Learning Latin American Spanish vs. Spain?
eaglefan
I have recently checked out Pimsleur Latin American Spanish (short course)
from my local library. After listening to the first lesson, I became
confused as to whether I was actually learning Latin American Spanish or
not. Here is an example:
Entiendo Castellano.
Translation: I understand Spanish.
I only had one year of Spanish in high school, but I would have expected
this to be, "Comprendo Espanol."
If it is Castilian Spanish that is on the Pimsleur tapes, how will that
affect my ability to speak to Latin American friends.
Also my library does not offer the levels 1, 2, or 3. Any suggestions where
I might rent them or find them for a VERY discounted price.
Thanks in advance.
r1
"eaglefan" <no...@none.net> wrote in message
news:lVFZ7.182786$BX4.10...@e3500-atl1.usenetserver.com...
Dustin Speer
spoken in Spain, because most books regard this as the standard correct form
of the language. While academically it may be regarded as much, there are
many differences between Spanish Spanish and Latin American Spanish.
Pronunciation varies greatly. Spaniards pronounce their s and c and z as
th's when they are followed by an "e." (I believe there are other occasions
also.) This sounds different, as anyone who has heard this can tell you. If
you don't know what to look for, it can throw you off. Pronunciation in
Latin America has its nuances also. Most countries end up "tragando la 's',"
as they rarely pronounce the last "s" in some words. For example: Entonces
often becomes entonce or in even more slang entoje. This is most prevalent
in Nicaragua and Honduras. Countries such as Guatemala and Costa Rica
usually have a clearer pronunciation. Mexico is a grab bag. Everyone there
speaks differently no matter what you do. There is a whole lot of Spanglish
going on so it can be fairly easy to catch.
There is no real way to learn these nuances other than practice with a
native. Not only does each country have its own querks, but each region and
often city will be different in its own way. The best bet is to learn the
standard taught in books and develop the slang with practice. There is one
thing to watch out for. Virtually all of Latin America (save for Mexico)
uses a verb conjugation "vos." It is the singular form of vosotros, which
you no is never used outside of Spain and formal speeches and the Bible. If
your book does not carry this (which is conjugated differently but uses "te"
and "ti" as pronouns, but subject pronoun is vos) let me know and I'll tell
you how it is conjugated. Its easy to pick up.
Hope this has been helpful! Let me know of any other questions.
Desiderio Aguilar
point, but consider this:
I am a cuban living in michigan for three years, and here in michigan there
are some different ways to speak, but if you go to alabama, there is a
totally different way, and if you go to texas, the same, or florida, or
maine, but no matter how people speak, is still english, and they understand
each other, and if I mention the way english people speak, or australians,
there's even more difference, but they still know what everybody is saying,
so what's the big deal with the spanish?
in my opinion you should learn plain an simple spanish, not spanish for
latin america or spain or cuba
Quqn Ba
> If it is Castilian Spanish that is on the Pimsleur tapes, how will that
> affect my ability to speak to Latin American friends
Do not afraid at all! Castilian Spanish and Latin American Spanish
are both almost the same. Like English spoken in England and English
spoken in USA.
You will not have troubles with your friends.
But everybody here in this newsgroup wants to see your skills!
Come on! Write us in Spanish!
Regards.
Quqn
--
Reply to quqn at arrakis dot es
Dustin Speer
only said that because he wants to communicate with specific Latin American
friends.
eaglefan
I've only had one lesson and I expect my writing skills will come later.
Let me explain:
I have decided that I, my wife, and children (10 years old and 8 years old)
should all learn Spanish, so we are going through the audio course together.
We have had fun today speaking to each other what few phrases we have
learned.
Since the audio course doesn't tell me how to spell these words, I will have
to do a little bit of extra study. I only know the following words and
phrases:
Perdon, Senorita, entiende Ingles? (I don't know how to make the Spanish
letters)
Hablo Castellano un poco.
Usted es Norte Americano.
Give me a month or two and I will try to come back and write a message in
Spanish.
Thanks!
"Quqn Ba" <qu...@arrakis.es> wrote in message
news:1f5jxto.tl0tti1c0zrbcN%qu...@arrakis.es...
Desiderio Aguilar
English, and I had excellent results, you may want to try it, I get it from
Best Buy and it's called The Learning Company series, it teaches you
pronunciation, grammar, reading, writing, conversational language, etc, and
very important, it also has voice recognition, so you can practice your
pronunciation, and it will even tell you how are you doing.
Nonualco
England.
In Latinamerica the language comes from Spain so it is Spanish. Portuguese
from Portugal; French from France; Italian from Italy, etc.
Some people complicate things like this and I don't see the reason why.
It is like who was born first the egg or the hen. Eat both period.
Enjoy speaking Spanish!!
donoli
################
Forget about high school spanish. I did a painting job at the
apartment of a young couple. I had a one guy from Honduras and one
from El Salvador w/ me. The lady tried to speak w/ us. Her husband
ask how was her spansh. I said she's doing ok. Then he told me the
she was a spanish teacher. I almost fell over. She couldn't hold a
conversion w/ us.
Anyway, entiendo is used as "I understand", noone uses comprendo.
At least noone I talk to anyway. Depending on where I work, there are
days that I don't speak english the entire day.
Berlitz is a good start.
donoli.
################
Patrick Hens
"Dustin Speer" <dsp...@tcworks.net> wrote in message
news:O5HZ7.1$wk3...@nnrp2.sbc.net...
> Pronunciation varies greatly. Spaniards pronounce their s and c and z as
> th's when they are followed by an "e." (I believe there are other
occasions
> also.)
Wrong: the rule is: 'z' is always pronounced as the english 'th', 'c' is
pronounced as 'th'
when followed by 'e' or 'i', 's' is never pronounced as 'th' (In most parts
of
Spain that is, in most parts of Latin America they do not know this 'th'
pronuncation.
> Virtually all of Latin America (save for Mexico)
> uses a verb conjugation "vos." It is the singular form of vosotros
Wrong: 'vos' is mainly (only) used in Argentina.
Most of Latin America (except from Argentina) does not use
the 'vosotros' from either, they use 'ustedes' instead.
Greetings,
Patrick
Patrick Hens
"Nonualco" <guanacod...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Ta%Z7.187319$KT.45...@news4.rdc1.on.home.com...
> In Latinamerica the language comes from Spain so it is Spanish.
Nope: the general name for the language is "castellano".
"español" is the name of the language as it is spoken
in Spain
Greetings,
Patrick
Desiderio Aguilar
> Nope: the general name for the language is "castellano".
> "español" is the name of the language as it is spoken
> in Spain
still the same language, in Cuba we speak castellano o español, the same
Dustin Speer
Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. It was used in all of those
countries. Even the people from Costa Rica I met used it. But I have never
been to Argentina. And thanks for clearing up the "theta." I really wasn't
sure. And with vosotros, it is used in formal speeches and the Bible but you
are correct in that in everyday life ustedes is used. I believe I did say
that in my previous post.
Thanks for the clarification,
Dustin
Dustin Speer
Dkcsac
>Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. It was used in all of those
>countries. Even the people from Costa Rica I met used it.
Yes, my sources also say that vos is used in some parts of the Andes and Chile.
Patrick Hens
"Desiderio Aguilar" <m...@tm.net> wrote in message
news:vqj_7.24$xu....@newshog.newsread.com...
Dustin Speer
originated. They are both spoken, and hence the same (I don't know
differences, really). In fact, At the ATM's I went to in Latin America, the
language selection screen shows two options: English and Castillian.
Correcaminos
El idioma es el mismo.
La diferencia es política/social.
Que nadie se preocupe por la diferencia. Un idioma. Dos pensamientos.
"Dustin Speer" <dsp...@tcworks.net> escribió en el mensaje
news:gi1%7.4$pH...@nnrp2.sbc.net...
slm
about the Pimsleur language tapes/cd's. Pimsleur uses a mixture of
Castellan and Latin Spanish. The first few lessons focus more on the
Castellan but it soon introduces Latin American spanish as well.
As far as being able to attain sets 1, 2, 3 their is probably someone out
there willing to negotiate with you if you put the request in a subject line
for the newsgroup. Also, you can go to ebay and they have the tapes/cd's
listed at discounted prices.
Good luck!
"r1" <r1...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:XKGZ7.2414$gO5.1...@news1.news.adelphia.net...
Nuria López
originated. They are both spoken, and hence the same (I don't know
differences, really).
Respuesta: No son lo mismo, aunque desde fuera pueda parecerlo. El
castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado español (así lo dice
nuestra Constitución, artículo 3). Y eso es porque existen otras lenguas
españolas, distintas del castellano, que también son oficiales en
determinadas zonas de España (catalán, vasco, gallego, valenciano...).
Quizá sea algo complicado de entender desde fuera, pero lo cierto es que esa
es la diferencia.