So the next time you’re talking with Spanish-speakers from Latin America, think twice before you’re going to coger a suitcase, potatoes, or a train… My guess is you’ll either get a strange look or a reputation that you really don’t want. This includes the use of niceties such as when to use the formal “you,”, variations in pronunciation, differences in slang, and the use of vosotros (you – plural). E.g. The same thing applies from one country to another in Latin America and even within each country. Within Spain, there are huge variations in both pronunciation and vocabulary from one region to another.*. Portugal and Italy also have a sizable Latin American community, in the case of Italy many of whom are descendants of the Italian diaspora in Latin America. Latin America. (Like I said before, this doesn’t apply to all parts of Spain, but in a lot of places this is true.). There are regional variations due to the vast expansion of the Spanish empire. The tense that they usually use to express the past tends to be different here too. There is no such thing as Latin American Spanish. This illustrates that variants exist across Latin America itself and that there is not necessarily a standardized Latin American Spanish. What have you done today? Again, there is no such thing as Latin American Spanish. The main and most obvious difference is in pronunciation: European Spanish retains the zeta /θ/ sound while America uses plain ese /s/ sounds. Similarly, Spanish differs from Latin America to Europe. But in Latin America, it took a lot more getting used to just because they seemed to switch the letter S for the letter H or just completely ignored it. Even though I’m still a lot more comfortable listening to European Spanish, a lot of it carries over, and you should be able to understand a lot of Latin American Spanish from there. For example, in Spain the letter Z has the pronunciation similar to the English sound of TH, almost sounding like a lisp. Most language software, books, and even tutors in the United States teach Latin American Spanish, but is that really the better of the two to study? I have a Cuban friend who said she could not understand the Spanish in Uruguay for several months. For example: You know how important it is to study another language.Vosotros sabéis lo importante que es estudiar otro idioma.Ustedes saben lo importante que es estudiar otro idioma. Also in Argentina and Uruguay they use vos instead of tú a lot. The list can go on and on, but I especially want to draw attention to one example to really highlight the difference. Your email address will not be published. Latin America: Ustedes hablan (you guys talk). For take a look at our list of best books for learning Spanish. Do you say you guys, y’all, youse, ye, you, or something completely different? Conversely, Latin American Spanish sometimes uses the preterite where both European Spanish and (UK) English would use the present perfect. E.g. The difference here is that in Latin America it’s the more vulgar form of “to have sex with.”. Whilst in Latin America it means simply 'to enjoy', in Spain it's more 'to enjoy having sex'. In Latin America, zapato is pronounced S-apato. This illustrates that variants exist across Latin America itself and that there is not necessarily a standardized Latin American Spanish. With enough exposure, this wasn’t a huge problem, but it definitely took some getting used to in the beginning. When they went back to Europe from the Americas, they brought natural resources and goods with them that awaken the curiosity of scientists, artists, and philosophers. You said the 'lo/la' is used where the verb isn't really directed to someone, despite the fact that it's called the direct object (the verb is happening directly to you, e.g. It's used when you have past events that are related directly to the present -- hoy, ahora, or any word prefixed by "este" (esta semana, este mes, este año). E.g. Like I said before, you shouldn’t have any problem understanding the difference when listening to natives, but this is important for speaking if you want to improve your accent more. The Spanish were the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas, followed soon after by the Portuguese, who colonized Brazil. . It seems like there is an even bigger gap between Spain and the Latin American countries though. New Spanish students, especially those who are teaching themselves, are often quite puzzled when trying to decide whether they should learn Castilian (European) or Latin American Spanish. If you’re just hoping to brush up on your culinary vocabulary to apply for a job in a tapas restaurant, you’re better off studying Spanish in Spain, since that will help you the most. I find it ridiculous that so many English speaking Americans who have little to know knowledge of Castilian feel they can post their limited opinion of Castilian. For instance if an Equatoguinean was traveling to Madrid, she might say “ Voy en Madrid ” over “ Voy a Madrid .”. We appreciate your feedback! That would be "gozar de [substitute some's persons name - often a woman's]". ¿Cuántos de sus amigos estudian otro idioma? Hint: don't use the word in Spain. For example, to see (ver) isn’t a verb that’s really directed at someone, so I would say, “Lo veo (I see him).”. If you’re in Latin America, you’ll probably be using Ustedes all the time to refer to the group. Sí, he … The only problem is that I’m in the northern part of the United States, and the majority of the Spanish-speaking population in my area is from Mexico with a few others from countries throughout Latin America. No surprises. I come from Spain and if someone would use it I wouldn't think right away of sexual connotations. Castilian has only one standard and the regional differences are not proper. Depending on what part of Argentina or Uruguay you’re in, those might sound like either an “sh” or “zh” instead of what you’d expect a letter Y to sound like. saben lo importante que es estudiar otro idioma. European vs Latin America Spanish Translation Gosia 1 year ago 0 comments languages As we have explained in some of our previous blog posts , Spanish is one of the most popular languages in the world, both from the perspective of the number of speakers, and the vast number of countries it … Europe: Vosotros habláis (you guys talk) Cuba you rarely use 'usted', but also don't use 'vosotros', so for the most part you use 'tú' for everyone in the singular and 'ustedes' for everyone in the plural without any formal/informal connotations. Learn about the best Spanish language resources that I've personally test-driven. Mexicans and Spaniards can communicate with each other all the time. British English also follows European Spanish to some extent in often (but not always) using the present perfect for things done recently (e.g. I'm an Applied Linguistics graduate, teacher and translator with a passion for language learning (especially Arabic). It’ll just take a little more work. So learning proper Spanish is no issue. With all that said, here are a number of the biggest differences between European and Latin American Spanish. Each region has its own particularities, but people from all these countries can totally understand each other (with the exception of a few words which are specific from each country). Thanks for posting this. If you started with one and plan to switch to the other, there’s hope. I still haven’t met anyone from Spain here. ¡Muchas gracias! Conversely, Latin American Spanish sometimes uses the preterite where both European Spanish and (UK) English would use the present perfect. How To Tell The Difference Between European And Brazilian Portuguese, "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.". The Latin American Spanish and European Spanish differences would be something similar to English from England, US, Australia or Scotland. There is officially no grammar difference between the Spanish (Castilian) spoken in Spanish-speaking countries. When you are talking to a group of people, how do you refer to them in English? A commonly used word that diverges is, The forms of addressing a person vary between regions. In many (but not all) Latin American countries, 'usted' is the normal form used for people, unless you know them well in which case 'tú' is used. You’ll understand the accent of native speakers more easily. The use of the third person plural pronoun is another difference between European Spanish and Latin American Spanish. Another important difference lies in verb conjugations. You may use these HTML tags and attributes: Buenos Aires, Argentina OfficeEmail: info@terratranslations.comPhone: +54 9 11 3261-8973, Milwaukee, USA OfficeEmail: info@terratranslations.comPhone: +1 347 320-8879,
, in Latin America. In fact, I started with European Spanish (I'm British, and we usually learn European Spanish in schools over here), then when I came back to it, learnt 'generic' Spanish while learning where the differences lie, and now I adjust my Spanish depending where I am/ to whom I am speaking. Vosotros is never used in Latin America. In terms of pronunciation, the use of the dental fricative in European Spanish is very noticeable (like in cena, cigarro, zapato, etc.) For example, you’re more likely to hear “He hablado con ella (I talked with her)” in Spain versus “Hablé con ella,” which you’ll hear more in Latin America. If your goal is to speak to people from Latin America (for example, if you’re living in the United States and aren’t traveling to Spain), you can save yourself some trouble here and don’t worry about learning to conjugate with Vosotros. Of course between Spain and Latin America, there are some subtleties for when to use the three main past tenses (imperfect, preterite, and past perfect). When you cross the Atlantic, there are a lot of differences between the Spanish you hear in Spain versus the Spanish you hear in Latin America. You sound very high-handed. Spaniards recognize ustedes but it’s considered extremely formal. This one gets kind of tricky anyways since I often hear people say that differentiating when to use one versus the other is something that they get hung up on. in this example many British people might say 'what did you do today', although it is less common). Leismo is the term they gave to describe when the indirect object pronoun le is overused and used inappropriately in situations where the direct object pronoun lo would normally be used. he hablado = I have spoken = present perfect (petérito perfecto compuesto)había hablado = I had spoken = past perfect/pluperfect (pretérito pluscuamperfecto)hablé = I spoke = preterite/simple past (petérito perfecto simple)hablaba = I was speaking/used to speak = imperfect (petérito imperfecto). One example of this is mobile phone. For one of the most comprehensive Spanish resources available, click here (Latin American variety). Also check out this Spanish numbers guide we made that will help you get your head around counting. Here standard Spanish is applied and the direct object pronoun is used. We are often asked what is the difference between Latin American Spanish and European Spanish. More of my best Spanish resources are here. This would be totally appropriate to say that you were going to take your suitcases, grab some potatoes, catch the train, etc. Let’s take a look at how European, specifically Spain, known as Castilian Spanish is different from Latin American Spanish. “But what kind of Spanish do you want to learn?”. In Spain, cell phone is translated móvil while in Latin America mobile is celular. Another difference in pronunciation that shouldn’t trip you up as much is how they pronounce the letters C and Z. I’m pointing this one out not so much because it’s going to be difficult to understand but because this is something to focus on if you want to sound more like the natives in many parts of Spain. For example, with words like 'just' or 'already', you always use the present perfect in UK, while you may use either the present perfect or the preterite in the US, although I believe the preterite is more common. When I visited Costa Rica, I had read the use the "vos" for "tú" but didn't have any difficulty understanding anyone because of that. Before I go any farther though, I want to make it clear that *I’ll be generalizing for the sake of making things simple**. Generally you would only use le if it’s a verb directed towards someone, like saying “Le doy los calcetines sucios (I give him the dirty socks),” but leismo is when you use the le with those other verbs (where you’d normally use lo). The most significant regional differences in Spanish usage are those between Spain and Latin America. How many of your friends study another language?¿Cuántos de vuestros amigos estudian otro idioma? If you're going to Spain, you should learn leísmo, as many Spaniards will consider 'lo veo' incorrect (even though it is correct).So,Le veo = I see him = correct in Spain, incorrect in Latin AmericaLo veo = I see him = correct everywhere (although many Spaniards consider this incorrect)Le veo = I see her/it = incorrect everywhere (although used colloquially in Spain). is not applied when referring to a female or using plural forms. No silent letters. I ended up altering my pronunciation to sound more Mexican because I got tired of people in Mexican restaurants in the USA ask me where I got the accent. When I restarted my Spanish after 10 years away from my rusty high school Spanish skills, I started using resources with primarily European Spanish while I talked with my language exchange partner, who coincidentally was from Madrid too. and reply 'Yes, I spoke to him (this morning)/Yes, I did speak to him (this morning)', without the distinction. E.g. Here standard Spanish is applied and the direct object pronoun is used. Everything you want to know about Latin American Spanish The Spanish language is widely popular all around the world, but we rarely think about the varieties of Spanish used in the Iberic peninsula (Spain) and in Latin America, from Argentina, Uruguay to Mexico and Cuba. Are there any other differences you can think of between European and Latin American Spanish? Jason Eckerman is a language learner from the United States. Also, leísmo is considered acceptable as a Peninsular Spanish variant by the RAE if it is referring to a man, but not if it is referring to a women or a non-human. UPDATE: A friend of mine, Jared Romey, has some great material for South American dialects of Spanish (Chilean, Argentinian and Puerto Rican) that are worth checking out. These countries are all located south of the US-Mexico border, starting with Mexico in North America, extending through Central America and parts of the Caribbean and down into the southernmost tip of South America - the region known as Tierra … today), where US English follows Latin American in using the preterite. A commonly used word that diverges is computer which is ordenador in Spain and computadora in Latin America. And for those who do not speak the language, when in doubt contact the Royal Academy of Spanish and they will answer any questions with factual information. In European Spanish though, it’s way more common to hear the past perfect tense than the preterite to express the past. In Spain the word commonly used is vosotros and in Latin America you will often hear ustedes. In Spain the word commonly used is vosotros and in Latin America you will often hear ustedes. 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