Languages and Linguistics

We have different accents, but they are almost all mutually comprehensible, which true dialects often are not. There are no real grammatical differences in the various versions of American English, and vocabulary differences are trivial. Pronunciation, yeah, that can be huge.

I moved from northern New York State to Tucson, Arizona, when I was 14. I had a very strong upstate New York accent (very different from those in and around NYC) and afterwards I joked that I had no friends for the first two years because no one could understand me when I spoke. Including my French teacher, who couldn't understand me in either language.

Clearly, I am exaggerating, but I lost my accent in those two years. I needed to. For a very long time, I kept a few old pronunciations of certain words, and if I said them, people with a decent ear for accents would immediately know where I was from. That has not happened in a number of years now, and I'm glad. I have a reasonably neutral American accent.

That is NOT to disparage any of you who have a strong regional accent of any kind, especially if you are very proud of where you are from. Good for you!