Regional Accent View

Class on Monday was really interesting.  I feel better about my quiz results now since I realize that maybe I don't have a very distinct accent that people would pick up on ( according to the quiz), but there is slang that sets New Jersey apart.  Because of the Mountain Speech article, I am really hoping to get to hear the Appalachian accent because I do not believe I ever have or ever really paid close attention.  "Fire" and "fair" being pronounced the same seems extremely foreign to me just like the word "flustrated" does, but I guess that is what makes this class interesting.  We are getting to learn about things so different than what I know despite being from the same country.  

IPA is an ingenious system that can account for all languages and just about every sound.  Our names in IPA was a fun way to be introduced to this new alphabet.  I definitely would need more practice with the IPA to be able to decipher it on my own.  I wonder how long this alphabet took to be developed and if it is constantly being changed and added to.  Also as language slowly changes over time, do the sounds we produce in a certain language also change?  And how long would it take for those changes to be added to the IPA?