There are several different accents in the US. You will usually hear the standard American English accent in the media. There is a southern accent (from Texas to Florida, each person speaks a bit different depending on which state the person lives). The southern accent is slow and drawn out a bit. In very rual towns, the accent is so strong, even as a native speaker from the west part of the US I still don't understand sometimes.

There is also an accent from the north (North Dakota, Minnesota). This accent is very different from standard American English as well. I can understand most of it, but I have to listen carefully. I think it has influences from Norway or Sweden (but I'm not sure). 

The accent people have from the East (as in New York) is quite different from the west as well. 

Other states also have more subtle accents. Usually the person says a few words differently, but more or less they are quite similar. It's also interesting because people in the US move around so much, just because you live somewhere doesn't mean that's the accent you have. And the more people move around, the less distinct the accent seems to be (in general). 

I hope that helps. :)

I come from Southern California where we speak Spanglish. It is a mix of Mexican Spanish and English. There are some puns involved also. My father used to say things like, "Como estas, frijoles?" Which he used as slang for "How've you been?" (How have you been?) Frijoles/Beans = Been

We would also say things like, "Don't bust my juevos." Or, "I drive el trucko." I guess that is more like a dialect but there is also an accent that goes with it.

We don't pronounce the "J" or "X" sound as much there. J and X either becomes an H or goes silent. There is a joke about a tourist coming to San Diego and he gets lost. He asks a local for directions and says, "I can't find Jamaica Avenue, where is it?" The local says, "It isn't pronounced "Jamaica", here we call it "Hamishaw" because we don't pronounce the J." They talk for a bit and the local then asks, "How long are you visiting?" And the tourist says, "Oh, I was thinking of leaving around Hoon (June) or Hoolai (July)."

--That's the punchline. In Southern California we do pronouce the J in the names of the months but just not for other things. It is something you just have to get used to. I think it is easier to understand if you speak at least a little Spanish too. 

I believe that there are three main types of American accents. There is the American accent spoken in the northeastern United States and other accents are spoken in other parts of the United States. Matt Damon is one of my favorite actors. He speaks the dialect of the northeastern United States. When a vowel is followed by the letter R, the "R" is silent. This dialect can be spoken most quickly. The letter "R" in the dialect of the midwestern United States is always pronounced, and this accent is a bit slower than the quick northeastern accent. There is also the southern accent of the United States, extending the vowels. Therefore, more time is needed to speak in this way. This disgusts me more than any other accent.

Yeah, I think that I talk with a very fast English dialect.  The following notebook entries have a recording of my voice speaking in English: ... http://www.italki.com/entry/296185#.... "Muhammad was either not aware that the Earth was round or that it is tilted on its axis." .... http://www.italki.com/entry/247779# ... "Radiocarbon dating and tree ring counts of Bristlecone pine trees prove the Bible is false!" .... http://www.italki.com/notebook/entry/240849.htm ... "Islam is proven to be a false religion".

I am from Northern California and recently went to college. At first I thought SoCal and NorCal spoke similiar English but that was false. NorCal speak with more slang than SoCal and at times we use a lot of metaphors which those from SoCal have a hard time understanding.

A great example would be the word hella ;). Anyone who hears us using this would be very confused.