|
 |
Dealing w/ Regional Vocabulary | ||
Tags: Vocabulary learning | Spanish | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Magnus13 Triglot Newbie United States mybestwaytolearnspan Joined 5076 days ago 9 posts - 9 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Japanese Studies: Mandarin, Korean | Message 1 of 2 25 August 2011 at 6:28am | IP Logged |
|
Having studied Spanish for a while now, I find that most of the new words I come across
while reading are specific to the country in which the author was born. They either have different meanings elsewhere, or are not used at all. When I speak to someone from a given country and use words from another, I sometimes find that they don't understand me, which can be quite frustrating. So, what I'm wondering is how do you go about learning vocabulary that is specific to a particular region? Do you try to learn all the words you come across and end up with a neutral vocabulary (I've heard this approach recommended for acquiring a native accent.)? Do you only try to learn words from one region for your active vocabulary and learn to recognize the rest (i.e., for someone learning Spanish, learning to speak/write like someone from Mexico and learning to understand people from other areas as well)? If so, how do you keep the two separate? I would be interested to hear your opinions. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5197 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 2 25 August 2011 at 11:46am | IP Logged |
|
The short answer is, I talk to people. The most important phrase any learner can learn in any language is "how do you say this?" and then either point or describe the item or concept you wish to express. The first dream I ever had in Spanish involved me walking down the street asking random people- "¿cómo se dice esto en español?".
Here in the Caribbean the word for "bus" is "la guagua", a "bus driver" is a "guaguero/a", the "bus station" is "la estación de guaguas" and the "bus stop" is "la parada de guaguas". This is important to know if you want to take the bus in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba or the Canary Islands. In most of the rest of the Spanish speaking world this isn't the word for "bus"- "autobús" is the normal word. Asking about the "autobús" will be understood here but asking about "la guagua" in Chile will likely not be understood. Asking for a "jugo de china" in San Juan will get you orange juice and in Madrid or México it will get you "¿cómo?" or "mande". (In PR, oranges are called "chinas" because the first orange trees allegedly came from there, or so I was told) I remember getting chuckles in Spain when I'd ask someone to repeat something by saying "¿mande?". I was told that it was very Mexican, yet people understood that I needed to hear something repeated. This is normal, just the same as the "sidewalk" in America is the "pavement" in Britain, and any Brit will know what "sidewalk" means whereas most Americans won't have a clue that the word "pavement" refers to the "sidewalk". The Spanish-Speaking world has many countries in the Americas that have had their Spanish influenced by indigenous languages to varying degrees, and in the case of Argentina and Uruguay- Italian. Know the standard, formal Spanish and the informal Spanish as well. If you ask for "jugo de naranja" in Puerto Rico you will get orange juice but saying "jugo de china" will get you orange juice and a smile. I compartmentalize Spanish vocabulary and remember in which country or region specific dialectical vocabulary belongs. I also remember the standard word. If my goal is to have orange juice in Sevilla, I'll be asking for "zumo de naranja" instead of "jugo de china". If I mess up and ask for "jugo" instead of "zumo", I'll still most likely get my juice. Yeah, it can be a lot to remember and keep straight. Sometimes I screw up and use Caribbean Spanish outside the region. It usually gets me a "¿cómo? or "¿qué?" but also usually marks me out as not your typical gringo and people will ask me where I've learned my Spanish or whether I'm from, Cuba, Puerto Rico or the DR, and that is "¡muy chévere!" The same goes in reverse for speakers of Peninsular Spanish when visiting Latin America, it will get you a smile and a conversation started. How boring it would be if we all spoke the same. Edited by iguanamon on 25 August 2011 at 12:04pm 4 persons have voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
