Estar+gerundio VS simple present

[chileno]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Determining the origins of different Spanish accents is actually of great interest to me. I don't know why ... but it is. I can usually distinguish an accent from Spain, and I can typically pick out Uruguashan and Argentinian accents (although I have GREAT difficulty understanding them!). I have also had difficulty understanding Chilean accents.

My tutor, who is Mexican, spends a LOT of time every week talking with me. Not just in our "classes", as we have become good friends, so we often meet for drinks or whatever. She almost always speaks to me in Spanish, and I press her to correct my mispronunciations, which she says are few. I have also done some exercises where I read to my tutor or to one of my Spanish-speaking friends, and ask them to critique my accent.

The one thing that my tutor has pointed out that I say a lot is "um" when I'm trying to think of the word that I'm looking for. She says that is the thing that is the dead give-away that I am a native English-speaker and is more significant than my "accent".

Right!

For kicks try what I described and see how you fare against yourself.

Take it easy, though and don't be harsh, especially if you are going to continue to do that exercise.