How to Talk Like an American
Americans expect and make eye contact during a conversation. When you are a TA, look directly into your students' eyes as you speak. Don't stare at one person though! Just catch the faces of students as you scan the room. Try to look at all students. This eye contact will catch your students' attentions.
American students use a lot of slang.
It may be helpful to keep a small notebook of expressions you do not understand. You can then later look them up in a slang dictionary or ask a U.S. or continuing foreign students you know well if they can explain the terms to you.
Americans tend to reduce their words into the following slang examples:
"gonna" "going to"
"I'm gonna finish my project on..."
"wanna" "want to"
"I wanna write my paper on..."
"hasta" "has to"
"He hasta go to the class..."
"hafta" "have to"
"I hafta take this class..."
"cuduv" "could have"
"I cuduv gotten a better grade."
"wuduv" "would have"
"I wuduv turned it in but..."
"Wenze want it?
Translated: "When does he want it?"
"Zere gonna be a mid-term?"
Translated: "Is there going to be a mid-term?"
Until you become more familiar with this rapid condensed form of speech, ask your students to repeat the phrases slowly.
