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Question For Non Navite Spanish Speakers
>>Although I find weird u consider Argentinian Spanish funny, I consider Mexican Spanish funny with all their invented words and weird accent...<<
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Last time I checked peruvians also litter a normal coversation with hundreds if not thousands of words they and only they use.
>>i don't want to sound jingoistic, but I believe that the most standard Spanish is spoken in Spain.<<
Well I hate to break to you but... IT ISN'T. Spaniards make as many mistakes as any other spanish speaker so...poof there goes your feeble theory out the window. And yes you do sound jingoistic. Not everybody is keen in speaking like an effeminate man with all that lisping and hissing that is common in peninsular spanish. >>For example, in South America the letter 'z' and the letter 's' have the same sound. However in Spain, 'z' is pronounced like 'th' in thought, what makes it easier for us to avoid some spelling mistakes. >> Beside the point. In British English they're accostumed to dropping "r's" in their speech which interestingly enough doesn't happen in American English. I believe it's better for a student when a language throws a challenge like this because it forces its students to use the analytical part of their brain more. Take a look at the Chinese for example. Their language is incredibly hard and it could partly explain why their culture is centred around learning and acheiving academic success.
The "Vos" is not only used in Argentina. It is used in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Uruguay (they go back and fourth with tu and voz). I believe that there is a part in Colombia that uses the “vos” as well. It is in Cali and maybe parts of Medellin. In Ecuador many people use vos; however, they do not conjugate the verb in the “vos” form. For example" Como estas?” RESPONSE: "Bien y vos?" This "vos" is a sign of what Spanish speakers call "Confianza." They will never conjugate it as the Argentines or Central Americans do, however. As far as perfect Spanish goes the South Americans beat the Spanish by a mile. I have a Master's degree in Spanish and studied in Spain for one year at the university. Even my professors would say that the Spanish in Spain is becoming an embarrassment. The youth are losing the subjunctive. Despite all of this, the Spanish were very friendly to me in Spain and I liked it very much there. The best Spanish I would have to say is Colombian and/or Peruvian.
<<I don't agree that Colombian Spanish is the clearest and easiest to understand O_o. I find it very nasal and slurred.>>
Well I'm sorry but almost everybody here in South America believes Colombian Spanish to be the purest and nicest in pronunciation, grammar and intonation. It sounds very friendly. <<This one Venezuelan girl told me once that she couldn't understand them sometimes.>> That girl must have communication problems. Not understanding Colombian, is like having trouble to understand RP English or General American English, clearest ever. <<I think the easiest accent to understand is the Mexican one, because they pronounce everything clearly.>> You must be talking about cultured Mexicans who are concious about the importance of speaking our language well. However, I have to tell you that Mexicans in general, specially low-class people, speak terribly, using a lot of incredibly alien slang terms, With those "TL", "CHL" and some more strange sounds. By the way, are you American? only Americans like Mexican accents. <<not like some Caribbean accents, for example, where half the sounds get lost somewhere in their throats lol.>> Yes, I agree with that. My dad was to Cuba long ago. Sometimes, he speaks to me using some slang and pronunciation stuff he learnt there in Cuba, I just can't understand. <<It really annoys me when native speakers misspell words (interchanging "v" and "b", omitting "h" or placing it where it doesn't belong), and also some certain grammatical mistakes like "haiga" instead of "haya" O_o>> Yes, that's a bit annoying. Specially the "haiga-haya" stuff, hehehe. However, if they keep mispelling "v-b" they can be forgiven for that, it's not always easy to know when you should use which letter.
<<The best Spanish I would have to say is Colombian and/or Peruvian.>>
Well I hope you don't refer to non-cultured Peruvian speakers, they don't give a damn above Spanish grammar. And I there was a guy over there saying that everybody uses "pes", "ps", "pe" as a contracted form of "pues". I wonder what does he mean by "everybody". I don't use that "contraction", and I frown and look down upon people who uses that excessively. And not everybody uses those contractions, since they are a bit vulgar. I would say that the best spoken-Spanish in Latin America is that of Cultured Colombian, Venezuelan, Mexican speakers.
>><<only Americans like Mexican accents>>
And how do you know this?<< Well, Tiffany, it's quite easy. When we, native-Spanish speakers talk to each other, We agree to say that standard Mexican is one of the strangest accents. Because, when you hear working-class Colombian people you can still understand or have an idea of what they're talking about. Try with Mexicans. It's really... quite difficult. However, some Mexican young people sound really nice. As long as they don't start using they broad intonation, and start using "pos" and things like that. And very, very often, Americans say they like Mexican accents. Maybe they don't have the chance to hear Colombian or Venezuelan, or maybe Argentine, which is... a bit laughable, very nice and colloquial.
Maybe I'm not the majority of Americans, coming from Miami, Florida and going to an international school fulls of kids from all over South America (Brazil, Colombia, Venezuala, Chile etc.) but I think Mexican Spanish sounds a bit muddled. In California, there are many Spanish speakers. I don't really take to the local dialect I hear, but then again I'm not sure who is Mexican and who isn't. I guess what I usually hear here is the Mexican dialect though.
I'm glad everybody is pointing out the difficulty of understanding non-standard Mexican Spanish. We have a lot around here and mainly speak the non-standard variety. I come from a half-Panamanian background and when I was asked to talk to this Mexican lady to translate something, I had to refer her to someone else because I could barely understand her. I mainly agree with everybody else that the clearest and most grammatically precise accent is the Colombian accent. I also like Venezuelan and Argentenian Spanish. Thanks for all of that important information History Buff that was very informing.
I guess Spanish is probably easier to learn than many other languages. I don't have much to compare it to, but it follows much clearer rules than English. Once you learn how to conjugate verbs you are well on your way. Then it becomes a matter of adding to your vocabulary and learning about idioms. The most important thing is to practice with native speakers. And I think it's good to listen to Cumbia or other latin music, too.
Colombian Spanish is by far the nicest to listen to! On top of that i definately agree that Colombian Spanish is clearer and easier to understand!
<<And the huge income disparity between the have's and have not's in Latin America can be attributed to this institutionalized racism found among the mostly "white" elite that tries to shift the blame of poverty of their underclass solely on their so-called "race". When it fact whether someone is "Indian" or not has very little to with it rather the treatment and lack of opportunities that are accesible to them due to nepotism, greediness and lack of empathy for their fellow man from those in positions of power and influence.>>
Well said. I don't think the underclass of Hispanic America would be having this less than ideal form of Spanish if the white class had been reasonable enough to teach them how Spanish should be spoken. I notice that this phenomenon seems to be prevalent in all former colonies of Spain including my country. Spanish is not spoken here but this white is more superior than brown thing is still very much how its done here though English has replaced Spanish and everyone wants to be American. And back to the question Colombian seems to be the best accent. And putting its troubled and bloody history aside Spanish is still the best sounding language in the world.
<<And the huge income disparity between the have's and have not's in Latin America can be attributed to this institutionalized racism found among the mostly "white" elite that tries to shift the blame of poverty of their underclass solely on their so-called "race". When it fact whether someone is "Indian" or not has very little to with it rather the treatment and lack of opportunities that are accesible to them due to nepotism, greediness and lack of empathy for their fellow man from those in positions of power and influence. >>
I bet historybuff is a total "whitey". (Everyone point and laugh at the whitey!!) We are not talking about racism and its effects on poverty. I have been learning Spanish for several years now and I can clearly distinguish between many dialects. My friends are Mexican, Peruvian, Colombian, and Dominican. They all have different accents. I usually learn pronounciation from my Colombian and Peruvian friends because I favor the way they speak. The people who come every week to our house to work on our yard speak no English and I speak to them in Spanish. They are Mexicans Indians and it is very, very, difficult to understand their Spanish. (When they speak to each other, they speak in an indigineous Mexican Indian language.) It is not racist to say that Indians have less-desirable accents. White Argentines and White Spaniards sound just as harsh in my opinion.
Really the matter of "haiga" (haya) or "hubieron" (hubo) really is a, let's say, "logical mistake" due to the patterns in the conjugation of verbs. For example:
(to fall) caer = caiga (to bring) traer = traiga then the pattern suggests: haber = "haiga" This is common problem among the children when they are learning to speak. With respect to "hubieron" the thing happens again: (to fall) caer = cayeron (to bring) traer = trajeron then haber = "hubieron". |