Education in a Multicultural Society

This article was actually funny and interesting. You do not really pay attention to the pronunciation of words just because we are surrounded by the same people who say a particular word the same way. Many individuals in the US are in for a culture shock if they leave their respected homes. One word that you have grown up with may be a completely different word in another area. We tend to not focus a lot of attention on the smaller details like this type of grammar and pronunciation so this caught my eye because it was interesting to think about and realize how you say words compared to the rest of the United States.

to me this is not so shocking but definitely entertaining. i mean between my family their is pronunciation differences. some say tomato others say toma`to right? not all English is the same is a concept that makes perfect sense to me. in other countries such as Italy, a person from the north cannot understand a person from the south because they speak in different dialects. perhaps it has to their with their location, or job types. but it holds true that different parts of a country can speak the same language in different ways. 

I've seen this collection of maps a number of times before, but they are just as interesting and informative every time I look at them. It's really a fun exercise in seeing what phrases you use or how you pronounce certain words as opposed to the rest of the country. As a Rhode Islander, the bubbler/water fountain divide was of particular interest to me. I also found it funny that I have the vaguely Western/Midwestern tendency of calling "rotaries" (or what are traditionally called rotaries in my area), "roundabouts". This is especially curious to me, because I generally tend to think of that term as a British one. Could this possibly mean that a lot of British immigrants settled in the Western/Midwestern United States? Or am I just mistaken and buying into a poorly informed stereotype about British people?

Whatever the case, these maps are very informative and say a lot about the linguistic differences that occur even within one country. Now granted, the United States is a large country, so there is bound to be a good amount of variation. But it's still fascinating to me just how much variety there can be. The fact that when traveling, your use or pronunciation of a certain word or phrase can immediately identify you as an out-of-towner is very interesting. This is yet another example of the importance of doing your own research in order to avoid making incorrect assumptions. Just because all of the people within a geographic border may live in the same country, it does not mean that their dialects or colloquialisms are all the same. It does not even necessarily mean that they speak the same language. Different immigrant groups (because almost no country is impervious to immigration) settle in different areas and this ends up contributing (in part) to the different dialects and expressions that one finds within geographic borders. 

This map pretty much met my general expectations for the size of Red Sox's and Yankee Nations. Most of New England is clearly Red Sox Nation. As a Yankee fan living in hostile territory, I was heartened to know that Yankee territory is not all that far away.  Connecticut is the true battleground in the fight for more territory. That state serves as the crossroads between New England values and culture, and New York values and culture. I think this map says a lot more about New York and New England than just who supports each baseball team. Sports is often a window into our lives and habits. If you asked me to divide New England from New York, I would probably divide it along these lines.

This is a pretty interesting map, I am unsure though if using Facebook is actually an accurate tool of determination for the Yankees and Red Sox borders, but I guess it is alright if someone is just trying to figure out a general idea of what fans live where in the North East. As assumed, most of New England was going to be fans of the Red Sox, and as the more west you went toward NY, that it would change to the Yankees. Clearly though, after looking through the article, Connecticut is where the battle hits hardest, Eastern Conn likes the Red Sox, Western Conn likes the Yankees, with a mix toward the middle. What I find quite interesting though is the map of the Mass/NY line how it shows instantly a diving line between the two teams without crossing borders.