Varieties of Spanish

[Glen]

Out of curiosity I called the toll-free number 211 and selected the Spanish option. The voice that answered was obviously not of a native-born speaker; in fact, the accent was so heavily influenced by English that I could only imagine what a Spanish speaker would think. It sounded awful to me, as a non-native but as someone who knows how it ought to sound.

Trying to be helpful, I called back - in English option - and suggested they get a native speaker. They replied something to the effect that they believe the Spanish language is so diverse that they couldn't possibly accommodate all the variations of it so decided to get an English speaker instead.

Were they right? According to what I've been told, there is less divergence among all 21 Spanish-speaking countries than there is between English of the US, the UK and Australia. I've also heard there is something called "Neutral Spanish," which is universally understood.

At any rate, I suggested they try to find a good speaker!