Just like English in Great Britain is a little different from English in the USA (or in Canada, or in Australia) by vocabulary, pronunciation, or grammar, the same is true for Spanish that is spoken in over 20 countries! In case of Spanish we have two main versions — Spanish from Spain and Latin American Spanish, where the latter one has distinctions between its many varieties depending on the country it is spoken in.
Before you enter that beautiful and diverse language all on your own, it may be useful to get a big picture of Spanishes that exist out there and their mayor differences, and determine what to do with all of that.
Quick and easy way to identify which one of the two main versions the person you are listening to is using, is twofold:
- Notice whether their speech has the sound "th" (like in the English word "think") — that is the sound the letter "z" and the letter "c" (only before "e" and "i") make in the "Spain" version: Ibi-tha (for Ibiza), or the-na (for "cena", dinner). The Latin American one uses "s" instead: Ibi-sa, se-na.
- Notice how they pronounce the letter "j", which makes [ kh ] sound in Spanish: only in the one from Spain it is a strong, throaty [ kh ], almost Hebrew-like, and in the one from Latin America it is just a tad tenser than the similar English sound, say, like "h" in "heavy".
There are also some differences in grammar, vocabulary, the way words are chosen and built, and even in the "melody" of the speech, but to register those you'll need a deeper knowledge of Spanish. And the two points I offered above are more obvious and simpler to recognize by ear even if you are just starting your Spanish journey.
I'll mention one thing about grammar, though, specifically the Spanish word for "you" when addressing a group of people, especially in the informal setting, because this is where Spanish from Spain and Latin America differ. The former one uses "vosotros" (boh-sot-ros), and the later one uses "ustedes" (oos-teh-des). The verb also changes depending on which word for "you" is said (or implied — remember, Spanish verbs don't need a noun or subject as they include the person in their endings).
Compare:
- "Vosotros sois de Madrid" — You are from Madrid (Spanish from Spain).
- "Ustedes son de Madrid" — You are from Madrid (Spanish from Latin America).
And by the way, if all of the people in the group are women, then "vosotros" changes into "vosotras".
Ok, now you have 3 fool-proof indicators to distinguish between the two main versions of Spanish you may come across. For more information and examples watch this short video (02:57):
If Spanish from Spain is quite easy to spot and contrast against Latin American Spanish, to properly guess what country of Latin America the given Latin American Spanish is is not always possible. Sometimes the differences are so subtle, only native Spanish speakers can catch them. But the ones that are most evident you can detect by yourself.
The easiest one is to identify Argentinian Spanish. Just like Spanish from Spain, it has a "tell" sound-wise. And the sound that gives it away is the one represented by the digraph "ll" or a combination of the letter "y" with a vowel, for example, "yo". Only in Argentine, instead of pronouncing them like [ j ] in "yes", they make a "sh" sound.
Compare:
- "Yo como pollo" (sho coh-moh poh-sho) — I eat chicken (Spanish from Argentine).
- "Yo como pollo" (yo coh-moh poh-yo) — I eat chicken (Spanish from any other country).
Another "tell", although not a 100% one as Uruguyan Spanish has it the same way, is the usage of the word "vos" for "you" instead of "tú". Originally, "vos" was meant for the Emperor, later — for addressing people with high authority, and nowadays it is common for informal contexts. You can hear "vos" in other versions of Spanish, too, sometimes even mixed in the same sentences with "tú", but mostly it is an indicator that you are in the presence of the Argentinian Spanish. Remember, just like in the case with words "vosotros" and "ustedes", verbs used with "vos" and "tú" are going to have their own forms, for example:
- "You are my life": "vos" — "Sos mi vida"; "tú" — "Eres mi vida";
- "Do you have chicken?": "vos" — "¿Tenés pollo?"; "tú" — "¿Tienes pollo?";
- "Tell me!": "vos" — "Decíme"; "tú" — "Dime".
Caribbean Spanish also stands out. In this version of the language it is customary to "mess" with sounds. Let me give you 3 examples:
- Letter "d" gets lost in words like "Encantado" (en-cun-tuh-doh) that translates as "Nice to meet you", and you hear instead en-cun-tuh-oh, or in words like "ciudad" (sue-dud), "city", and you hear sue-duh.
- Letter "s" gets "eaten" turning, say, "Nos vemos" (nos beh-mos), that means "See you", into no beh-moh; or "Estoy en la casa" (es-toy en la ca-suh), that means "I am home", into eh-toy en la ca-uh. This one is especially confusing when it comes to plurals that in Spanish, just like in English, are formed by adding "s" at the end of words, so if it gets sudenly "eaten" like that, things become a little tricky: compare the pronunciation of "rosa roja" (roh-suh roh-khuh), or "red rose", with "rosas rojas" (roh-suh roh-khuh), or "red roses", that in the Caribbean Spanish sound the same.
- Letter "r" gets replaced by "l" (unless it starts a word), or to be more precise, Caribbean Spanish doesn't distinguish between the two using them almost interchangeably (depending on the position in words): beh-l-deh instead of veh-r-deh for "verde", green; uh-r-muh instead of uh-l-muh for "alma", soul; etc.
Mexican Spanish doesn't lose any letters, but has its own quite unique vocabulary and melody. Identify it through such words like: güey (g-way) for "dude"; ¡órale! (oh-ruh-leh) to express amazement, approval, enthusiasm and even to complement orders; chido (chee-doh) to describe something cool, say, people, or objects, or situations; ¡Qué padre! (keh pud-reh) for "How cool!"; and others.
Let's hear some of those Spanishes in this short and fun video (04:22) from Joanna who, according to the comments, got them so well:
There are tons of Spanish dialects with such different vocabularies and ways to pronounce words. There is no need to memorize the intricacies of every single one, unless you decided to become the accent master or something. So when you decide on the country you'll practice that Spanish you're learning now, check out anywhere online all the quirks its version has. In the end, you can always learn a couple of new things additionally to the version you've already acquired. I started my journey with Spanish from Spain and then changed it for the version from Peru. And it was easy. No biggie!
Nos vemos! (Nos beh-mos!) See you!
"¡Qué padre! Great article! Like!"
Discover more about Spanish and other languages at langventure.mystrikingly.com!
