Hi, I was wondering if there was any difference at all between how Spanish is spoken in the Americas and how it's spoken in Spain. I'm a beginner to the language and want to learn it because I'll be moving to Texas soon. I have the new Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish, but I've read that while learning while using a program like that to immerse yourself in the language, so I've came across websites that stream Spanish radio from Spain. It looks and sounds the same to me since I'm a beginner, but I can't be too sure, so I was wondering from any of you that know the language well if there was any difference at all. Thanks!

There are a number of differences between the Spanish spoken in Spain and the Spanish spoken in Mexico (and even more in Texas). If you are familiar with the accent and vocabulary differences between American and British English, there are just as many of the same kind of differences between the Spanish spoken in Mexico and Spain. And, Mexican Spanish isn't like the Spanish spoken in Central or South America.
Texan Spanish has some English influence.

there are some differences, yes, but you should be able to understand each dialect to a point:)

For instance spain is the only country that uses VOSOTROS in place of USTEDES
Agentina uses VOS in place of TÚ

there are some differences, yes, but you should be able to understand each dialect to a point:)

For instance spain is the only country that uses VOSOTROS in place of USTEDES
Agentina uses VOS in place of TÚThere are many more countries than just Argentina that use vos. In Spain, they use vosotros as the plural form of tú. They also use ustedes (the plural of usted).
Spaniards can understand Mexicans, but they have to work at it just as hard as we do to understand a Brit.

There are many more countries than just Argentina that use vos. In Spain, they use vosotros as the plural form of tú. They also use ustedes (the plural of usted).
Spaniards can understand Mexicans, but they have to work at it just as hard as we do to understand a Brit.

Jeje Sí, es difícil por mi entiendo alguien de Inglaterra :)

Rusty and others are right. There are differences: a small number in grammar (such as vosotros--only in Spain, vos--limited to specific regions and a few other, more esoteric ones; pronunciation--only in Spain do you hear the "th" sound for z and c before e or i. In Spain centro sound like "thentro" and zebra sound like "thebra." Elsewhere, these two letters sound like "s": "sentro" and "sebra." Tradicionally Spain had a special sound for "ll", but it is dying out pretty quickly, replaced by the "y" sound used everywhere else: me llamo sounds like "me yamo." There are also differences in intonation and vocabulary between Spanish and Latin American dialects.

So, each region is somewhat different from others. Although it is true that Mexican Spanish is different from Central American and South American, in each country there are at also least some differences. All educated Spanish speakers can understand other educated Spanish speakers, even if they have to work at it a little bit. The local differences are more pronounced as you go farther down the socioeconomic scale, as is true with every modern language. If you learn the "vanilla" Latin American variety, no one will mistake you for a native speaker, but you will be understood everywhere.

Nice post jannr.

About what Rusty said, I don't know if you wanted to said that that (? que eso, ¿esta bien dicho?) only applyes to people born and educated in Spain that try to understand Mexicans, but I can understand mexicans, spanish, bolivianas, etc, etc, without problem, and the people I know too. (if they speak without using any dialect, of course) So I don't know it it's like EEUU and Britain. I can understand someone from EEUU quite well, but from Britain is another thing...

"That that" is fine, but "applies".

There are other important grammatical differences, such as the usage of perfect vs indefinite preterite tenses.

Dodge, can you PM me some links for those radio stations? I usually listen to Internet radio from Florida, but listening to Spanish radio would be good given that I'm in Spain. Although regardless, the music is likely to be a mix of Lat Am (particularly Mexican and Hispanic USian) and Spanish. I hear bands like La Quinta Estación and La Oreja de Van Gogh on Floridian radio.

Thanks pjt33 but, is there another way to say that without saying twice the same word? it sounds ugly.

"That that" is fine, but "applies".

There are other important grammatical differences, such as the usage of perfect vs indefinite preterite tenses.

Dodge, can you PM me some links for those radio stations? I usually listen to Internet radio from Florida, but listening to Spanish radio would be good given that I'm in Spain. Although regardless, the music is likely to be a mix of Lat Am (particularly Mexican and Hispanic USian) and Spanish. I hear bands like La Quinta Estación and La Oreja de Van Gogh on Floridian radio.
No pienso que Dodge está aquí .. el primer hilo, May 18, 2009, 02:49 PM

Pero escucho a eso, es bueno si te gustan los deportes:) no música.

http://www.marca.com/multimedia/radiomarca/

Aquí están unas estaciones de España que tocan música
http://www.listenlive.eu/spain.html

Thanks pjt33 but, is there another way to say that without saying twice the same word? it sounds ugly.
"That that" is the most natural way to say it. It's not really the same word, anyway: I'm pretty sure that when I say "that that" I pronounce the first one more like "thut".

If you really want a sentence which repeats a way, try this:
Tom, where Fred had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had the teacher's approval.

Bob, no me di cuenta de que era un hilo zombí. Gracias por avisarme, y por los vínculos.

un hilo zombí[/B] . Gracias por avisarme, y por los vínculos.

:lol: :lol: Me gusta esta expresión.. :D

" Night of the Living Dead Thread" .. :lol:

Questions will be dead right or RIPped off...:D (Siento.., me coge la insomnia.. :rolleyes: )

"El hilo espectral" (and a glummy wind pass by)

What hour is there Empa? GMT X?

Glummy?

uh uh!, sorry, gloomy. (I learned it recently so I'm trying to fix it :P)

Pues tampoco estoy 100% seguro de lo que quieres decir con "gloomy wind". Gloomy puede ser oscuro, en tinieblas, o (de una persona) un poco deprimido.

Pues tampoco estoy 100% seguro de lo que quieres decir con "gloomy wind". Gloomy puede ser oscuro, en tinieblas, o (de una persona) un poco deprimido.

it also means tenebroso... :)

Pues tampoco estoy 100% seguro de lo que quieres decir con "gloomy wind". Gloomy puede ser oscuro, en tinieblas, o (de una persona) un poco deprimido.
¿Eso no significa el mismo que "tenebroso"?

Pues tampoco estoy 100% seguro de lo que quieres decir con "gloomy wind". Gloomy puede ser oscuro, en tinieblas, o (de una persona) un poco deprimido.

it also means tenebroso... :)

¿Eso no significa el mismo que "tenebroso"?

No estoy seguro de cuál es tu duda...

Gloomy wind se traduciría como "viento tenebroso" o sea "oscuro" o algo que da miedo porque no se puede discernir...

(I was a bilingual teacher for 23 years and a high school Spanish teacher for 7 years. Have been teaching Italian for 4 years now to adults. My home language is Spanish a proposito.)

This is a very interesting topic tal vez the topic that interests me the most. Of course there our differences in Latin American Spanish and the Spanish from Spain but then again you should here the way my relatives from Arkansas speak English. It's just a question of accents and a few words here in there. (The word for all this is dialects.) I speak Italian as well as Spanish. I go back and forth between Spanish and Italian and also French. So those little difference between Spanish from Spain and Latin American Spanish have very little meaning to me. Think about it. When I listen to Italian I understand it and it's another language. So even though my Spanish is Latin American Spanish how would I have trouble understanding Spanish from Spain if I can even understand Italian. Have watched many movies from Spain and listened to many tapes of Spanish speakers from Spain. It's like the difference between American English and English from England. Different but mostly the samething. In fact it's these differences that make Spanish as well as English interesting.

So if you're half-way fluent in Latin American Spanish you would have very little trouble understanding the Spanish from Spain and visa versa. A proposito. It's the Spanish from southern Spain that is more similar to Latin Spanish than the more main stream Spanish from Spain of Madrid.

No estoy seguro de cuál es tu duda...
Pues un viento puede ser frío o caluroso, fuerte o ligero, pero ¿"gloomy"? Lo que has descrito me parece más un "chill wind".

What does glommy mean?

Gloomy was already defined earlier in the thread.
oscuro (sombrío is another meaning)

Rusty.

Your answer was very clear thank you.

Then this can be used in this phrase.

The night is too glommy that I don't find the light of my street.

pjt33 and villa et al. in madrid i found it like london - most people were
very clear in their speech, and some spoke the variant/dialect of their
place of birth. i learned spanish in the dominican republic, so some of the regional differences in spain were confusing to my ear. 90% of the
conversations in madrid, aranjuez, and toledo were understood 'bien clarito'.

to the north american english ear, some of the uk regional variations are
unintelligible over the telephone; better in person.

hermit

@pjt: ¿cómo dirías "un viento que da miedo (estremecedor)"? Chilling wind?

A chill wind.

Pues un viento puede ser frío o caluroso, fuerte o ligero, pero ¿"gloomy"? Lo que has descrito me parece más un "chill wind".

Si se quisiera decir estremecedor se diría, también se podría decir un viento lúgubre, pero en este caso es tenebroso. Y creo, a mi poco entender, que se entiende perfectamente en español lo que quiere decir.

Ahora que lo pienso, no estoy seguro si el mensaje original era traducir gloomy wind al español.

Quizás no se use de esa manera en inglés, por lo que te causa confusión. O simplemente yo estoy equivocado. :D

Gracias, pjt.

@Hernán: creo que era al revés... a la hora de traducir la cualidad del viento, en inglés no resulta comprensible como "gloomy". :D

@pjt: ¿cómo dirías "un viento que da miedo (estremecedor)"? Chilling wind?

I like the word "wuthering" as in Emilie Bronte's Book "Wuthering Heights"

I live only a few miles from her home (Howarth) and from the house described in the book. Wuthering is a local dialect word still in occasional use.

Wild and windy. The word also conjures up the wetness and the darkness of this bleak exposed moorland area.

Gracias, pjt.

@Hernán: creo que era al revés... a la hora de traducir la cualidad del viento, en inglés no resulta comprensible como "gloomy". :D

Correcto.

Ahora díme si entiendes en español: "Corría un viento tenebroso en ese lugar.."

¿Está mal escrito? ¿No se entiende en español, lo que se quiere decir?

Y si se entiende; ¿puedes explicarmelo?

Vuelvo a decir: Quizás estoy equivocado. :)

Sé que la pregunta no va para mi pero me tenté. Para mi esta perfecto el uso, muy barroco o para literatura infantil pero según lo que yo entiendo, se le puede atribuir la cualidad que se quiera a los sustantivos(hasta personificarlos), como cuando decimos calor asfixiante. Un viento tenebroso es un viento con la cualidad de "oscuro, sombrío, que viene de las tinieblas", es decir, de darte miedo. En este caso la combinación no queda muy elocuente, pero...

"El cuarto no era como lo imaginó, tenía cierto aire lúgubre, como si alguien hubiera..."

"Al doblar la esquina, un viento tenebroso le recuerda donde está."

There are many more countries than just Argentina that use vos. In Spain, they use vosotros as the plural form of tú. They also use ustedes (the plural of usted).
Spaniards can understand Mexicans, but they have to work at it just as hard as we do to understand a Brit.

A TIP FOR YOU RUSTY. YOU JUST NEED TO WRITE BIGGER AND MORE SLOWLY TO MAKE YOURSELF UNDERSTOOD. BASIL FAWLTY HAS SOME GOOD IDEAS WHEN IT COMES TO COMMUNICATION! WITH SPANIARDS!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5jyp677fxw :D:D:crazy::crazy::lengua::lengua:

@Hernán: claro que "viento tenebroso" es muy claro y gráfico en español, pero la objeción de pjt no es en español, sino que "gloomy wind" no parece ser una traducción válida al inglés (por poética y lógica que nos suene a nosotros).
De cualquier manera, a un tema zombie (o espectral, como lo llamó ookami) le queda muy bien un "chill wind".

A TIP FOR YOU RUSTY. YOU JUST NEED TO WRITE BIGGER AND MORE SLOWLY TO MAKE YOURSELF UNDERSTOOD. BASIL FAWLTY HAS SOME GOOD IDEAS WHEN IT COMES TO COMMUNICATION! WITH SPANIARDS!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5jyp677fxw :D:D:crazy::crazy::lengua::lengua:
Cuando tenía 15 años actuamos una parte de ese episodio en un clase de inglés, y yo era el tío que habla español que Manuel puede entender. Pero bueno, no sabía que en el original tiene un acento tan horrible.

. A proposito. It's the Spanish from southern Spain that is more similar to Latin Spanish than the more main stream Spanish from Spain of Madrid.

Yes, it is. Both Andalusians and the ones from the Canary Islands were the first on arrive to America.

Cita:

En 1924, el célebre filólogo español Ramón Menéndez Pidal afirmaba que:
«El grueso de las primeras migraciones salió del Sur del reino de Castilla, es decir de Andalucía, de Extremadura y de Canarias, por lo cual la lengua popular hispanoamericana es una prolongación de los dialectos españoles meridionales». (cit. por Wagner 1927: 26).


http://congresosdelalengua.es/valladolid/ponencias/unidad_diversidad_del_espanol/2_el_espanol_de_america/quesada_m.htm


By the way, I have no problem to understand Latin American. Maybe there are some words that I have never heard before, but there's no problem with the accent. There are a lot of Latin America people here, now, and when I speak with them, I understand them and they understand me without any effort.

@Hernán: claro que "viento tenebroso" es muy claro y gráfico en español, pero la objeción de pjt no es en español, sino que "gloomy wind" no parece ser una traducción válida al inglés (por poética y lógica que nos suene a nosotros).
De cualquier manera, a un tema zombie (o espectral, como lo llamó ookami) le queda muy bien un "chill wind".

Entendí perfectamente, por eso aludí a lo de la traducción. ;)

All responses are pretty good, but as a Spaniard, I think I can add an issue that still hasn't been mentioned: the use of verbal tenses. In Spain we can discover american spanish speakers not only by their distinctive accent and their pronunciation of letters c and s, but by their use of verbal tenses. I have never heard an spanish american speaker using the preterito perfecto tense, instead of it they always use the pasado simple tense no matter if the action happened at the close past time or if it happened at the far past time. I have heard that something like this happens with the use of present perfect and past simple in Great Britain and the States.

[QUOTE=irmamar;51561]Yes, it is. Both Andalusians and the ones from the Canary Islands were the first on arrive to America.

Cita:

En 1924, el célebre filólogo español Ramón Menéndez Pidal afirmaba que:
«El grueso de las primeras migraciones salió del Sur del reino de Castilla, es decir de Andalucía, de Extremadura y de Canarias, por lo cual la lengua popular hispanoamericana es una prolongación de los dialectos españoles meridionales». (cit. por Wagner 1927: 26).


http://congresosdelalengua.es/valladolid/ponencias/unidad_diversidad_del_espanol/2_el_espanol_de_america/quesada_m.htm


By the way, I have no problem to understand Latin American. Maybe there are some words that I have never heard before, but there's no problem with the accent. There are a lot of Latin America people here, now, and when I speak with them, I understand them and they understand me without any effort.






De cualquier manera la explicación de Menéndez Pidal ha sido muy cuestionada, porque no explica la razón por la cual el dialecto andaluz occidental, máximo exponente de ceceísmo no aparece en América.

All responses are pretty good, but as a Spaniard, I think I can add an issue that still hasn't been mentioned: the use of verbal tenses. In Spain we can discover american spanish speakers not only by their distinctive accent and their pronunciation of letters c and s, but by their use of verbal tenses. I have never heard an spanish american speaker using the preterito perfecto tense, instead of it they always use the pasado simple tense no matter if the action happened at the close past time or if it happened at the far past time. I have heard that something like this happens with the use of present perfect and past simple in Great Britain and the States.



Nos puedes dar un ejemplo de los tiempos verbales de los cuales hablas?:) No entiendo completamente

Pienso que dijiste que los españoles de América nunca usan el pretérito perfecto (he vivido) sino el pasado simple (viví) , mientras el usado del pretérito perfecto es común en español peninsular.

@Bob: It's not exactly that Latin Americans never use the pretérito perfecto, but we use it less often than Spaniards do.

I think in Spain they would say: ¡La has matado!
We would say: ¡La mataste!

In Spain: (Este verano) He ido de vacaciones a la playa.
We'd say: Fui de vacaciones a la playa.
But in both regions (I think) one would say: He ido a la playa los últimos cuatro años. (Este verano y los anteriores)
If a Latin American says "fui a la playa los últimos cuatro años", it means I won't be doing that anymore. :thinking:

@Bob: It's not exactly that Latin Americans never use the pretérito perfecto, but we use it less often than Spaniards do.

I think in Spain they would say: ¡La has matado!
We would say: ¡La mataste!

In Spain: (Este verano) He ido de vacaciones a la playa.
We'd say: Fui de vacaciones a la playa.
But in both regions (I think) one would say: He ido a la playa los últimos cuatro años. (Este verano y los anteriores)
If a Latin American says "fui a la playa los últimos cuatro años", it means I won't be doing that anymore. :thinking:
Muchas gracias, me tiene razón

Muchas gracias, me tiene razón

Se me hace razonable.

Se me hace razonable.
Gracias :)

Pues un viento puede ser frío o caluroso, fuerte o ligero, pero ¿"gloomy"? Lo que has descrito me parece más un "chill wind".

La respuesta está en la poesía francesa de finales del XIX, en concreto en el Simbolismo. Los poetas simbolistas, como principalmente Baudelaire, introdujeron la figura retórica de la sinestésia, cónsistente en atribuír a los sustantivos cualidades que no les correspondían racionalmente, bíen sea por originalidad o bien para conseguir un efecto llamativo relacionado, tal vez, con lo subconsciente y el uso de sustancias que empezaba a ponerse de moda en esa época. La mayoría de los intelectuales españoles de entonces conocía bien la lengua y la cultura francesas, especialmente los poetas de la llamada Generación de fin de siglo, quienes comenzaron a hacer traducciones y a adaptar su estilo a nuestro idioma. El resultado es que hoy en Español no nos sorprenden expresiones como "mirada de acero", "color cálido", o "viento tenebroso".
En cualquier caso, considero que las traducciones al Inglés de las obras de los poetas simbolístas deberían contener este tipo de figuras retóricas también.

La respuesta está en la poesía francesa de finales del XIX, en concreto en el Simbolismo. Los poetas simbolistas, como principalmente Baudelaire, introdujeron la figura retórica de la sinestésia, cónsistente en atribuír a los sustantivos cualidades que no les correspondían racionalmente, bíen sea por originalidad o bien para conseguir un efecto llamativo relacionado, tal vez, con lo subconsciente y el uso de sustancias que empezaba a ponerse de moda en esa época. La mayoría de los intelectuales españoles de entonces conocía bien la lengua y la cultura francesas, especialmente los poetas de la llamada Generación de fin de siglo, quienes comenzaron a hacer traducciones y a adaptar su estilo a nuestro idioma. El resultado es que hoy en Español no nos sorprenden expresiones como "mirada de acero", "color cálido", o "viento tenebroso".
En cualquier caso, considero que las traducciones al Inglés de las obras de los poetas simbolístas deberían contener este tipo de figuras retóricas también.

What you describe it is also given in English, else the phrase "he/she gave me a chilling look" would be totally incomprehensible.

Hi all:

Does anyone know a website with the main differences between Spanish from Spain and Latin America? but on the IT FIELD.

Thanks in advance!

I observe that in American Spanish, people uses the term "ello"" in a very similar way the English speakers use "it". However, in Spain, generally we use more the term "eso" instead of "ello". In adition to this the Spaniards usually do not use personal pronouns before the verbs, so when we have to translate a phrase with "it" eg: it is a very big problem, decimos es un gran problema instead of ello es un gran problema.

I observe that in American Spanish, people uses the term "ello"" in a very similar way the English speakers use "it". However, in Spain, generally we use more the term "eso" instead of "ello". In adition to this the Spaniards usually do not use personal pronouns before the verbs, so when we have to translate a phrase with "it" eg: it is a very big problem, decimos es un gran problema instead of ello es un gran problema.
Latin America covers thousands of miles and many different cultures. Things are expressed distinctly in different countries and in different parts of the same countries. I have never heard ello used as you have illustrated, and I speak with latinos every day. I, however. wouldn't be surprised that it is used somewhere in the vast region known as Latin America.
PS The word ello sounds like the Caribbean way of saying ellos (them -masculine). In that part of Latin America the last S in a word is often not pronounced or sometimes pronounced like a soft pronunciation of the Spanish letter J.

Hi all:

Does anyone know a website with the main differences between Spanish from Spain and Latin America? but on the IT FIELD.

Thanks in advance!

I observe that in American Spanish, people uses the term "ello"" in a very similar way the English speakers use "it". However, in Spain, generally we use more the term "eso" instead of "ello". In adition to this the Spaniards usually do not use personal pronouns before the verbs, so when we have to translate a phrase with "it" eg: it is a very big problem, decimos es un gran problema instead of ello es un gran problema.

Are you replying to that IT?

explorator, acá se usa "eso" también e igual, no queda claro si aprendiz5000 se refería a eso exactamente, como tal vez intentó marcar chileno.

explorator, here we also use "eso" as the main form, and equally it isn't clear enough if aprendiz5000 was referring to that, as chileno maybe tried to point out.

I also think aprendiz was referring to the field of Information Technologies (IT), not "it = eso/ello/lo". :)

...But explorator remarks may be useful for some learners.

Exactly!

I wanted to say:

Does anyone know a website (or an ebook, NOT free) with the main differences between Spanish from Spain and Latin America but on the Information Technology FIELD? that is Computer Science.

For instance:

Computer= ordenador=computadora
File = fichero = archivo

Etc.

Any help will be highly appreciated.

Thanks!