Exactly, real is used for true, genuine, etc..
However, when I think of He was real happy, I think he was really happy. When I hear He was really happy, I think, really? Well, if you say so. Because, really is just an adverb - or in other words the adjective for an adjective - of happy. And so, if it wasn't used as an "adjective", or adverb, then it would mean real. I think rather, he was actually happy.
However, when I was say he was real happy, I think of vibrant colours, reality, real life, I feel the emotions he is feeling at the same time as thinking them, whereas really happy is just, well, yeah I know I believe you don't worry, I know that he is actually happen.
DeMisty, language is all about the choice of words and intonation. In terms of writing, it is all about the choice of words. The way you word things can change the way someone reads it drastically. That's all it comes down to.
Where I'm from, 'real' is accepted as formal and accepted that way. However, on something like an essay, there is another sense to the word 'formal', in terms of an essay being formal. It means that it cannot have emotions, and 'real' sometimes gives off emotions. For any other piece of writing that is not artsy nor for an essay, as long as you're not allowed to describe emotions, 'real' should accepted.
The only reason it shouldn't be accepted would be the stubbornness of some people who think they know the rules of English language. Even in any university, especially a prestigious one, should accept it. Actually, no, 'prestigious' universities would not, because they are not at all prestigious. They are famous, yes, but not prestigious, as in good, and famous because they are good. They are famous because they get funding, aka money. People who have the money are not the academics; they are the people with power and have the voice to bias rules and regulations.
And so, in any actual good university that you go to, if you use 'real', and they don't accept it, as long as you give your case, you shouldn't have a problem with it. That's actually what they're supposed to teach you, not impose their views on you. If you have the willingness to things in a different way because you learned that it is right, through your studies, then they have done their job.
