Living in Italy the different regional dialects are part of my life on a daily basis. I always hear my friends speaking to others in dialect, and have picked up some bits and pieces over time. being exposed to it has made me think more about my own language, English.

Everyone is well aware of the differences between English, and American. When my friends ask me questions about the language, I always ask whether they want an answer in English, or American. A couple weeks ago though, I was talking to another American at my school, from Pensylvania. I dont really know her, but one of my friends knew her, and I have spoken to her a couple times. We were talking about English and American, and I jokingly said that I speak Oregonian.

This has gotten me thinking about whether dialects exist in America as well. Sure, we have different accents depending on what part you're from, and some different expressions. It's hard to know though, unless you have traveled around a lot. The majority of my life has been spent in Oregon. After Oregon, I've spent more time in Italy than I have in the combined rest of the US. So I wouldnt neccasarily consider myself well informed on the different dialects. I would take a guess though, that they do exist. They're just harder to notice as we're so much more spread out, and most times i think they fall into the category of slang.

I've noticed that a lot of dialect here, is merely shortening of the words, things I do with English all the time. the most common come to mind: wanna, gonna, shoulda, woulda, whatcha, coulda, doin, etc. These are all things I'll write, and are more noticeable. There is also the genre of words that I'll say, but have never actually written. One of my friends who only knows a bit of English, likes to say "dont you worry about it." I was thinking about this phrase, and how I would say it.... 'dont worry bout it' - and I realized that I wouldnt even say it like that. but more of like 'don worr boud i.' hearing it said, it's easy to understand to an english speaker. but seeing it written it takes on a whole new form. it's almost undecipherable.

when I speak English here, it's almost always to non-natives, and so I have to speak slower, and clean up the language. when I'm not thinking though, I often slip back into my normal tounge... and the confussion of my friends has lead me to notice just that much more how much the language has changed.

anyways, as usual I'm not quite sure where I am going with this. Just a thought.