Is it normal for Spanish teachers to not teach Vosotros?

[Jorjor]

My spanish teacher seems to have a strong Mexican bias and pays no mind to terms used in Spain.We have so far been tought how to conjugate verbs ending in ar,ir, and er. But she always has us put an X in the box where vosotros is supposed to be. So for instance hablar, she only does hablo,hablas,habla,hablamos,X(hablaís),hablan. Or for ser, soy,eres,es,somos,
X(where sois is supposed to be),son. For estar, estoy,estas,esta,estamos,X(where estaís needs to be),and estan.

I asked her once in class when she was talking about the conjugation of estar and she responded "um, estaís or something funky like that". I asked why it wasn't included on the chart and her answer was just "it's used in spain"

It's just one more conjugation to study, why wouldn't she teach it to us?

[wafflestomp]

Most Spanish teachers do that. All of the ones I've had so far never taught it, except for the teacher I had from Spain, and in the intro year we did things like "vosotros sois" and stuff like that. Some people in Latin American countries, from what I understand, don't even know off their head how to conjugate the vosotros form. Your teacher is probably just trying to get through the curriculum quicker.

I personally think that all verb forms should be taught. On the AP Spanish Language exam, the vosotros form appears, so that should be enough to teach it. Not even just that, but it's used everyday in Spain, and Spain is one of the most popular Spanish speaking country that United States citizens travel to, so why not teach it? I don't know. Probably as I said earlier trying to get the curriculum knocked out faster.

[LibraryLady]

I had the same learning experience.

[chileno]

Hmmm, I don't know about that. Would you say the same thing if you went to England and the teachers there insisted in teaching you American English?

[Bolboreta]

:-O Incredible. Ok, if you are in the US, you will probably almost never talk to a spanish, and the most of the people you will talk to will be mexicans so learning vosotros could be not very useful. So I understand your teachers to teach the mexican way, as we in Spain tend to prefer british usages. But not teaching a verbal form just because it is diferent in the spanish speaking countries sounds quite ridiculous to me, even agreeing with your teacher that Spain is very small and very far away for you to learn our verbs. The times when spanish from Spain was the-only-good-one are over, but man, you should learn the most used verbal form in your context, I think.

But, I must confess, after reading your post, that I don't know how latin americans learn the verbs at school. Here in Spain we only learn the spanish form, but I don't know if, for example, argentinians learn the verbs with "vos" and such...

[pjt33]

Jorjor, the accent's in the wrong place: it's habláis and estáis.

[ookami]

Originally Posted by Bolboreta

But, I must confess, after reading your post, that I don't know how latin americans learn the verbs at school. Here in Spain we only learn the spanish form, but I don't know if, for example, argentinians learn the verbs with "vos" and such...

We learn with the "Tú" form at school, and at less when I was at primary school, the "vosotros" conjugation was included (but we didn't pay to much attention to it). We never think like: Yo, Vos, Él... always Yo, Tú, Él. But we never use "Tú" outside of that.

[xchic]

It sounds to me as if the teacher simply doesn't know 'vosotros'

[Esperar]

I'm learning Spanish Spanish, not Mexican Spanish, so I will try to learn vosotros too.

Originally Posted by xchic

It sounds to me as if the teacher simply doesn't know 'vosotros'

I knew one guy who was helping me with my Spanish on MSN. He was in America, and told me he didn't know about vosotros either, despite being a good speaker of the language.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Personally, good teachers, no matter where they are from, should teach the most important variations marking the country or regions where that variation is used, and the learner chooses to use it or not,or use it when he is in one country or the other, but he has the right to know it.
As simple as that.

I think in Spain we see both variations BE because it is closer and AE because it is more practical. Anyway I think American English is gaining ground all over Europe.
As for how Spanish is taght in Spain, whe I learnt grammar in school, of course they mention the use of persons and variations, very slightly, to make you conscious of the existente of the variation.

[Jessica]

Yes in our school we don't use vosotros

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by chileno

Hmmm, I don't know about that. Would you say the same thing if you went to England and the teachers there insisted in teaching you American English?

Yeah, but the United States isn't IN Latin America. I'm surprised there isn't some standard "Spanish for speakers of English" acceptable content that includes vosotros forms, whether you're in the US learning Spanish or in Britain learning to speak Spanish. Hmmm....

[chileno]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Yeah, but the United States isn't IN Latin America. I'm surprised there isn't some standard "Spanish for speakers of English" acceptable content that includes vosotros forms, whether you're in the US learning Spanish or in Britain learning to speak Spanish. Hmmm....

Correct.

And please correct me if I am wrong, but in American schools don't teach a BrE system along with AmE, right?

In any event, let me add that just like ookami I was taught both systems of Spanish. We had to conjugate everything in both systems and at that time even with the "vos" form which is not used anymore in Spain. Is it still taught in Spain, though?

Before anybody jumps:

I - Yo
you - Tú/Usted - Vos
He - Él
She - Ella
We - Nosotros
You - Ustedes - Vosotros
They - Ellos

I also concur with robin that good teachers should teach it. Now, about teaching it as a second language, that's harder. Just think the problem it is posing just at this moment...

Specially with the million dollar question? Is Spain Spanish better than LA Spanish?

Which is equivalent to Is AmE better than BrE?

Both of those question are often posed...:-)

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by chileno

Correct.

And please correct me if I am wrong, but in American schools don't teach a BrE system along with AmE, right?

In any event, let me add that just like ookami I was taught both systems of Spanish. We had to conjugate everything in both systems and at that time even with the "vos" form which is not used anymore in Spain. Is it still taught in Spain, though?

Before anybody jumps:

I - Yo
you - Tú/Usted - Vos
He - Él
She - Ella
We - Nosotros
You - Ustedes - Vosotros
They - Ellos

I also concur with robin that good teachers should teach it. Now, about teaching it as a second language, that's harder. Just think the problem it is posing just at this moment...

Specially with the million dollar question? Is Spain Spanish better than LA Spanish?

Which is equivalent to Is AmE better than BrE?

Both of those question are often posed...:-)

Right, AmE is (typically) the acceptable English usage taught in the United States, although you will find many English literature classes/units that use British literature and thus have to address British usage.

I think that, in a school in the US, the Spanish taught as a "world language" ought to cover vosotros with an understanding that this is a form typically not used in Latin America. I must also say that, although "voseo" would be a good cultural point to mention (maybe to upper level classes), it probably shouldn't be taught because its use varies greatly according to region.....

[chileno]

Originally Posted by laepelba

Right, AmE is (typically) the acceptable English usage taught in the United States, although you will find many English literature classes/units that use British literature and thus have to address British usage.

I think that, in a school in the US, the Spanish taught as a "world language" ought to cover vosotros with an understanding that this is a form typically not used in Latin America. I must also say that, although "voseo" would be a good cultural point to mention (maybe to upper level classes), it probably shouldn't be taught because its use varies greatly according to region.....

That would be great. But like I said, it might be inconvenient. Think how many times, here in the forums, there have been problems arising between AmE and BrE natives. Same thing with Between native Spanish speakers....

And they will continue to happens. How many times you have declared you are interested in LA usage of the language. It is taking a great deal of your time and mind to sort out just the regular usage, and you want to top it off with that issue in particular?

We can always try, though.

Edit: By the way, at least for me, you are asking something that would equate as if I was asking you to present your writing in English in both present AmE and King James's type of English. That's how it sounds to me... :-)

[Esperar]

Apart from one or two minor spelling differences, I am not aware of any differences betweem AmE, and BrE. Maybe someone can correct me?

[edit] They can call things like biscuits "cookies." I guess. Pretty minor though.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by chileno

That would be great. But like I said, it might be inconvenient. Think how many times, here in the forums, there have been problems arising between AmE and BrE natives. Same thing with Between native Spanish speakers....

And they will continue to happens. How many times you have declared you are interested in LA usage of the language. It is taking a great deal of your time and mind to sort out just the regular usage, and you want to top it off with that issue in particular?

We can always try, though.

Edit: By the way, at lest for me, you are asking something that would equate as if I was asking you to present your writing in English in both present AmE and King James's type of English. That's how it sounds to me... :-)

Originally Posted by Esperar

Apart from one or two minor spelling differences, I am not aware of any differences betweem AmE, and BrE. Maybe someone can correct me?

[edit] They can call things like biscuits "cookies." I guess. Pretty minor though.

So, is the difference between LA Spanish and Spain-Spanish as significantly different as the difference between AmE and King James' English?

I point out the desire for learning LA Spanish because I specifically want to avoid being told to use vosotros. If I were taking formal classes instead of teaching myself the language, I would expect to be taught the extra conjugation. Because my way of learning is so far from being any kind of "systematic", I am concerned about adding another thing. Anyway - it's just my opinion....

Cookie/Bisquit ... flashlight/torch ... first floor/ground floor ... elevator/lift ... there are quite a few differences, but not so very many that it would take very long to learn the most commonly encountered ones.......

[Esperar]

My experience with LA Spanish is almost zero, and my Spain Spanish is still broken for the most part. The only difference I know of between LA and Spain Spanish is vosotros though. Am I wrong in thinking that?

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by Esperar

My experience with LA Spanish is almost zero, and my Spain Spanish is still broken for the most part. The only difference I know of between LA and Spain Spanish is vosotros though. Am I wrong in thinking that?

I'm no expert, but I do know that there is at least one pronunciation difference (with c/s sounds). I would also assume that there are idiomatic differences and certain frequency of use differences....

[Esperar]

I forgot about the c and s sounds. "Benitez" will be pronounced as "Benites" in LA Spanish right?