Do you speak differently than you write?

Madcap Laughs   Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:20 pm GMT
I write in perfect English. But, I speak with a Texas accent.
Madcap Laughs   Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:26 pm GMT
Or vice-versa. Do you write differently than you speak?
Guest   Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:31 pm GMT
Of course, it's normal that educated people write different than they speak. Everyday spoken language and writen language have different registers.
someone   Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:40 pm GMT
“I write in perfect English. But, I speak with a Texas accent.”

Isn’t Texas accent perfect English?
Madcap Laughs   Fri Sep 11, 2009 7:59 pm GMT
Most people with a Texas accent don't speak in perfect English.
Travis   Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:11 pm GMT
I myself speak drastically differently from how I write, writing in a higher literary register that has been termed "academic regalian" (but mind you that certain dialect-specific adverbial forms have a tendency to leak in) but normally speaking in a very progressive Inland North dialect that is quite far from General American (even though I can speak in higher registers closer to GA need be).
nooboid   Fri Sep 11, 2009 10:36 pm GMT
i speek how travis rites, but i rite lyke a nooboid lollllz.
Beathag   Fri Sep 11, 2009 11:08 pm GMT
Hmm... I suppose I sometimes write like I would speak. Not always.
I'm a Texan- the occasional "ain't" may slip out but I like to think I speak pretty well. :-)
Oh, except for when I am around my grandparents. My accent and speech gets really...southern lol. The way Lt. Aldo Rain spoke in Inglourious Basterds? EERILY similiar to how my grandparents sound.
Uriel   Sat Sep 12, 2009 1:05 am GMT
Pretty much, but I go back and edit for clarity and run on sentences sometimes. I've caught myself making statements that sound perfectly normal out loud but look incomprehensible on the page, since there's no way to hear the emphasis and intonation that makes them make sense! Out of respect for our learners, I've rearranged some of those from time to time....
Xie   Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:50 am GMT
Well, some Germans claimed that they didn't speak any dialects other than standard German. I was confused. But now I came to realize that I don't speak a Cantonese dialect either - I only speak standard Cantonese. Of course, it's just assumed here that the standard isn't a dialect per se.

I speak exactly as I write. I can't imitate all those dialects around Guangdong at all. I share the same standard with Guangzhou people, but the speech of people elsewhere is simply a lot different from it.
--   Sat Sep 12, 2009 2:44 pm GMT
<<Of course, it's just assumed here that the standard isn't a dialect per se. >>

Yes, in Germany, the standard language isn't considered a dialect. It is above all the dialects. But even if you claim to speak Hochdeutsch, as I do, you most likely have a ''dialectal colouring''. That's because you were raised in a certain part of Germany where -- besides the standard language -- a certain dialect is spoken -- or where the others already speak with that certain colouring, but not speaking the real dialect.
user   Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:06 pm GMT
Xie, kannst du Deutsch gut sprechen?
Guest   Sat Sep 12, 2009 5:10 pm GMT
All people write and speak very different, but Spanish and Italian speaking people.
Xie   Sat Sep 12, 2009 5:16 pm GMT
>>That's because you were raised in a certain part of Germany<<

Probably I won't know, but there could be people who don't claim to speak a dialect, like the one I met. I don't speak a Cantonese either, because the kind of Cantonese education I received was universal among almost all Hong Kong kids, whether their parents came from Guangzhou or somewhere else.

While our language has been labelled a dialect, we too have a standard within itself. This is naturally how the concept of standardization appears.

I don't speak German well. I need more reading. This is not the same as making up words in front of the Germans to make myself understood. This is a very low standard. I want more, such as the ability to read a lot.
Uriel   Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:51 pm GMT
<<Yes, in Germany, the standard language isn't considered a dialect. It is above all the dialects. But even if you claim to speak Hochdeutsch, as I do, you most likely have a ''dialectal colouring''. That's because you were raised in a certain part of Germany where -- besides the standard language -- a certain dialect is spoken -- or where the others already speak with that certain colouring, but not speaking the real dialect. >>

In America, at least, I think it's safe to say the opposite occurs -- most people speak a bland standard variety of English, and obvious dialects are restricted to certain segments of the population. The British can claim to have a lot more variety than we do, though. We tend to be more homogenized than they are.