Mother Tongue

Last night, over dinner, I was talking with a friend about the English language, and what would be considered proper 'English'. In other words, what 'English' is considered to be spoken correctly, or as close to correct as possible. The 'English' spoken in Great Britain is who we have to thank for bringing English to this country. So technically, it's the older, possibly original, English spoken by anyone. Does this mean those of us in the Midwest have an accent? We're all very well aware if you travel to different portions of this country, you're going to hear different accents and nuances in the English language, some subtle, some not even recognizable. My friend brought up an interesting point. He says 'fact'. I don't know that for sure. The 'English' spoken in the Midwest is the most recognizable, and is the easiest form of 'English' to actually learn. Then there's the Aussies who have bastardized the British accent to the point of making the language funny. And how about those Irish? To me, it sounds as if they're just making up words to fill in the blanks, because they don't know the proper 'English'. The Cajun people, I don't even know where to start, but they are fun to listen to. So if the English language is so diverse, and seems ever changing, how about other languages? Do they have the same identity crisis? The French spoken in Quebec, is it the same French spoken in France? The Portuguese used by the Brazilians, did it survive the trip across the Atlantic, or has it morphed into a dialect? I just want to know who is speaking correctly, and who needs speech therapy.