Students Reveal Surprising Things about Boston

 In TALK Schools
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We posed this question to a few of our TALK Boston students recently: What are the most surprising things about Boston and, well, talk about surprises! Everyone agreed that it’s that distinctive Boston accent that delights and surprises newcomers to the city.

Those Accents and Other Surprising Things about Boston

surprising things about boston
Says the Urban Dictionary about the Boston accent:
“The Boston Accent is not just an accent, it’s a lifestyle. Everyone in New England who speaks with varying degrees of this “No R” accent has a swagger about them because they know they’re better than people from other parts of the US. We all live the No R Lifestyle.”
For Ilya from Russia, the  Boston accent is” very interesting” and Naomi from Thailand characterizes it as “unique.”
The pronunciation that de-emphasizes the ‘r’ sound dates back 400 years, when settlers first arrived from England. Linguists say that the Boston accent goes back to the Boston Brahmins, an aristocratic class of New Englanders for whom this accent conveyed their British roots and their elite status.  The accent caught on as newcomers to the state and the city understood that it was prestigious to speak with this accent.  Students find not only the Boston accents charming but LOVE  the local slang (about which we have more here.)

Ranking second in the surprising things about Boston stakes is the amazing diversity of the city’s population.which were remarked upon by Genesis and Valdemar of Venezuela, and Will from Taiwan was the diversity of the city’s population. Boston is one of the most favored cities for immigrants because of its long history of welcoming newcomers to its shores.

surprising things about boston

 

Indeed, Boston is ranked among the 21 most ethnic and racially diverse cities in America out of 313 US cities surveyed.  The Irish have been coming to Boston since the early 1800’s, and Italian formed the second wave of migration later in the 19th Century.  Since then, Boston has become home to large communities of Brazilians, Colombians, Jews, West Indians, Chinese, South Asians, Syrians, Lebanese, to name just a few of the larger groups which have settled here.

It is these diverse ethnicities, religions, cultures, and languages that have proved the vital force in shaping Boston’s character and vibrant, rich culture. And for our TALK students, it means that nobody can feel like a stranger in this great city.

 

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