What countries can I learn excellent Spanish from?

[*Jibrielle*]

^ !! Yes

You do have to be careful because what might seem a normal word in a cuntry can be something very offensive in another.

 

[fashionistangeL]

Roberta ... if you want to give us more info ... why not start a thread about portuguese language/music?

POPOZAO from kevin federline has a bit of portuguese!!! its hilarious! i love it! hahah

 

[maximus]

This is all very interesting! I will be traveling this year (this august-next august) and am planning on learning spanish in Cuba. Anyone here been to Cuba, what is Cuban spanish like? Any Cubans here? Would be imensley helpful. Max.

 

[Solfire]

Something to keep in mind....

In Spain, the people tend to talk with a lisp (ex. 'corazon' in latin american spanish would sound like 'corasson', in Spain it would be like 'corathon'). I've also noticed that Puerto Ricans and Dominicans tend to replace their R's with L's for some words.

Accents, pronunciation, and lexicon vary from country to country, but only slightly. I wouldn't be too worried about it (I'd watch out for slang words though). I say go for a country where you like the accent the best. Just like the U.S., accents vary. City people talk different from country people.

I'm partial to Argentinian and Spanish accents, only because I think my Spanish accent is so boring I feel the same about my English accent too, I wish I had a British accent, haha. (I know British accents vary as much as Spanish accents).

 

[ultramarine]

This is all very interesting! I will be traveling this year (this august-next august) and am planning on learning spanish in Cuba. Anyone here been to Cuba, what is Cuban spanish like? Any Cubans here? Would be imensley helpful. Max.

Cubans speak loud and very very fast ... you'll definitively have a crash course and the best part is that you'll learn it in the homeland of Jose Marti!

I know you'll love it!

 

[mundodabolsa]

POPOZAO from kevin federline has a bit of portuguese!!! its hilarious! i love it! hahah

sorry to be off-topic, but it's because the original is an immensely popular and ridiculous brasilian song....I won't even tell you what it's about...

 

[fashionistangeL]

^ really!!?!? please tell me the name of the song!!

Something to keep in mind....

In Spain, the people tend to talk with a lisp (ex. 'corazon' in latin american spanish would sound like 'corasson', in Spain it would be like 'corathon'). I've also noticed that Puerto Ricans and Dominicans tend to replace their R's with L's for some words.

yes that is 100% true!!!... so i say mexico is the best because we talk exactly how its written.. not changing letters or anyting like that...

 

[sleepingbeauty13]

^Dominicans tend to replace both the R and the L with an I sometimes, and to skip the letterS at the end of a word (which mess up the plural form) and sometimes in the middle. They also have a strong accent.
Puertorricans tend to "drag" the R (not exactly but similar to the French or German R). The accent is soft though.
Mexico has a soft accent but a lot of different words and frases (some frases are really cute). The accent is different in some of the cities.

 

[SoRandom]

does anyone know anything about madrid, I hardly know spanish too and I am supposed to be studying abroad there in the spring?

 

[SoRandom]

and is there any way to learn spanish better without being emersed...I mean I hate memorizing those tenses and irregulars but if that's the only way...

 

[maximus]

Cubans speak loud and very very fast ... you'll definitively have a crash course and the best part is that you'll learn it in the homeland of Jose Marti!

I know you'll love it!

That makes me very reasured ultramarine! Yea I will hopefuly be taking a 3month course, hopefully at the university of Havana! I speak German Greek and some French aswell so maybe I have an advantage. I can't wait to get all this studying over with and go to cuba!

 

[Arturo21]

Spain, maybe Chile etc. Preferably Spain, though.

It's beautiful.

But, as long as you don't go to Maracaibo in Venezuela, you're good
Anyone who's heard a Maracucho talk knows what I mean...

 

[maghy7]

ok so here are my two cents, I can tell you that if you want to learn good spanish go to Costa Rica or Colombia, but if you go to Colombia make sure you go to Bogota, any other city uses a lot of slang and they speak really fast, I had friends from Costa Rica and we kind of have the same accent, I can tell you for sure not to learn from Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico, Cuba and Mexico use a lot of words that are in English but they make it sound as in spanish for example truck=troca, Mexico uses a lot of words that come from the Mayans and the Aztecs, words that they only understand, tell me about it I'm married to one , Cubans are very smart people but their spanish is not that great I lived in Miami for many years and was really disapointed by the way they ruined the language, Puerto Ricans eat they Rs and use Ls instead, Chile is good too as well as Argentina, Uruguay, Argentina have different ways of putting their sentences together but at the end we understand what they are saying, I have heard from different people from different countries that the best is the one from Bogota-Colombia, because we don't have an accent and because all of our words you can find in the dictionary (they are not make up words, universal instead), it's very proper and rich, oh and Spain is difficult to understand unless you are planing on staying in Europe and only speak to spaniards

 

[sleepingbeauty13]

Maghy, every country or region have an accent, regardless of what language they speak. Some are softer than others and less noticeable, but unless you speak with no intonation whatsoever, and completely flat tones (like a robot), you do have an accent. It's just that most people can't hear their own. I have a friend from Bogota and she has an accent too. She calls everyone "usted", never "tu" (I guess that could be call proper, but it actually sounded distant).

About finding words in the dictionary, the Real Academia Espanola updates it every year to include new words, so they can be found in the dictionary. Just because it is in the dictionary it doesn't mean it's not a "make up" word.

Spanish is not my first language, I learned a few years ago in Puerto Rico and aside from the tipical slang, I have no problem understanding and talking to people from other Spanish speaking countries, I'm completely fluent. So from my point of view as someone who actually had to learn Spanish as a second or third lenguage, I recommend Puerto Rico.

 

[fashionistangeL]

I can tell you for sure not to learn from Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico, Cuba and Mexico use a lot of words that are in English but they make it sound as in spanish for example truck=troca, Mexico uses a lot of words that come from the Mayans and the Aztecs, words that they only understand,

I'm mexican and these things you said do not apply at all in my spanish... that truck=troca thing is just for people who talk kinda bad.... like people who live in the borderline between usa and mex... people who talk with the two languages all mixed up....

and at least in my city and many others I know,,, we do not use mayan or aztec words... that's crazy... really....

I honestly think Mexico is a good option... at least in Monterrey, or Guadalajara, we speak correctly and decently..

 

[sleepingbeauty13]

You're right fashionistangeL. I went to Mexico (we went to Monterrey and other places) and didn't hear the "truck=troca" thing, not even in Tijuana, right by the border. I did hear something similar among some Spanish speakers living in the U.S. I guess it's a way of blending both languages but it doesn't sound good.

 

[maghy7]

Maghy, every country or region have an accent, regardless of what language they speak. Some are softer than others and less noticeable, but unless you speak with no intonation whatsoever, and completely flat tones (like a robot), you do have an accent. It's just that most people can't hear their own. I have a friend from Bogota and she has an accent too. She calls everyone "usted", never "tu" (I guess that could be call proper, but it actually sounded distant).

About finding words in the dictionary, the Real Academia Espanola updates it every year to include new words, so they can be found in the dictionary. Just because it is in the dictionary it doesn't mean it's not a "make up" word.

Spanish is not my first language, I learned a few years ago in Puerto Rico and aside from the tipical slang, I have no problem understanding and talking to people from other Spanish speaking countries, I'm completely fluent. So from my point of view as someone who actually had to learn Spanish as a second or third lenguage, I recommend Puerto Rico.

Yes, I totally agree with you, after thinking about it, we might think that we in Bogota don't have an accent but if somebody from another city listens to us they will most likely think we have one.

 

[maghy7]

I'm mexican and these things you said do not apply at all in my spanish... that truck=troca thing is just for people who talk kinda bad.... like people who live in the borderline between usa and mex... people who talk with the two languages all mixed up....

and at least in my city and many others I know,,, we do not use mayan or aztec words... that's crazy... really....

I honestly think Mexico is a good option... at least in Monterrey, or Guadalajara, we speak correctly and decently..

Maybe that example wasn't the best, I guess this mostly happens around the border, there are many words that come from the Aztecs that have stayed over the years and they only understand example Tecolote (owl) I had no idea what my husband was talking about until he told me what it was in English, there are many words just that I can't think of them right now.

I really don't want to start an argument about this, I can only tell you that being born in a spanish speaking country and have been raised in two I can assure you that the best spanish does not come from Mexico, and i'm not the only one who would tell you that, unless they are Mexicans, I love Mexico and the people don't get me wrong but I am answering to the question, I think at the end it really doesn't matter where you learn spanish from, the truth is that we all understand each other despite the slang and different dialects, so just go to any country and have the best time of you life.

 

[maghy7]

^ !! Yes

You do have to be careful because what might seem a normal word in a cuntry can be something very offensive in another.

This is so true, it happens a lot, but if people see that you are foreign they most likely wont take it to heart. Hopefully.

 

[fashionistangeL]

there are many words that come from the Aztecs that have stayed over the years and they only understand example Tecolote (owl) I had no idea what my husband was talking about.....

honestly, I've never heard that one either..... or maybe I have but I didnt know what it meant!