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Studying Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| watupboy101 Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4903 days ago 65 posts - 81 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 1 of 12 12 August 2011 at 1:42am | IP Logged | ||
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I am currently studying French and Assimil seems to be the only program worth MY time (you may have other
opinions) but soon I want to start Spanish. Only problem is the dialect of the Spanish course is Castilian Spanish which isn't what many people speak here in Texas. So do you recommend I do this course developing a Castilian accent... Will it be that noticeable to my Mexican friends? Will they ridicule my strange accent? Or will it just be perfectly normal? If you recommend I don't do Assimil for this reason what course should I do... Also I am not a beginner in Spanish I took 2 semesters in middle school last year and I am taking Spanish II this year (as you well know these "courses" do not take you to a very good level). Any advise? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Suzumiya Diglot Groupie VenezuelaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4893 days ago 43 posts - 64 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Japanese | Message 2 of 12 12 August 2011 at 1:52am | IP Logged | ||
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First, do not worry about which accent you obtain. All Spanish countries can understand each other unless they commence utilizing many idioms. The pronunciation is also something that can vary from region to region. But in general everyone fathoms each other.
A mexican person should not laugh at your accent, as long as you can speak and be understood, there will not be any problems. First, focus on learning grammar and vocabulary, which accent you want, comes later. Edited by Suzumiya on 12 August 2011 at 1:52am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Merv Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5273 days ago 414 posts - 749 votes Speaks: English*, Serbo-Croatian* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 3 of 12 12 August 2011 at 2:40am | IP Logged | ||
I did the Castilian course and switched my pronunciation from Latin American to Castilian. I always preferred the Castilian accent anyway. I say go for it and learn Castilian. This way you will know the vosotros form and have practice with the -se endings of the imperfect subjunctive. If you find you need to, you can always drop the vosotros from your own usage and switch to a more Latin American accent. There are a few things to watch out vis-a-vis vocabulary, one of the main ones being to avoid the verb coger since it is acceptable in Spain but vulgar in Latin America. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4949 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 4 of 12 12 August 2011 at 2:56am | IP Logged | ||
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I always thought the ''Latin American'' accent is a myth propagated for simplicity. There is as much difference between Spanish "Castillian" and *take-your-pick Latin country's Spanish*, as between individual Latin American dialects themselves.
In fact, I would for example say that Mexican Spanish, Cuban Spanish and Colombian Spanish are closer to Spain's Spanish than to Argentina's. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| watupboy101 Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4903 days ago 65 posts - 81 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 5 of 12 12 August 2011 at 3:52am | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you for all the responses... It looks like I'm just going to take the course with the Castilian accent, and maybe
develop a mexican accent later from conversing with friends and movies and stuff like that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5262 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 6 of 12 12 August 2011 at 4:17am | IP Logged | ||
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Why not do a multi-track approach. I'm not all that familiar with Assimil because I've never used their courses. I think it's great that you'll be exposed to peninsular Spanish. Spain is a beautiful country with lovely people and so much history. Many of the best films and writers in the Spanish-speaking world come from Spain. Your Iberian accent will make Spanish-speaking people curios about whether you learned Spanish in Spain and will serve as a point of interest for them and make you stand out from the crowd of the rest of us Spanish-speaking North American Gringos.
When I first learned Spanish, I rejected peninsular Spanish as I didn't want to sound "elitist". Years later, whilst living in the UK, I visited Spain for two months and spent almost a week trying to get used to the accent and usage to which I was not accustomed. Now, I listen to RNE every day and eagerly await the newest releases of Spanish films. So, my advice is to do your Assimil course but also listen to local Spanish media- radio and TV. Read an on-line Mexican newspaper. Know how Latin American Spanish differs from the Iberian. (think British and American: pavement-sidewalk, elevator-lift, biscuit-cookie, back garden- backyard; Sp:vosotros-LA:ustedes, Sp: coger-LA:recoger, etc.) Find someone who speaks Spanish locally to practice with and you'll be well rounded in the language knowing both forms. You'll be able to watch telenovelas and Sábado Gigante on Univisión as well as the latest Almodóvar film from Spain with no problems. In other words- Assimil ain't the begin all and end all of your learning. There is a world of materials and resources (mostly free) out there to take advantage of, use them to your advantage. Use Assimil, but think multi-track to vary your learning. Don't be like the Frenchman I met in Liverpool, who was there to practice his English but couldn't understand at all my American accent and usage, whilst the English had no problem. Imagine, learning English- a world language, and not being able to understand Americans. Spanish is also a world language with as much diversity as we have in English regarding accents. The more you familiarize yourself with them the better. Edited by iguanamon on 12 August 2011 at 4:23am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tibbles Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5191 days ago 245 posts - 422 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Korean | Message 7 of 12 12 August 2011 at 8:06am | IP Logged | ||
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I completed the entire Assimil Spanish, and the listening to the Castilian style pronunciation didn't bother me or cause me to lose my Mexican influenced pronunciation. In addition, I listened to all of the Notes in Spanish podcasts and Marina's accent from Madrid never bothered me one bit. Even though I'm not inclined to pronounce that way, I think it is lovely to listen to. Similarly, while I'm not inclined to employ vosotros, I learned it in Assimil (and FSI programatic) and will understand it if ever addressed in such a way. I feel that the more diverse sources of valid Spanish that I listen to, the better. Finally, as a beginning learner of Spanish I found that there were loads of other pronunciation issues that I needed to spend more energy on first rather than worrying about the nuances of how c or z are to be pronounced.
Edited by tibbles on 12 August 2011 at 8:13am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Phantom Kat Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5063 days ago 160 posts - 253 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Finnish | Message 8 of 12 12 August 2011 at 5:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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As a Mexican-American living in Texas, in my opinion, the Castilian accent is more noticeable than say, a Colombian or Chilean accent , but perfectly understandable. I've never heard a Spanish learner in Texas with a Castilian accent, so I think it would be a nice conversation starter or ice breaker. If you want to switch to a more Mexican or Latin American accent, it won't be hard at all. There are not only many Spanish speakers to converse with but you have access to a lot of Spanish-language channels. (Much more than Castilian resources, which is a shame because I think the Castilian accent is absolutely lovely.)
- Kat Edited by Phantom Kat on 12 August 2011 at 5:06pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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