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Courses for Latin American Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5563 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 17 of 42 21 June 2012 at 9:27am | IP Logged | |||||
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If I remember rightly doesn't the Linguaphone 30 lesson course have lots of hints about the Francoist
background of the time (it's years since I looked at but that's my memory)? Edited by Elexi on 21 June 2012 at 9:28am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4666 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 18 of 42 21 June 2012 at 10:11am | IP Logged | |||||
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It's difficult to speak about ''general/neutral Latin American Spanish, because many times people say ''neutral Latin American Spanish'''when in fact they are referring to Mexican Spanish.
In Mexican Spanish, pretérito perfecto compuesto is used as English present perfect progressive: He bebido mucho = I've been drinking a lot. In standard Argentinian Spanish (Porteño variant), this tense is almost never used, and when it is used, it is used for actions completed in the past, with no connection with the present, when the actual time of this action is irrelevant: He bebido mucho en París= I drank a lot when I was/lived in Paris. In Peruvian and Bolivian Spanish, pretérito perfecto compuesto is the preferred past tense (as in French or Northern Italian): Anteayer me he comprado unos libros interesantes. = The day before yesterday I bought me some interesting books. May words are different, REGRESAR is the preferred verb for GO BACK in Mexican Spanish, but in Argentina REGRESAR sounds formal (just like in Spain), and VOLVER is used in 90% of cases. GUAPO means beautiful or handsome in Mexican Spanish and Central American Spanish, but in Cuba and in the Southern cone (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay...) it's never used with this meaning, GUAPO means brave, fearless, gutsy or a bully. No te pongas guapo = Don't get cocky! September is said SEPTIEMBRE, but in Uruguay, Peru and Costa Rica it's SETIEMBRE. Therefore, it is difficult to write a ''General Latin American course''. Every Spanish speaking country has different grammar and vocabulary preferences. So far, I have found 1. courses of Argentinian Spanish 2. courses of Mexican Spanish 3. courses of (general) Latin American Spanish (which in fact were courses of Mexican Spanish). So, you don't have much choice for Latin American Spanish, you have to chose between Mexican Spanish (the largest number of speakers) and Argentinian Spanish (Buenos Aires is the cultural capital of South America). The only Spanish language certificates are DELE (from Spain), and CELU (from Argentina). Edited by Medulin on 21 June 2012 at 10:20am 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5451 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 19 of 42 21 June 2012 at 4:13pm | IP Logged | |||||
I haven't looked at it for years either, but I do remember that the handbook mentioned that the official name of the Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona was Avenida del Generalísimo Francisco Franco. Edited by tractor on 21 June 2012 at 4:15pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Gala Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4548 days ago 229 posts - 421 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 20 of 42 23 June 2012 at 10:32pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Mexico (really its capital, the Distrito Federal) is the main center of the
entertainment industry that produces for all of Latin America. Most foreign, including Hollywood, films that are dubbed into Spanish (for audiences in the Americas) use Mexican voice actors. Therefore, that variety of Spanish is highly comprehensible to almost all hispanohablantes in the Americas, as well as many in Spain (where some elements of the aforementioned media [notably telenovelas] have a presence.) However, that variety is not simply "Mexican Spanish," which in itself has many dialectical and regional variations. Nor is it even that of the ordinary people that live in the D.F. It's the Mexican variety of neutral/standard Spanish that is spoken by the more educated segment of the population as well as by most in the entertainment industry. Of all of the countries that have something equivalent (a neutral/standard way of speaking for the entertainment/broadcasting industries, and official and international business use) the Mexican has the widest cultural reach as well as the most speakers. Therefore, I think one would do well to use audio resources that use Mexican speakers of this type (and they are the type generally used.) By doing so one can develop a way of speaking that is very familiar and comprehensible to practically all hispanohablantes, regardless of what dialect they speak. If, on the other hand, you focus on say, Argentinian or Cuban Spanish you will somewhat impair your ability to develop communication with most of the Spanish-speaking world. Of course, most regions of LA speak something closer to a standard than these nations, but unless one has a particular personal/ geographical/ or work-related tie to some other variety of LA Spanish, I think the Mexican neutral is the obvious best choice. As an aside, one can hear the various dialectical varieties(both rural and urban working-class) of Mexican Spanish in many of their comedies and as spoken by some secondary or peripheral characters (often servants) in their telenovelas. And many of us in the U.S. hear them in our communities. These are quite different than any Mexican Spanish I've ever heard in audio-instructional materials. Edited by Gala on 24 June 2012 at 1:34am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5830 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 21 of 42 24 June 2012 at 12:57am | IP Logged | |||||
There are at least 180 million people in Latin America who would disagree with you there. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Gala Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4548 days ago 229 posts - 421 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian | Message 22 of 42 24 June 2012 at 1:12am | IP Logged | |||||
Uhh, they don't watch many movies made or dubbed in Mexico? They don't watch Mexican telenovelas? Actors from all over Latin America (and even some from Spain) don't make a habit of (and in many cases practically their whole career) acting in Mexican productions, in which they are often trained to develop or more closely approximate neutral Mexican Spanish? The Mexican entertainment-industry is not both larger and its products more widely disseminated outside of its own borders than that of any other LA country? I think, in fact, I know that they do, and that it (the industry) is. Do some research into the subject. I see that you're in the UK. I doubt that you get much, if any, exposure to LA mass-media. What is it that makes you feel qualified to speak for 180 million Latin Americans? Edit: Oh, I think I see what you're getting at. Brazil has a population of about 180 million, and it's a LA country, as Portugese is a Romance language. Although you forgot to add the population of French Guyana to your figure! This thread, however, does specifically deal with the Spanish language, and in that context "Latin America" is widely (if inaccurately) understood to be equivalent to "Spanish America," maybe especially in the US. Even though I know better, I tend to start saying LA to refer to SA in the context of a discussion where others are doing it. Edited by Gala on 24 June 2012 at 3:25am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5781 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 23 of 42 24 June 2012 at 5:00am | IP Logged | |||||
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Ha ha that was great! Cheered me right up. :-) Edited by Random review on 24 June 2012 at 5:04am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4666 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 24 of 42 24 June 2012 at 3:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
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There is nothing really ''neutral'' about Mexican Spanish. Mexicans think their Spanish is neutral, but it's not. It just screams ''Mexican''. Pronunciation, intonation, the choice of words (like PLATICAR) make it very non-neutral.
In Spain, they consider Central Colombian and Peruvian Spanish the most neutral Latin American Spanish variants, while they find the Argentinian Spanish the most pleasing one. Mexican Spanish has no prestige outside Central America. In Caribbean or South America. , Mexican Spanish is never considered something worth copying or admiring to. Mexican Spanish has prestige only in some Central American countries, like El Salvador, because many locals consider their local variant inferior and lacking prestige, so it's always easier to import ''culture'' (tv programs, music) from Mexico than to develop their own. The choice of a variant depends on where people live, in Europe, most people study European Spanish. in the US, people study Mexican Spanish or European Spanish, in Brazil, people study European Spanish or Argentinian Spanish (many Brazilians study @ Argentinian universities, since they are a lot less expensive and less competitive, especially medical schools). Edited by Medulin on 24 June 2012 at 3:22pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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