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Which variety of Spanish to learn? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5452 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 25 of 100 19 February 2012 at 6:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
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In Spanish, castellano can mean at least two different things:
1) The Castilian dialect of the Spanish language (as opposed to other dialects such as Andalusian, Cuban, Mexican etc.) 2) The Spanish languague in general. This usage is found on both sides of the Atlantic. In some countries/regions it is more common calling the language castellano, in others español. As far as I have understood, Castilian Spanish in English can mean three things: 1) The Spanish of Spain (Peninsular Spanish, Iberian Spanish), as opposed to Latin American Spanish 2) Standard Spanish (whatever that is) as spoken in Central and Northern Spain. (This is what I was referring to in my earlier post.) 3) The Castilian dialect Edited by tractor on 19 February 2012 at 6:43pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5695 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 26 of 100 19 February 2012 at 6:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Those maps are really interesting. As a side note, the Spanish that I was most exposed to while I was in Spain was Andalusian Spanish, as we spent most of the time in Andalucia. Only at the end of the trip were we in Madrid. So most of the time, I was accustomed to hearing Andalusian Spanish.
Thank you to everyone for responding to this thread. I have a lot more information now and I really do appreciate everyone's input. Thank you again. Edited by Belle700 on 19 February 2012 at 6:51pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Javi Senior Member Spain Joined 5980 days ago 419 posts - 548 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 27 of 100 19 February 2012 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
I call it "español con acento madrileño", but I've never paid attention to what they call it themselves. I'm a Southerner and here we prefer español over castellano.
Yes, that's much better. Although both "castellano" and "español" are accepted as synonyms, from a purely linguistic point of view only "español" makes really sense for the modern language spoken in both sides of the pond. On the other hand, the "English"nomenclature (that Castilian Spanish is something spoken in Seville but not in Argentina) doesn't make any sense at all. Edited by Javi on 19 February 2012 at 10:50pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| zenmonkey Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6551 days ago 803 posts - 1119 votes 1 sounds Speaks: EnglishC2*, Spanish*, French, German Studies: Italian, Modern Hebrew | Message 28 of 100 20 February 2012 at 1:39am | IP Logged | |||||
I agree with you, when we spoke too much slang as kids (we were "chilangos" - from the DF) my parents would tell us to speak "Castellano o nada". 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5333 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 29 of 100 20 February 2012 at 2:12am | IP Logged | |||||
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Just take the variant you like best. I speak "Castellano" with an Andalusian accent, and I have never had
any problems with any Latin Americans that I met in the US, Cuba or here in Europe. Any comments I got were about them being impressed that I as a foreigner spoke Spanish very well, that I spoke it fast, and that they liked my Spanish accent. The only time I was laughed at, was when I was telling an Argentinian girl about an incident involving two men and a horse, and I used "coger" in Spanish Spanish to construct a perfectly innocent sentence. She had a good laugh at that, as the Argentinian version was not quite as innocent. I live in Europe, yet the English variant I use is probably closer to US English than British English. It is not in any way a problem, nor should it be for you to chose the Spanish accent you like best. 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5695 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 30 of 100 20 February 2012 at 4:17am | IP Logged | |||||
Thank you for your answer. The variety of Spanish that I have gravitated to is Andalusian Spanish. Mexican Spanish is the most spoken variety in my country, and I do want to learn that as well, but after getting used to the Andalusian accent, I feel that I like that variety and its sound. I still am going to learn Mexican Spanish, though. It's good to be familiar with that. There are many different varieties spoken in the US, some parts of the country having more of a concentration of a particular variety than others. As I mentioned earlier, I learned Latin American Spanish in school, and have traveled to Spain, but once I began studying online with Busuu.com, I became accustomed to Castilian Spanish with an Andalusian accent (that is what their recordings use, also Babbel.com uses an Andalusian accent) and now knowing both, I feel comfortable speaking Andalusian. Plus, the teacher that I had for most of the time that I studied Spanish in high school spoke with an Andalusian accent (even though she taught Latin American), so there's that influence too. I know what you mean about the mistake with the verb "coger". Making mistakes like that is part of learning, so in the end, it all works out. :) Edited by Belle700 on 20 February 2012 at 4:25am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| rivere123 Senior Member United States Joined 4829 days ago 129 posts - 182 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 31 of 100 20 February 2012 at 5:04am | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't mean to derail the thread, but I figure it would be better than starting another.
Is there a "Midwestern" dialect of Spanish? By Midwestern, I mean one generally considered as unremarkable, which doesn't just make you sound like you specialized in Peruvian, Mexican, Cuban, Argentinian, and so on. I hear the aforementioned are pretty easy to pick out, and I've heard Colombian kind of sounds neutral, if I am remembering correctly. Feedback? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4667 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 32 of 100 20 February 2012 at 6:25am | IP Logged | |||||
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Yeah, the Central Colombian variety is neutral (but not the Caribbean nor the Pacific coast).
But in this region: 1/ Usted is the preferred form of addressing, even in the most informal situations (mothers to kids, kids to pets etc) 2/ b,d,g are pronounced as [ b ], [d], [g] and are not softened after any consonant, so el burro is pronounced [el'burro] (B instead of beta) So, the Colombian accent may be the easiest for a foreigner to understand because, b, d, g are softened only after a vowel, and never after a consonant. This gives us impression of ''clearer'' speech.. (This phenomenon is also found in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras). ;) Telemundo films most of its soap operas in Colombia, with a largely Colombian cast ;) but with Mexican words :( in Colombia ''the car/automobile'' is said ''el carro'' (coche in Spain, auto in Argentina), and beautiful is said lindo and not guapo. In Colombia, just as in the most of the South America, guapo means brave or a bully ;) ''Esos ladrones son muy guapos. No tienen miedo de nada'''; ''los romances de guapos'' Spanish is tricky, because of its numerous variants. English and Portuguese are basically two-dialectal. Most British people understand American English usage with ease, because of Hollywood, music. The same happens in Portugal with Brazilian Portuguese. But many Spanish don't understand many Mexican, Colombian and Argentinian words (just to mention the three largest variants). I've heard that some Argentinians watch Spanish movies with English subtitles :( It's impossible to create a neutral Spanish because many people will find it formal or strange. How to translate BEAUTIFUL in neutral Spanish? You can't use GUAPO because it means something completely different in South America. On the other hand LINDO is rejected in Spain. Even BONITO is becoming ''cursi'' in Spain, when used with people. So, we only have the formal word BELLO left. :) It's not that the variants in Latin America are changing, but the Spanish in Spain too. Now they use GUAPO with things too: un coche guapo, un piso guapo. And many normal words like DESEMPLEO are being replaced with other words that are preferred, like PARO. But for people in Argentina, PARO is something completely different. An appartment is said PISO in Spain, but DEPARTAMENTO in Argentina. Strawberry is FRESA in Spain, but FRUTILLA in Argentina. PIJA is a snob/posh girl in Spain, but a penis in Argentina ;) Gasoline/petrol is GASOLINA in Spain, GASOLINA or GAS in Mexico, BENCINA in Chile, NAFTA in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. September is mostly SEPTIEMBRE, but the older form SETIEMBRE is preferred in Uruguay, Peru, Costa Rica, and it can be found in Argentina too ;) I don't think vocabulary differences are small. Maybe in a scientific style yes, but in everyday life, the vocabulary differences are pretty noticeable. Spaniards used to understand Latin American Spanish better 20 years ago when they imported dubbed versions of American cartoons from Mexico. But now they have their own dubs. Exposure to Latin American Spanish is limited to soap operas, but nowadays, only old women watch them. Many American words are exported to the UK and people start using them there, like ''awesome'' or ''pesky''. The same happens with Brazilian words in Portugal (many Portuguese now use words like ''curtir'' [to enjoy; also present in Argentinian Spanish)]. But, not many Spaniards start using Latin American words because they feel somewhat superior and they would never embrace words from the other side of Atlantic because they find them ''cursi'' (tacky). This is sad. Edited by Medulin on 20 February 2012 at 7:10am 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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