Some experience of learning American English slang
Understanding English slang is very important in learning English. You probably have the same confusion. You have accumulated a lot of vocabulary, but when you talk to a native American, you still don’t understand what they talk about, because they use a lot of slang. For example, if a person says: “Let’s hang out tonight.â€? You may think what “hang out” means. If you explain this phrase literally, you may think the meaning is hanging something out, but, actually, it doesn’t really mean that. It means “Let’s go out tonight and have some fun.” So, understanding slang is very important for communication.
Here, I’d like to share my experience of how to understand some English slang. Having conversations with native speakers as many times as possible, the more you talk, the more you understand. Reading newspapers as much as you can, there is a lot of slang being used in the newspapers, try to understand them, and use them in your real life. You can also buy some English slang books, which will help you understand slang more easily.
Anyhow, as long as you go to great lengths to concentrate on this learning, you will find that your English will be improved quickly.
I think every language has its own slang, so it is very important to learn them because people get used to using slang instead of using the right word. When I first came to the United States, I heard two African Americans talking, but I couldn’t understand them. They were talking in English, but another kind of English. Sometimes I think English slang is easier to learn because you hear them more often than the right word. So I think it is very important to learn English slang because sometimes people understand the English slang instead of understanding the right word. You know your English is good when you can understand the English slang used in conversations.
Comment by dong315 — May 27, 2005 @ 14:05
I think slang is important, but, first of all, you have to learn using right words. If you don’t know right words, probably you can’t talk with the elderly people.
One of my friends has been in the US for 3 years. She can’t speak English well, so I think she has to go to ESL school. Sometimes she was embarrassed. I think she needs more knowledge.
After you learn how to use right English, you will learn a lot of slang words. I think it is fun!
Comment by cuchida — May 27, 2005 @ 17:41
Students from other countries frequently want to learn American slang. As a teacher, I can refer them to books of slang, which go from slang words which have come into the American English vocabulary from the time of the Mayflower’s arrival, up until the 21st century. Some of the problems of using slang include: l. Real slang is very transient. It goes in and out of fashion very quickly. During the school year, what was new and used widely in September, may be totally out of fashion before Christmas. 2. By the time parents and other adults are understanding (and perhaps trying to use slang, which they have heard young people using) the young people have discarded it, and are ignoring or even laughing at those trying to use it. 3. Slang is often used by members of sub-cultures. It unites them as members of the group, and excludes other people who do not understand it. This is done intentionally, and the group members do not want others to understand it, and particularly, they do not want anyone outside of the group to actually USE the slang words. For example, “buck” is used colloquially by many Americans to mean one dollar. I have heard adult speakers from other countries try to use this slang term, but it never quite sounds natural. So I recommend that foreign born people say “dollar” instead of “buck”. Example: At the Dollar Store the price of every item is $1.00. Advertising may say: “Any thing for a buck.” By the way, notice that the $ sign comes $1.00 (not l$).
Another interesting language challenge, to illustrate how sub-cultures develop their own communication languages: Pig Latin is a years and years old method of saying something to one’s friend, and confusing and confounding others around you. Challenge: find an intelligent older person (older than 75) and ask them if they know how to speak Pig Latin. If they still remember from their childhood, ask them to teach you how to speak Pig Latin. It is neither spoken by pigs, nor does it have anything at all to do with ancient Roman Latin language. However, to learn to understand and speak it, you may need learn something about syllables and vowels.
I warn you, though, this is only a challenge. Pig Latin has absolutely no useful purpose in current American English! Now go find an older adult with whom you can have a conversation. Look in the park, or other places where Senior Citizens congregate. Visit a retirement center, and ask for the recreation director. Sometimes residents have conversation groups. You will find that older people speak slowly. They have too much time on their hands, and they love to talk about their youth.
Another tip for speeding up your knowledge of American English: when you are watching TV, turn on the closed captioning. You will increase your reading speed, and when you see the written word, you may find it makes more sense than listening to the words only. This even works when listening to music lyrics.
And lastly, go to the library or bookstore, and find any kind of book or magazine which is of interest to you. Take it home, and READ IT ALOUD.
You can read to your dog or cat, or to your couch. Reading the words of the author will give you examples of proper use of prepositions. You will also begin to recognize the correct use of indefinite articles “the” and “a”. The sound of your voice (reading the words of the author) will give you a smoother speaking pattern, and you will become accustomed to hearing your voice speaking American English.
Comment by Phil — November 12, 2006 @ 02:35
Hi! I’m Juliet and I’m a Malaysian and it’s probably from Asia.
I’m too much interested in learning American Slang though Malaysia is following British Accent. However, I hope that you can give a few tips on it.
Anyway, glad to view a good page like yours…
regards from Malaysia
Comment by Juliet — April 28, 2007 @ 07:30
This blog is very much on the hot topic slang. You are absolutely right about the usage of slang. In fact many of my friends and relatives stayed in America and they use American slang quite often which I find very difficult to understand. For demolishing this drawback of mine I took the help of slang dictionary which is really a medicine for those who are facing this type of problems. And the description you made here is really very interesting
Comment by Carlton — July 9, 2008 @ 05:42
Well, don’t let anyone fool you all about English slang, especially the diffs between British and American (not to mention subcultures)! Spoken American English is, I believe rather more difficult to learn due to the poor American habit of “swallowing” vowels and “flattening Os”. British received pronunciation is actually quite close to proper American English pronunciation, but the lower down the economic ladder one goes in both countries the “sketchier”, as my daughter would say, the pronunciation gets. Many foreigners think that southeastern american dialect is like another language? American English is typically spoken in with a flat pronunciation of vowels, with letter “a” pronounced more like the “a” in “at” or “cat” almost all the time instead in in the British manner. By all means learn to understand slang, but it would probably be best not to use it, and as some who said here the “elderly” will appreciate it more, especially those who might be interviewing you for a job!
Comment by Bill — July 12, 2008 @ 23:37