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Latin American Accent Program | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Principiante Senior Member United States lucasgentry.com Joined 6264 days ago 130 posts - 138 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 6 19 October 2008 at 12:37am | IP Logged | ||
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So a while back, I bought Assimil Spanish, because everybody on this board was seeming to say that it was the bees knees in terms of language acquisition. I also bought Learn in Your Car Spanish, because I knew I could do that when I didn't have to read at the same time. LIYCS has been great, but Assimil is for Spain Spanish, when I'm looking for LAtin American. Yeah, I should have researched more.
Anyway, since coming back to the boards after a pretty long time, now it looks like everybody has been raving about MT method as a foundational Spanish course, then going on to Pimsleur and others for furthur language education. So I just ordered MT (it hasn't quite got here yet), but again, it's a Spain Spanish. My plan is to get the basics in MT, then use some other program with a Latin American accent for most of my Spanish education, so I can have a Latin American accent in my Spanish. Anyway, before I spend more money on programs that end up being the wrong accent, which programs are based on Latin American accents? FSI? Pimsleur? Learn Spanish Like Crazy? Platiquemos? any other good ones? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| awake Senior Member United States Joined 6642 days ago 406 posts - 438 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, Spanish | Message 2 of 6 19 October 2008 at 7:30am | IP Logged | ||
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You may know this, but there's no such thing as a single latin american accent in Spanish. There is as much
variation in accent among latin american countries as there is with any single latin american country and Spain. There are also wide differences in idiomatic usage among latin american countries, as well as some grammatical differences such as the use of Vos forms. Many of the above programs you mentioned, FSI (both basic and programatic courses), Pimsleur, Patiquemos (which is a modernized version of the FSI Basic course), etc... aim to give a reasonably neutral latin american accent, so they are probably more of what you are looking for. (I'm not familiar with LSLC.) But whatever latin american country you visit, you're going to have some accent, because you'll have a pimsleur accent rather than a mexican accent (or chilean accent or whatever). The thing is, it's really not worth worrying about. It's much more important to find a program that you will stick with. FSI/Platiquemos are drill based, and very boring. If you stick with them, they can be very effective, but they can make you hate your language learning time. (Some people love them though). If the Assimil method is more effective for you than the FSI methods, you'd be much better off learning from Assimil and then adjusting your accent later on. On the other hand if you like the drill based approach better than the Assimil approach then FSI would be the bees knees for you. I'll also note that you can check out the programatic FSI course (which has a fairly extensive accent training component) at FSI-languages and the FSI basic course at loquella 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jpxt2 Triglot Groupie United States Joined 6737 days ago 46 posts - 52 votes Speaks: English, Spanish*, French Studies: Mandarin, Catalan, Portuguese, German, Italian | Message 3 of 6 19 October 2008 at 5:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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I agree with awake... there is no one "Latin American accent"; if anything there are more probably five broad variations of Latin American Spanish (See Wikipedia).
At any rate, regional accents are probably the last thing you have to worry about with Spanish! The wonderful thing about this language is that it is unified yet so diverse at the same time. Whatever "accent" you have is more of a mark of where you grew up/learned Spanish from and not much else, i.e. you will be understood in either side of the Atlantic by all Spanish speakers, because for the most part we all learned the exact same "Castillian" Spanish in school. I think you will eventually learn to distinguish the differences between Spanish variants and learn to imitate their pronunciations fairly easily, no matter what course you learn from. However, if you are dead-set on learning a specific Latin American variant from the beginning, there is not much recourse in the way of mass-market language courses. There is just not much demand for these regional variations as they are considered either "absorbed" directly into greater Spanish or simply ignored, you see. I would just recommend that you watch TV/Soaps/movies from whichever Latin American countries interest you, make friends from there, and possibly travel there if you can. Edited by jpxt2 on 19 October 2008 at 5:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6874 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 4 of 6 19 October 2008 at 7:23pm | IP Logged | ||
For me, that is really the best part about Spanish is it's uniqueness from place to place. The sounds of Spanish have never been to my taste, but its way of expressing itself regionally is really where its soul lies, I think. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Americano Senior Member Korea, South Joined 6852 days ago 101 posts - 120 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Korean | Message 5 of 6 21 October 2008 at 4:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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To answer your question directly, FSI, Pimsleur and Platiquemos are all based on Latin American Spanish. Probably more closely resembling Mexican Spanish, which I have found to be flat and clear, while South American Spanish can be a bit more musical sounding. Guatemalan accents also appeared rather clear to me. Spanish may also take on regional accents within each country, so my best answer is to follow the aformentioned programs, which will give you a clear, precise pronunciation. I used Pimsleur before going to Mexico and I was constantly complimented, and I was also understood far more than my compatriots who were more advanced than I, but their accents were heavily influenced by English.
I also used Assimil, but I pronounced the words w/ more of a "Latin American" pronunciation, Instead of following the tapes pronunciation. I was intermediate-mid by this point, so My Mexican-centered accent was ingrained at this point. If you're just beginning to learn Spanish I would begin with Pimsleur and any online programs that help you learn how to pronounce each letter correctly. Don't skimp on this! Pronunciation is crucial to be understood and can make you appear more advanced than you may be. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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