Spanish Learning Strategies (Questions About Your Target Languages) Language Learning Forum

Spanish Learning Strategies
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Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages

cheesegrits
Newbie
United States
Joined 4461 days ago
3 posts - 5 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

Message 1 of 7

08 September 2012 at 6:55pm | IP Logged

I was wondering if anyone has attempted to learn both Latin American and Spain dialects at
the same time. The reason I ask is I have available to me Pimsler and Fluenz Latin
American version courses. I also have a co-worker who is fluent in Spanish (Spain) who
volunteered to be my sounding board while I learn.

I can see this causing a conflict with the different dialects. Why not learn them both?
1 person has voted this message useful

Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6598 days ago
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Speaks: Russian*, English, Finnish^C1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish

Message 2 of 7

08 September 2012 at 10:01pm | IP Logged

These are standard variants rather than dialects. You shouldn't be worrying about dialects yet.

If your co-worker is fluent, he/she will be able to assess your pronunciation even if the variant is different. But a native speaker's feedback is invaluable, as long as you get them to understand how important it is for you. Do you even know for sure that your co-worker has a good pronunciation? If they do, chances are it's due to factors they can't quite explain/help you with (talent, exposure at a young age etc). If they don't, you won't want to learn the pronunciation from them. Quite few people have a really good pronunciation in their target languages. Even fewer are able to teach others to develop a good pronunciation.

As I imagine it, in America you don't have much exposure to the Spanish from Spain anyway, so trying to learn it and maintain your European pronunciation would be too much of a struggle, especially as it's just because of your co-worker rather than simply liking the Castillian accent and Spanish culture more. Chat with him/her and practice your speaking - and work separately on your pronunciation, either on your own (try shadowing) or with a professional who knows how to teach the pronunciation.

Edited by Serpent on 08 September 2012 at 10:03pm
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hrhenry
Octoglot
Senior Member
United States
languagehopper.blogs
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Speaks: English*, Spanish^C2, Italian^C2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese
Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe

Message 3 of 7

08 September 2012 at 10:08pm | IP Logged

Serpent wrote:

...so trying to learn it and maintain your European pronunciation would
be too much of a struggle, especially as it's just because of your co-worker rather than
simply liking the Castillian accent and Spanish culture more.

Pronunciation differences between standard Peninsular and most (though not all) Latin
American Spanish aren't all that much different and easily sorted out, regardless of
which variant you learn. The differences are more in vocabulary and a bit of grammar.

R.
==
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Serpent
Octoglot
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Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6598 days ago
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Message 4 of 7

09 September 2012 at 5:00am | IP Logged

I mean a struggle in terms of deliberately looking for input in the Castillian variant. Why bother, if you live in the USA and have so much exposure to the South American/Mexican varieties?
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cheesegrits
Newbie
United States
Joined 4461 days ago
3 posts - 5 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

Message 5 of 7

09 September 2012 at 2:38pm | IP Logged

Thanks for the advice and opinions.

My co-worker is fluent. He has a degree in Spanish from university in Spain, is married to a
Spanish woman for over 40 years and maintains a house in Spain.

I do have more exposure to Latin American Spanish speakers, mostly Cuban or Puerto
Rican as most people I deal with from Spain are fluent in English.

I'm thinking it might be better for me to find Latin American Spanish speakers to talk to.

Edited by cheesegrits on 09 September 2012 at 6:26pm
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iguanamon
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Virgin Islands
Speaks: Ladino
Joined 5263 days ago
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Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French)

Message 6 of 7

09 September 2012 at 2:46pm | IP Logged

I think the important thing is to learn Spanish. I wouldn't worry so much about the variety as I would about getting conjugations, pronunciation and grammar down pat. Your accent and listening comprehension will come from exposure to the language. In the US that is most likely to be Latin American.

That being said, I think it is very important for Americans, who have less exposure to Castillian, to make an effort to become familiar with Castillian usage and pronunciation. The same goes for Rioplatense and Caribbean varieties as well. Throughout your Spanish-speaking life you will be exposed to Spanish speakers and media from all over the Spanish-speaking world. What a shame it would be if you missed out on the amazing diversity there is in Spanish. My advice to all Spanish learners is not to get so hung up on accents and varieties of Spanish. Try to be familiar with all of them so you can fully leverage your knowledge of this beautiful language and its diverse cultures and peoples.

So to answer your question, @cheesegrits, I wouldn't worry too much about it. You have a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of a native speaker's offer to help. That's a huge advantage. So what if your usage and pronunciation develop more of an Iberian influence. It'll make you that much more interesting as a Spanish speaker.

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Serpent
Octoglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
serpent-849.livejour
Joined 6598 days ago
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Message 7 of 7

09 September 2012 at 3:53pm | IP Logged

Destinos introduces the various kinds of Spanish wonderfully by the way :-) And it's free. Totally worth doing along with other courses!

Another favourite resource of mine is http://lyricstraining.com/ :)

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