Do Americans learn European Spanish or Latin American Sp.

Chilenos y uruguayos son corruptos y VERGONsosos.

<<In my experience many Americans aren't even aware Spanish is the national language of Spain, most seem to assume it was somehow born in Latin America.>>

This is actually quite true. I've noticed that several Americans I've met seem to hold this belief somehow. One of my Indian-American friends commented about how he wanted to go to Spain because of the "hot ladies" there while we were watching this show that obviously had Mexican ladies in it; there was even a mariachi band playing in the background lol. It's like they don't even know where it is. Pretty sad.

most universities i think teach mexican, while my friends who did spanish in high school said they learned european spanish... i guess the switch to mexican was relatively recent

<<most universities i think teach mexican, while my friends who did spanish in high school said they learned european spanish... i guess the switch to mexican was relatively recent >>



For fucks sake, they don't teach either. They teach NEUTRAL SPANISH. At the beginner level the difference is basically a matter of whether you say "vosotros" or "ustedes", and whether you say "th" instead of "s". BIG FUCKING DEAL!!! A beginner can't tell the difference, and they will tell you both versions no matter what: "in Spain they say vosotros, in Latin America they say ustedes, that's all".

At an advanced level they expect you to understand all versions of Spanish and you basically can choose whatever you want... They don't "teach" you any version, they expose you to a variety. They give you textbooks written in neutral Spanish and readings that are books from ALL OVER. They expect you to read García Márquez, Cortázar, Octavio Paz, Cervantes, and so on, so basically it's unavoidable that you're gonna have to know a bit of this and a bit of that... If you want to become an expert in a certain variety, then that's your business because they don't teach you that at university...

They teach whichever variety the teacher speaks. The book we use is in mostly neutral Spanish, but in the conversations sometimes include regional words from all over the Spanish-speaking world, with an asterisk to indicate where one form is used. The teacher will inform us if a certain form is regional. My teacher actually speaks neither American nor European Spanish. She says she speaks in a strong Dominican Spanish. She says Jo for Io, Ayja for Ella, etc. She told us that she would be speaking exclusively in a Dominican accent to us, but because in most other countries they say Yo, ayya, etc., or Zho, ayzhia, etc., we could choose to speak like that if we wanted, and wouldn't be marked down. She explained about the c's in certain parts of Spain. She explained Vosotros, and vos, etc. on the first day, and where it was appropriate to use them.