'm sure it was pretty strong when I first left TN for MO. In those early days of college I tried to deny it by asking, "What accent?" In all reality though, I heard all sorts of accents on my college campus.

Even now as I am working and living with other Americans from northern states, I can hear their accents as well. My student mentioned above would say that she does not have an accent, but that I just "talk wrong."

So, during school yesterday we decided to have a little fun and we made a list of just some of the word endings that I say differently or with a southern accent/drawl. Here are the word endings and a couple of examples. See if you can identify!

Word endings:
ail as in mail I say mail like this: Did you get the male(or mill)?
ill as in hill I say hill like this: We climbed up the heal.
eel as in peel I say peel like this: I am going to pill these potatoes.
ull as in full I say full like this: This bag is too fool.
eal as in heal I say heal like this: The Lord has hilled us!

As a teacher, these were very important realizations for me and a good reminder to make sure that I use correct pronunciations and enunciate my words. I don't want to leave any endings off my words like we tend to do at home. For example, I hope you enjoyed this blog. I am fixin' to go to bed....