Yeah, you could tell the difference and choose to speak that way…or not. @kenobi_65 you’re from WI, do you / did you speak with a “Wiscaansin” accent? I’m from Madison, and I never did.
As a young person, I did. As I noted upthread, Madison is often considered to have a milder, “neutral Midwestern” accent, and my six years in Madison (and, now, 30+ years in the Chicago area) did a lot to blunt the edges off of my accent. But, I have definitely had people, even in the relatively recent past, comment on the nasal “a” (“Wiscaahnsin”) in how I speak.
I’m a native American speaker, and I had trouble with The Wire at first, too. Didn’t take too long, though, and I never resorted to subtitles.
Yes, there seem to be differences between rural and urban parts of some states. In Missouri, the urban parts often pronounce it “mizooree”, while the rural southeast may call it “mizooruh”. When I showed up at the Oakland Army Terminal on assignment and told them I was from Missouri, they said, “We have someone else here from that state, but he doesn’t sound like you at all. Are you sure you’re from the same state?”
I’m originally from Maine, but I’ve got a pretty standard mid-atlantic accent, but I have relatives that I can barely understand.
Children definitely learn their accents from their peers. My paternal grandparents spoke English with strong Yiddish accents. My father, although his first language was Yiddish, spoke with an ordinary South Philly accent. My mother’s was West Philly. I grew up just a couple blocks from where she did (and went to the same elementary school) so of course I sounded like her.
Once I went to a talk by Richard Feynman, which he gave in a strong Brooklyn accent (the kind you don’t hear any more, even in Brooklyn where my daughter lives). Then there was a question period after the talk and, in answering, he reverted to what I take to be Southern Californian.
St. John’s, Newfoundland (NEW-found-land, not new-FOUND-land,)1980s. We were the come-from-aways as we were from “Canada.” Neighbours had strong outport accents, not typical St. John’s accents. Finally we asked Audrey, “why do you call your husband ‘Bum Boy?’” “What do you mean? How do I use it?” “Well, you might say, 'let’s go to town, Bum Boy.” Audrey explained she was saying to her husband, “let’s go to town by and by,” that is, soon. Even with the explanation it sounded like bum boy
“What is a ‘yoot’?”
I wonder if that is the reason for home schooling.