English Language Influences

Growing up as a kid, I was of course taught proper English by my parents and teachers through grade school.  But after years of constantly being around classmates, friends and other family members who spoke slang, the influences became more prominent.  Unintentionally, I began speaking half English saying “eey” instead of “hey” or “What it do” instead of “Hello, how are you”?  Although teachers and parents would correct me, I thought proper English and grammar was irrelevant.  In addition as a kid I cared a lot of what peers thought, so I figured it would be very strange being the one kid in the classroom who spoke proper English, so it became intentional.  When I turn on black people movies or rap videos, it did not help that all the entertainers also used slang, so naturally, I got used to speaking Ebonics. However, in high school, an instructor showed the class an example of a job interview of an urban kid applying for a job.  In the video the kid tried to be professional as he could, but the bad habits made a few slang words slip out costing him the applied position.  This was a turning point for me as I discovered everything past instructors and my parents told me was the truth.  It was simple, keep the Ebonics for my social life separate and get accustomed to using proper English in the professional world.  Although I practice full English and am developing better habits, some things can be influencing like text message and social network slang/acronyms “Lol”, “Lmao”, “Wut”, “Der”, “Fo” and “Fml”.