slang

adding. If you have grammar and vocabulary down comfortably, I would next learn idioms. We use a lot of them. And yes, I know I speak pretty incorrect English, most people here do. Our education system here doesn't seem to value things like our language (or science and math) anymore in the early grades. Sadly.

shoot, I accidentally deleted the first one. Oh well, basicly it said different regions different slangs. Also we use too many idioms and cultural references which change not only from region to region but also from social group to social group and age group to age group. Speaking grammatically correct English will only make you look well educated and smart. Unless you actually live where the slang is spoken it will change too fast to look native from afar. That's basically what it was but this time much shorter. Yay me.

I thought I'd add that here, people in Maine speak distinctly, also people "up east" which is the rest of the upsticking part that New York is in. There are five boroughs in New York and each has it's own distinct accent. There's the Mid Atlantic region which I don't think has an accent but most assuredly has different slang from me. The South is unique and different states have different accents there as well.  As in Texas where a form of Spanglish is common along the border and the "Texas Drawl" is common everywhere else. I live in the Midwest where people talk like they do on TV but there's also the West, where they have a different drawl and the North Plains where there is a distinct accent left over from being settled by the Scandinavians. Alaska and Hawaii are also far enough out that they too speak in a distinct manner. So again, don't worry about it. It doesn't matter here very much.