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Which variety of Spanish to learn? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| pcdavid Newbie Colombia twitter.com/doordaviRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4632 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes | Message 81 of 100 20 March 2012 at 2:17am | IP Logged | |||||
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Hello people,
I´m David from Colombia, South America. there are lots of synonyms depending on the country you are. in my opinion Colombian Spanish is one of the best, because of its neutral accent,and a wide vocabulary that allows people to understand and to be understood by other Spanish speaking countries. "VOSOTROS" which is very common in spain, it´s not that common in Latin-America, it was used in poetry and very formal Spanish in History. for singular "you" there are at least 3 ways: vos - tu - usted (vos and tu are very informal, used with family or friends, while usted can be for formal use or even informal uses too) you are colombian - vos sos colombiano (very common in argentina and chile) - tu eres colombiano - usted es colombiano for plural "you" there are two: ustedes - vosotros you are colombian - ustedes son colombianos - vosotros sois colombianos 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 82 of 100 21 March 2012 at 8:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I have a friend from Cali, Colombia, and she uses VOS, just like people from Argentina.
I don't really consider the way she talks clearer than the way Argentinians from Buenos Aires talk. I prefer the porteño accent, it is very sensual. There are at least 30 different accents in Colombia, and some of them are very funny and not neutral at all, like santandereano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Erl_tPe4blM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdmfFVU9Aos Colombia is a country of valleys, and every valley has a different accent/dialect, just like in Norway or Switzerland. Add to this two different coastal accents (Atlantic accent sounds very Caribbean) and the Amazon accent. Edited by Medulin on 21 March 2012 at 8:29pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5695 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 83 of 100 31 March 2012 at 1:30am | IP Logged | |||||
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Here's another twist on the discussion - what do you think about learning Spanish from Spain but spoken with a Mexican accent - or put another way, learning one variety of Spanish but speaking with the accent of another?
We've been talking about choosing a variety of Spanish - but what about the accent you speak with? For a while now, I have gotten used to speaking with distinción because one of the sites I frequently use has that accent for its Spanish speaking recordings. However, I have learning materials now for both Spanish from Spain and Mexican Spanish because the largest Spanish speaking group by far in my country is Mexican Spanish, so I feel it's important to know it. I have received a lot of excellent feedback here on choosing the variety of Spanish that I like best, and that you can be understood anywhere no matter what variety you speak. I've also read a lot about how whatever the variety that you are most likely to encounter, that would be the best one to learn. I've been watching a Mexican television program regularly over the last few weeks, and have become accustomed to that accent now too. Whichever variety I feel I like the best, does it follow that you must learn an accent of that variety? I'm just starting to think now - I also like the Mexican accent that I'm hearing on this television program. Since the largest Spanish speaking group in my country is from Mexico, would speaking with a Mexican accent be better for me? I had decided on Andalusian Spanish and have been listening a lot of news podcasts from Spain to test my comprehension and to become better familiarized with the accent. I have been having some difficulty in understanding the people on the radio (it may be because they do speak quite rapidly). When I watch the Mexican television show though, I understand the speech significantly better - to the point where I can understand enough to be able to enjoy the program without subtitles. I can understand a lot more on the tv than I can on the radio from Spain. How come I can understand the dialogue on this show much better than I can understand the Spain radio podcasts? Should I work more on my comprehension of the Spain accent that I am listening to or should I focus on the Mexican accent that I hear? Does the difficulty lie in an unskilled ear, unused to an accent spoken at normal speed or is it vocabulary particular to Peninsular Spanish that I am having trouble with? Is it really that I need to work more on understanding the accents of Peninsular Spanish (and vocabulary between the two varieties isn't really the problem) or does it signify that Mexican Spanish clicks better with my way of thinking and comprehension. Ah, I am all turned upside down now - help! Edited by Belle700 on 31 March 2012 at 1:31am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5452 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 84 of 100 31 March 2012 at 10:19am | IP Logged | |||||
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Would someone speaking British English with an American accent or American English with a British accent sound
strange to you? My general piece of advice is to choose one variety and learn that one. If you'd like to speak Peninsular Spanish, learn Peninsular Spanish. If you'd like to speak Mexican Spanish, learn Mexican Spanish. Whichever accent you choose, you'll need exposure to other accents in order to understand native speakers from around the Spanish speaking world. Be aware that learning materials for Peninsular Spanish do not typically teach Andalusian Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5695 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 85 of 100 31 March 2012 at 4:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
I see your point. British English spoken with an American accent or American English with a British accent would sound different - not strange but different. Obviously, both would be intelligible to the other. I know you have to pick one variety - otherwise, your Spanish will end up sounding a bit scattered. I like both Mexican Spanish and Spanish from Spain, and the variety from Spain was what I had decided on. However, I'm still having a hard time getting completely comfortable with the Spain accent. I have been listening to news podcasts from Andalucia to work on my comprehension and get better acclimated to it, but it's still tough. On the other hand, the spoken Mexican Spanish I have been hearing on this tv program I've been watching, I have no problem with understanding. Maybe listening to news broadcasts is not a good idea? Maybe the speed of speech is too fast to get used to that accent and way of speaking? I'd have to try listening to news from Mexico to test that out. Still, the speed, accent and style of speech in the tv show I've been watching is at normal, everyday speed and I have a much easier time understanding the dialogue. I guess I just need to work on accent comprehension more and really get a better grasp on the flavor of each variety. Could you talk a bit more about the differences between Peninsular Spanish and Andalusian Spanish? I'd like to know more about that. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5452 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 86 of 100 31 March 2012 at 5:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Generally, I find news broadcast to be among the easiest TV or radio programs to understand. The language is
normally quite standardised, the pronunciation clear and the topics more or less familiar. TV shows with "ordinary" people on the other hand can be quite a challenge: dialects, non-standardised grammar, colloquial language, slang, mumbling etc. Andalusian Spanish is possibly the most spoken variety of Peninsular Spanish, but it is, in my opinion, not the easiest to understand. A couple of Wikipedia articles on Andalusian Spanish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusian_Spanish http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialecto_andaluz 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5695 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 87 of 100 31 March 2012 at 6:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5695 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 88 of 100 31 March 2012 at 6:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
What type of Spanish do learning materials of Peninsular Spanish teach then? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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