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Any suggestions for Caribbean Spanish? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| labouillie Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6316 days ago 91 posts - 97 votes  Speaks: Haitian Creole, English* Studies: French, Spanish | Message 1 of 11 09 September 2007 at 7:10pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I've been trying to find some learning material for the Caribbean Spanish dialects. I live in NYC, so I'm exposed mostly to the Caribbean Spanish dialects, though Mexican and Central American Spanish are gaining ground here. It seems all the learning material is divided between the European Spanish and the Latin American Spanish dialects. The Caribbean dialect is often lumped in with the Latin American dialects, even though there is a bit of a difference. I'm surprised that there isn't even a single course devoted to Caribbean Spanish.
I think my best bet is to find some telenovelas that are done in those dialects. I thought I would be able to find some of these telenovelas on Telemundo since the station is based in Puerto Rico, but it seems that many of their telenovelas are targeted toward a broader Latin American audience and their actors generally don't use colloquial Spanish from the Caribbean. The actors are often from Mexico or other Latin American countries. So far the only resources I've been able to find are internet broadcasts from local TV stations, but they are very limited and often low on dialogue. I find mostly music and prayer channels. I've been looking for telenovelas and movies that have been released on DVD. I found a few movies but so far no luck with any telenovelas or mini-series. The movies that I am considering -- Casi Casi, Andrea, Desamores, Maldeamores -- were filmed in the Caribbean, but I'm not even sure if they are done in the local dialect. I'd like to know if anyone else here has looked into obtaining material for Caribbean Spanish and I'd appreciate any recommendations. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| 24karrot Diglot Groupie United States speakingboricua.blog Joined 6384 days ago 72 posts - 74 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 11 10 September 2007 at 12:58am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I speak Caribbean (Puerto Rican, really) Spanish. Unfortunately, there isn't much. PR hasn't produced a telenovela in a long while. I know that Univision just finished showing a Dominican novela called "Tropico", but I don't know if and when they'll show another one. wwiTV.com (that site that links to all the tv channels from different countries) has only has one channel I've noticed before on the island, v52 (a music channel... not so helpful with language).
There are almost no Puerto Rican novelas OR movies on dvds, and if there are they are usually of relatively poor quality (generally speaking, PR imports novelas and movies and exports an amazing quantity of music). You'd have a lot more luck finding Cuban movies. Fresa y chocolate is the only Cuban movie I can think of off the top of my head, but it is an excellent one. Even youtube is relatively poor when it comes to Puerto Rican lessons... there are plenty of videos of people talking, however. Anyways... Caribbean Spanish is definitely overlooked AND underappreciated, especially considering it's pretty difficult to understand. GOOD NEWS THOUGH... 1. From NY, it is cheaper to fly to PR than any other Latin American country (I think... it's cheaper for us in DC, anyways). And even though spending a week in a hotel there wouldn't be cheap, a visit wouldn't be out of the question. You also could probably fly to the DR for a bit more and stay cheaper (I believe). For me, when I go to PR, I stay with friends, so all I have to pay is the flight (about 300 dollars on American Airlines). Works out pretty well. 2. You say you hear Caribbean Spanish a lot... why don't you find someone who speaks it who'd want to help you? Join some clubs, meet people, then mention you're learning Spanish and looking for someone to help you learn Caribbean Spanish (with pay!!). I don't know if this sounds appealing to you but it should be fun. Most Puerto Ricans know about the differences between their Spanish and regular Spanish (at least, those on the island), so you should get some help. There are also Puerto Ricans on skype. 3. Ask me! As you can guess I go to the island regularly and live here at school with a Puerto Rican friend who makes sure I know everything dealing with Puerto Rican Spanish. And I looooooove talking about it (as you can tell)... so I'd be delighted to help you (or anyone else). Anyways... good luck! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| labouillie Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6316 days ago 91 posts - 97 votes Speaks: Haitian Creole, English* Studies: French, Spanish | Message 3 of 11 10 September 2007 at 8:30pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Thank you for responding, 24karrot. I'm surprised that there aren't more telenovelas from PR. I expected to at least find some on Telemundo, a Puerto Rican-based TV station, but like you said, they import many of their shows from other Spanish-speaking countries. The one Caribbean Spanish resource I did find on Telemundo is a Dominican variety show called Santo Domingo Invita. I think a show like that could be helpful for an advanced learner because of the spontaneous dialogue you find in everyday life.
Some of the Spanish professors at my local college are from PR, so I might enroll in some of those classes and try to speak with them after class. That would probably be the only environment where I would be comfortable enough to ask questions in person. I'm a bit shy and I tend to clam up in social situations. If i'm not confident enough with the language, then I won't get much out of interacting with native speakers. That's why I feel like I should be exposed to the language passively before taking part in conversations. I'd like to go to PR, DR and Cuba some day. You say that most Puerto Ricans know about the diferences between regular Spanish and the local dialect, so I'm assuming that I would be just fine if I became fluent in regular Spanish. I would imagine that many Latin American tourists visit PR every year and can converse in a standardized Spanish and be perfectly understood. That's what I'm looking to do first. Once I get the standard Spanish down pat, I'll look into some of the more localized dialects throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Thanks again. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| ElfoEscuro Diglot Senior Member United States cyworld.com/brahmapu Joined 6289 days ago 408 posts - 423 votes Speaks: Portuguese, English* Studies: Japanese | Message 4 of 11 12 September 2007 at 6:58pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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My Spanish is partly Caribbean (Panamanian) just to give background.
Here's a suggestion: listen to Reggaeton, especially if you want to learn Puerto Rican Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| labouillie Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6316 days ago 91 posts - 97 votes Speaks: Haitian Creole, English* Studies: French, Spanish | Message 5 of 11 13 September 2007 at 10:35am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Yeah, music has pretty much been my only exposure to Caribbean Spanish. I'm able to catch a few words every now and then, but it all moves way too fast for me to process right now. I guess I could look up the lyrics and read along while I listen. Platiquemos also has a few Caribbean folk songs, complete with annotations. Those are usually good sources to build up vocabulary and colloquialisms.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| 24karrot Diglot Groupie United States speakingboricua.blog Joined 6384 days ago 72 posts - 74 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Russian | Message 6 of 11 13 September 2007 at 12:54pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Sounds pretty good, you should be fine. Anyways, you definitely should get at least partly fluent with "regular" Spanish, then start traveling. Really, though, the majority of tourists in PR are Americans, so chances are if you start speaking neutral Spanish anyone you talk to will figure out you're an American (especially if you have any stereotypically American features--I'm pale and redheaded, so I always get this) and then you get the English treatment. The easiest way to pick it up from Puerto Ricans is make some friends who tell you about it, then introduce you to a lot of relatives and friends who will speak to you in Spanish when your friend tells them to... that's what happens to me anyways. ;) Reggaeton is one of THE best ways to learn slang. It's kind of hard to listen to, since it can get repetitive really fast. Of all of reggaeton I would have to recommend Calle 13. His lyrics are really clever and filled with so many Puerto Rican cultural references (it's all satire so he mocks society and language and everything they use... and it's funny). He also raps a little slower. I'd also recommend other genres: salsa, of course, bomba (more African influenced), plena (more Spanish and Taino influenced), danza, maybe look up some aguinaldos (Puerto Rican christmas carols). Here is a great website to teach about Puerto Rican music, in both English and Spanish: http://www.musicofpuertorico.com/index.php For me, I had to have friends on the island to learn to speak Puerto Rican. There is very little information on the internet, besides descriptions of the basic accent. All of the slang is hard to hear outside of the island, and when you do hear it it's really difficult to decipher, since it may be from an West African language or a Taino word. Some taino words: Palabras taínas que aparecen en español Ají Barbacoa Batata Cacique Canoa Casabe Colibrí Guayaba Hamaca Huracán Iguana Maíz Manatí Maracas Tabaco Taíno Tiburón Yuca Palabras taínas que usan específicamente en el Caribe Arepa – torta de maíz. Batey – para los taínos, era un juego y también la plaza en que jugaban el juego; actualmente es otro nombre para el patio. Bohío – para los taínos, una casa con un techo redondo; actualmente es otro nombre para una casa. Coquí – la rana puertorriqueña que crea un sonido como su nombre. Güiro – instrumento musical hecho de una calabaza. Jíbaro – campesino. Piragua – para los taínos, un barco; actualmente es como un “snowcone”. (Sorry it's in Spanish) That's a small sample. The actual amount of words of Taino and African background is huge and necessary for basic understanding of the language and culture. Besides that, Puerto Ricans tend to come up with their own words and expressions. There is additional slang from English... some of it will be understandable, other times it's changed a bit. Two examples off the top of my head are "Dame un break" (said like "dame un bre") - give me a break, and el cangri - a cool person, from "congressman" (this isn't really used much anymore though). For me it's taken me a really long time of constantly questioning everyone to get to the point where I feel like I've mastered most of the slang. But it's worth it! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| labouillie Diglot Groupie United States Joined 6316 days ago 91 posts - 97 votes Speaks: Haitian Creole, English* Studies: French, Spanish | Message 7 of 11 13 September 2007 at 3:09pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Oh God, I hope I don't get the dreaded English treatment, LOL. I like to blend in as much as possible and try to experience the culture. I would find it a bit patronizing, and the culture I would be experiencing would be the commercialized American version of their culture. But I'm not sure what their reaction towards me would be, though. My family is originally from Haiti, so I don't look like the typical American. In fact, most Puerto Ricans in NY think I'm Dominican and they just come right up to me and start speaking Spanish. Hopefully, I could get a similar reaction from them in PR.
I'll definitely be looking into some Reggaeton. I've been a Hip-hop fan most of my life, so I can appreciate the similarities between the two genres. To me it's just a different language, but I'm really feeling that kind of music when I hear it playing. I'll be sure to try to listen to the lyrics now instead of just appreciating the beat and feeling the rythm. I also like salsa music. I love me some old school Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe. My dad's a big Celia Cruz fan and used to play a lot of her songs when I was younger. The only ones that really stuck in my head were Guantanamera and Quimbara. I would definitely appreciate them more now that i am studying the language
It seems like the best resource is to find some native speakers and try to become accustomed to hearing the language spoken on a regular basis. Until then, I could just learn some common Puerto Rican words and phrases through the internet and music and try to incorporate them into the Spanish that I already know. I'll check out those links you posted. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| ElfoEscuro Diglot Senior Member United States cyworld.com/brahmapu Joined 6289 days ago 408 posts - 423 votes Speaks: Portuguese, English* Studies: Japanese | Message 8 of 11 13 September 2007 at 6:46pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Yes, I would also recommend Calle 13. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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