S01E01 Episode 1
MacNeil’s journey begins in Maine and winds around to Detroit after stops in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Ohio, and South Carolina. Along the way, he meets lobstermen who fear their unmistakable New England accents...
Do You Speak American?
Overview
Why is the English spoken by Maine lobstermen so different from thatscene from the broadcast spoken by cowboys in Texas? Does Spanish pose a threat to English as the dominant language in America? And what on earth do yins, wickety wack, ayuh, catty whompus, and stomping it clean mean?
Robert MacNeil travels cross-country to answer these questions and examine the dynamic state of American English – a language rich with regional variety, strong global impact and cultural controversy.
Episodes
S01E02 Episode 2
Do You Speak American? heads into the Deep South for a look at Appalachian and “hillbilly,” shaped by the Scots-Irish English of early frontier settlers like Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Footage of the legendary...
S01E03 Episode 3
Now on the left coast, the series spotlights Spanglish – a hybrid of Spanish and English – with a segment on Patricia López, a video jockey on the local Latino television program Mex to the...
Cast
Robert MacNeil
Robert MacNeil
